I'm so stupid, what have I been doing? The mental voice inside Arjuna's head was distraught. He wanted to comfort Waver but was having a difficult time given the fact that his feelings were similar. We're targets in public, I knew that! We should be staying behind our boundary field!
Master, it is not just your fault. I should have thought of it as well, Arjuna said as Waver managed to keep up a cheerful front for Shirou. It was failing badly on Karna, though, from the concerned looks he was giving them both.
You're not a modern spirit. I know about guns and I know that's the Magus Killer's main weapon. Why didn't I think? Arjuna wanted to protest that he did know. The Grail had given him knowledge of modern weaponry and Waver had told him about the notorious Magus Killer. He should have seen it coming as well. But Arjuna knew that would help neither of them.
Master, we have made a mistake. We can only learn from it and go forwards, Arjuna said calmly, vaguely aware that he sounded a bit like Karna. Well, it couldn't be helped. At least we have learned something very useful about Karna. Discernment of Threat. A childhood version of Discernment of the Poor. Curiously, it seemed stronger than Karna's adult skill, in some ways. If he'd had it in their final battle, Arjuna might not have won.
Pushing aside that thought – it seemed terribly wrong when child Karna was with him, picking out some chocolates from the counter – Arjuna watched as Waver paid for the chocolates. Soon Shirou was trying to chipmunk them while Karna was firmly making him eat them one at a time. It was adorable to watch.
"If you put them all in your mouth at once they don't last as long and they are too good to waste," Karna said firmly before putting a chocolate in his mouth. Then he stopped with a strange expression. "…mrf!" Arjuna held back a laugh as Karna started to chew, his expression turning into one of utter bliss. To Arjuna's relief, Waver relaxed a bit at the sight and even managed to smile.
"You like it Karna?" Shirou asked innocently and Karna nodded emphatically, not stopping his chewing for a moment. "I think that was a peanut butter chocolate one. Archer, do you want one?" Did he? Oh my yes.
"Certainly," Arjuna said easily before accepting the candy. As he bit it in half, he discovered why Karna was making that face. "I… have never tasted anything like this," Arjuna murmured as he savored the sweet, creamy peanut centre surrounded by milk chocolate. Peanuts were another thing that had not existed in his homeland. The modern era was truly full of marvels.
"So good. When we were alive, only kings would eat this," Karna said in awe and Arjuna shook his head.
"They couldn't. We had nothing like this, even in the halls of Kings. There were desserts, but they favored pistachios and rosewater," Arjuna said, remembering. "They were very good, equal to this, but also utterly different." A beautiful bowl of kheer could not be compared to a peanut butter chocolate. They were both marvelous and amazing but just too different.
"And those only cost a hundred yen!" Waver said cheerfully and Karna looked amazed.
"That's incredible!" Karna exclaimed and Arjuna chuckled. He knew what Karna was thinking… that it was unfathomably cheap. Their land had always produced sugar, as far as Arjuna knew, but it had been an insanely expensive luxury or even a medicine. Hmm.
"Waver, is sugar of any worth in a medicinal sense?" Arjuna asked, curious. The Grail knowledge hadn't included that.
"Oh no, it's terrible for you!" …Ah, really? "That reminds me, we've been giving Shirou too much junk lately, grandma mentioned it. These are the last treats for a while," Waver said firmly and there were 'aw's' from both children. Well, that was fine, since they wouldn't be leaving their boundary field for a while either. "Sugar makes your teeth rot and a lot of people get fat," Waver said as they walked and Arjuna blinked.
"I see." That was interesting. Perhaps they'd been lucky that it had been out of reach for most. Gods knew they'd suffered enough tooth rot without it. Arjuna tried to force down a painful memory. He'd had very good teeth until his old age, when one abruptly decided to go bad. It had been highly unpleasant, even for someone accustomed to pain.
