Chapter Twenty-Five:Rise

"When, when the fires at my feet again. And the vultures all start circling, they're whispering, 'you're out of time' but still I rise. This is no mistake, no accident. When you think the final nail is in. Think again. Don't be surprised, I will still rise."

-Katy Perry, Rise

There is a thrill that accompanies the rare times when I must put effort into those I combat, to have some vague threat to myself on the field of battle. As opposed to the countless times when there is no need for it. Over the centuries I'd sometimes grown so bored with the motions that I lost as a result. It wasn't just pride that blinded me when I fell during the previous war, despite widespread belief. I lacked the interest in wasting energy knowing where any battle would end up.

Natsumi –

I frowned and threw up my hands, muttering the incantation to put a shield around us. A large shimmering wall flickered into place. Bigger than I'd meant it, and dome shaped over both of us, it didn't even flicker as more bullets bounced from its surface.

Power had curled through me like a river that had busted its dam, it had flowed out into the shield around us now. I looked at my own hands and back to Gilgamesh.

"See, I knew you could take care of yourself." He stated without as much snark as his voice would usually have, he'd been surprised as well. I heard people screaming outside of our little hide away. They were yelling orders to each other, sometimes being cut off by blades shot through them. He walked outside my shield and I was about to cry out but he glanced over a shoulder at me, red eye narrowing slightly as his armor shimmered into place around him. "Do not leave this safety."

It wasn't a suggestion. I paused without following him, as much as I would have liked to I knew it was unwise. The bullets could bounce from his armor but not from my clothes. Moments after he left the protection he blocked a charging Boudicca with another of his endless arsenal. She roared at him, turning and coming at him from another direction and driving him away from the shield. I wanted to watch but spells were hitting mine now, and it was beginning to flicker slightly, Gilgamesh hadn't been wrong that there were mages here. It felt a little like the whole of the organization had descended on me.

One sent a line of fractured light across the top of the dome, a screech of pained rage that matched the Servant nearby came with it. I knew that mage was my greatest danger, the Einzberg twin that had lived was running at me with another spell already in hand. My barrier wouldn't last without a backup so I had no time to watch my Servant fight, I had my own opponent to take care of.

The shield shattered just before a new one took its place. At least for the moment I was safe for a short while longer. Other mage attackers were more worried about throwing things at Gilgamesh than me, though it didn't seem to be doing them much good either way. I wasn't sure I liked him taking all the heat for me but I couldn't exactly complain right now. I was still trading spells with one of the most powerful mages alive, but then I wasn't anything to sneeze at