Managing to box away that memory, Arjuna was pleased to see that Waver's good humor was restored. And this had taught them something very valuable about Karna. His Discernment of Threat ability could be incredibly useful.
The would have to use it wisely.
It's time.
Arjuna and Waver were ready. They'd had a skirmish with Saber that had been interrupted, yet again, by Berserker. He seemed to be obsessed with Saber for some reason and Arjuna honestly hoped he killed her. She was formidable.
But now it was time to move on Kayneth and Lancer. They were going to make it a pincher attack. The underground complex had only one entrance but that wasn't going to be a difficulty for Arjuna. A single arrow would open it up and he would be inside. Karna and Shirou were taking the easier route, still pretending they had very little strength. Their actions beyond that point would be dictated partly by how Kayneth and Lancer responded. Quite likely Lancer would take on Arjuna while Kayneth used his magic to try to stall Karna. At that point Karna would employ his mana, smash everything apart with mana burst and come to help Arjuna with Lancer.
Unfortunately, that wasn't what happened at all.
Dozens of daggers flashed out of the woods and Arjuna had to counter them, keeping Waver out of danger. His eyes narrowed as he registered the presence of Assassin. But not merely one. There were dozens!
"I apologize. I have been ordered to confront you as best I can," one of the Assassins said and Arjuna cursed softly. He didn't want to use his Noble Phantasm but if he was going to reach Karna in any time to help, he was going to have to. How effective would it be in this forest, though? It truly excelled in an open battlefield.
Well, there was only one way to find out.
"Expanding sacred domain," Arjuna intoned, resting his hand on his face. He could feel the energies gathering. More daggers shot out but the power of his Noble Phantasm easily repulsed them. "Spatial Fixation, divine punishment enforcement limits…" He lifted his bow then, readying himself for the barrage. "All approved. By the wrath of Shiva, here ends they life. Pashupata!" There was a tremendous drain on his mana and Arjuna felt more than heard Waver gasp.
Then blue death rained down on the Assassins. Arrows slashed through the forest, finding target after target. Too many were missing though and Arjuna grit his teeth. Was this his luck or just the cover of the forest? Likely a combination of both. When it was done, Arjuna guesstimated that he'd destroyed roughly half the Assassins. (Arjuna was wrong about that, too pessimistic. He'd actually gotten closer to three quarters)
The Assassins were fighting for maximum delay, though, and missing any of them meant that Arjuna had to hunt them down.
"Waver, on my back!" Arjuna snapped and Waver did what they'd already discussed, jumped on and rode him piggy-back. It was the most efficient way to keep Waver close when Arjuna desperately needed to move and attack. Waver quickly muttered a spell and lines of magic secured him to his Servant further.
Together, they would eliminate all the Assassins. Arjuna just hoped they could reach Karna in time.
Relatively close.
"…There's a problem," Karna muttered to Shirou, who looked at him in concern. "Archer and Waver are in danger." The pinging of Discernment of Threat told him that.
"They're supposed to be, right?" Shirou said and Karna thought about it for a moment before shaking his head.
"No, it's too soon. Something's gone wrong," he said, distracted. "They couldn't have made the base yet." He and Shirou weren't quite there and they moved as fast as Archer, thanks to his chariot. They might move faster. Shirou frowned.
"Should we keep going?" he asked and Karna was stymied for a moment. Should they keep moving on Kayneth and Lancer or abort and go to help Archer and Waver? And what had they run into? If Lancer had somehow met them the right thing to do would be to keep going and break into the –
Then the decision was taken out of their hands.
Children, a familiar voice said and Karna sighed to himself. If Lancer was here, something else was threatening Archer and Waver. The sense of threat hadn't gone away either so they were still fighting, which meant it wasn't Kayneth. Another Servant? Karna glumly decided he couldn't count on Archer anymore. Well, that was how things went sometimes. Please leave, I have no desire to fight you.
"That's too bad because fighting is what we are here for," Karna announced, unhitching Aruna from the chariot with a mental command. He wouldn't be using it, he would leave Shirou in it for the time being. "You have to fight me or I'll turn your base into a cinder." He would too. It wouldn't even take that much. There was an uncomfortable silence before Lancer materialized.
"I am sorry, but there is simply no honor in this. I cannot do it," Lancer said firmly and Karna's eyes narrowed. He wasn't going to say it – he knew it was a great advantage for him – but being treated like a stupid little kid was starting to really get on his nerves.
"Then you can die," Karna said before letting his wheel of fire form behind him. It was deliberately under-powered though, to confuse Lancer. Be ready Shirou!
I'm ready Karna! Shirou sounded excited and scared at the same time and Karna smiled to himself as he launched his attack. Mana burst after mana burst, which Lancer dodged easily, but Karna had other plans as well. He drew his little dagger and ran in, confident in his agility. He couldn't block a blow from Lancer – his strength was E rank – but he could dodge those spears well enough.
"Rider, stop this insanity!" Karna ignored that, just waiting for the right moment. The red spear was also deflecting his mana burst. He had to make sure that didn't happen when he found the opening.
It came, as Karna had known it would. Lancer wasn't taking him seriously despite Aruna. And Karna wasn't using Aruna right now, she was standing by the chariot, watching with Shirou. So maybe it made sense that Lancer wasn't taking him seriously but it was a huge mistake.
"TRACE ON!" Shirou activated his circuits, mana flooded Karna and he hit Lancer with a MASSIVE mana burst. If it had hit dead on, Lancer would have died. But instead it took a large chunk out of his chest and Karna heard Lancer gasp before choking. That had gotten part of his lung and Karna exulted, even as he ducked a red spear before leaping over a golden one.
"You…!" Lancer was suddenly serious and Karna smiled as he began using Shirou's mana to it's fullest. It was a steady stream, warm and filling him with strength. He had to be very careful of the red spear, it could cut through mana bursts, but the gold one couldn't and Karna was very skilled at anticipating an enemies' movements.
It might take a while but Karna was confident that he could bring Lancer down.
An extreme threat upgrade, Kiritsugu thought, a bit bemused, as he watched the battle through a high resolution scope. Was Rider about to defeat Lancer, the Servant who'd almost ended Arturia Pendragon? He really thought the child might.
Master, shall I help Rider? Arturia asked and Kiritsugu sighed to himself. He knew she was highly intelligent but… really?
"No. If you attack Lancer, Rider will let you fight it out before attempting to destroy the winner." It was what Emiya would have done and he gave Rider the respect of assuming he'd think the same. "You may intervene if Rider is on the edge of defeat," Kiritsugu said, but only because he knew Arturia would disobey him if he didn't add that. And this wasn't worth spending a Command Seal over.
Yes Master, Arturia sounded unhappy and she didn't even know the full extent of his plans. It was time to get Sola-Ui and 'convince' Kayneth to exit the contest. Kiritsugu smiled darkly as he began the next stage of the mission.
If he accidentally saved Rider, that was fine. Saber's wound would be healed and Rider would be drained. At that point, his fate would be sealed and Kiritsugu would use a Command Seal on Arturia, if necessary.
Rider was worthy of it.
Karna was enjoying the battle when it came to an abrupt and shocking end.
Lancer's eyes suddenly widened and he stumbled. Karna was about to take advantage when Lancer turned his weapons on himself and plunged them into his chest!
"…?!" Utterly shocked, Karna leapt back and heard Shirou cry out in surprise. They both stared as Lancer wheezed, a thin trickle of blood dripping from his… eye? That was weird, he shouldn't be crying blood from an injury like that. You cried blood from snakebites. Karna had seen that once when he was younger.
Then more people came out. A man in a wheelchair, holding a woman with one arm and Karna suddenly knew exactly what had gone on. Beside them was a man smoking a cigarette and a really unhappy looking Saber. She didn't seem to be objecting, though, which was interesting.
"Do all of you really want… to win that badly?" Lancer wheezed out and Karna blinked. For himself, yes, absolutely. "You'd crush the only wish I have in my heart…" Yes, Karna would do that in an instant, although he had no idea what that wish was. "Do none of you feel any shame at all?!" Lancer was looking at his Master now and Karna wished he could engage his brain. Couldn't he see they were a mess of blood and lost limbs? How could they have done any differently?
"Stop, they are – " Karna tried but Lancer wasn't listening.
"I won't forgive you!" That was shouted at Karna and he stared. Lancer's eyes looked almost demonic now and he took a step backward, feeling… not bad exactly. But trepidation. "I won't forgive any of you – "
"STOP!" Shirou was out of the chariot and running over and Karna was utterly horrified. He tried to grab the child but he hadn't been ready for it and missed. Then Shirou was beside Lancer, touching him with one small hand. "I'll heal you, I'll make you better it's going to be okay really it is!" …Oh Shirou. Karna swallowed as he felt the little boy trying to do exactly that, with the one healing spell Waver had taught him. "I – I can do it! I can! I can!" No he couldn't. Shirou was activating all his mage circuits, bringing them to full power and pouring it into Lancer. All he was doing was prolonging Lancer's death, though, giving his mana core a bit more time before it dissipated. Lancer stared at the child and the horrible light left his eyes, making them brown again.
"Ah, child," he murmured, lifting one bloodstained, shaking hand and resting it in Shirou's hair. "You… make it… a little… better…" Then Lancer slowly vanished, his body vanishing into sparks. Karna swallowed hard, watching as the spears also dissipated. Oddly enough, it felt creepy and wrong to him. When someone died there should be a body to cry over, then bury. Karna would have buried Lancer and said nice words about him if he could have.
Then shots rang out and even though Karna knew Shirou wasn't the target, he scooped his Master up and deposited him into the chariot before looking to see what had happened. Shirou gasped softly beside him as they saw the woman fall to the ground, dead, and the other man was dying.
"Karna, what just…?" Shirou couldn't follow the events as the man pleaded to die. Karna easily figured it out.
"He forced them to kill Lancer, promising to let them go. But he lied," Karna said, even as the man calmly refused, saying he couldn't because of the oath he'd made. "He tricked them." It hadn't been an outright lie, but in spirit, it had certainly been an untruth. Karna disapproved. Wasn't cutting off her arm enough? Couldn't he have forced them to get on a boat or something? Suddenly the Saber moved and beheaded the man. Karna calmly watched as blood splattered and heard Shirou gasp.
"You… you terrible person! How could you do that to him? How could you do that to Lancer?!" Shirou said with absolute outrage and Karna frowned. This was a Grail War, you did what you had to, to win. "You're a bad person!" …That was so childish that Karna winced.
"Child, this is a war. You do understand that people die when they are killed?" The man with the cigarette asked before looking at Karna. His tone was respectful and all the more powerful for it. "Rider, please surrender your Master. He is too young for this contest. I will take him with me and adopt him, to raise with my little girl." Karna bit his lip, feeling a sudden unease. Mainly because he suddenly felt that Shirou was too young. Still, there was Archer and Waver, the couldn't just –
"I am NOT too young! I know people die, we were going to kill Lancer and I wasn't going to feel bad about it!" Karna suddenly felt better. Shirou didn't sound like a baby anymore, he sounded more grown up. "But you broke your word! A Hero of Justice NEVER breaks their word!" That was… exactly right! Karna straightened, feeling a great pride in his Master.
"He is right. A hero does not break their word," Karna said firmly and from the stricken look on Saber's face, she agreed. The man with the cigarette chuckled softly, without mirth.
"I never claimed to be a hero. Saber, eliminate the Servant and take the child. I WILL adopt him and raise him with my Ilya," he said and Karna did believe he was telling the truth this time. That was reassuring anyway, Shirou would have a place. Shirou set his face stubbornly as Saber stepped forward with only a small trace of reluctance.
"Trace on!" Karna felt the flood of mana and hoped Archer and Waver arrived soon. He could tell Saber wasn't favoring her hand anymore and he knew that meant Lancer's curse was gone. And she'd seen how he'd fought Lancer, Karna wasn't going to be able to put a hole into her before she got him.
Archer was his big hope now.
"Shiiiiiiit!" Waver hissed and Arjuna agreed.
The Assassins were delaying them severely. They were adept at hiding and striking from the shadows, and the heavy woods were ideal for their tactics where Gandiva was hindered. Still, Arjuna was getting them. Slowly but surely, they were vanishing under the weight of his arrows.
He and Waver arrived at the battlefield just in time to see something both glorious and ghastly.
Karna was mounted on Aruna and she was a beautiful thing of dancing flames, pure and radiant. His brother seemed to shine on her, filled with a beautiful light and Arjuna was dazzled by the sight. But also deeply concerned because in front of Aruna stood Saber (Saber? Where was Lancer?) holding her sword with both hands and an intense expression on her face. Instinctively, Arjuna felt the two combatants were about to give it their all.
He had no time to interfere. Aruna reared before launching herself at Saber, who lifted her sword. Saber's mana burst hit the horse of fire dead in the chest, blasting through it and knocking Karna from his perch. Her blade was about to slash down and even as Arjuna lifted his bow he knew he was too late –
And then the fiery remains of the horse flowed over Saber.
Arjuna stared, wide-eyed, as he heard her scream. It wasn't a fatal wound but she was reeling when the flames dissipated. There were thin trails of steam rising from her body and Arjuna could see her armor had protected her, but in the places it did not exist, Saber was badly burned. Her face had taken the worst of it and if he'd been feeling more sympathetic, Arjuna would have cringed.
As it was, his sympathy was non-existent and he immediately shot a half-dozen arrows at her. She managed to block them with her sword but Arjuna could see it was a struggle. Ah, she was having a hard time seeing, her face was already swelling so badly.
Then Saber abruptly dematerialized and Arjuna saw her scoop up her Master before beating a quick retreat. He was about to follow when he heard Karna's voice.
"SHIROU!" Oh gods. Arjuna turned as Waver scrambled down and ran towards the chariot. Karna was already there, lifting out the unconscious child. "Her mana burst, it clipped the chariot, it had to protect him but it took so much on top of what I was drawing I'm sorry Shirou I'm sorry, I'm sorry…" Karna sounded ready to cry and Arjuna swallowed, watching as Waver ignored him, bending over Shirou with intense concentration.
"He's overstrained his magic circuits severely. The fever is already bad and getting worse. We have to get him home right now, that alone could kill him," Waver said and Arjuna felt a bit of shock. This could be fatal? Although.
"Should we take him to a hospital?" Arjuna asked as Karna looked at them both, his eyes wide and full of fear. Arjuna had never seen a look like that on his brother's face before… oh, no, he had once. Just after his little boy had taken a stray arrow. Arjuna forced the memory away – it hadn't gone well, he would not have that as an omen – and watched as Waver shook his head.
"No, they could treat the fever but not the circuits, he needs both. Oh damn… Arjuna, I'm going to piggyback you again. Karna, get rid of anything that might be using mana. Arjuna will carry you both," Waver said and Arjuna knew that would be difficult, but doable, particularly if Karna clung to him. Karna nodded, dispelling his chariot. Aruna was already gone. Arjuna scooped up both children and Karna did cling to him but he noticed that Karna's grip was weak and he was shaking. His mana reserves were incredibly low now and Shirou could do nothing to replenish them. Glancing down at the child in his arms, Arjuna was alarmed to see how flushed he was, sweat already beading on his skin.
Arjuna could only pray the child would be well.
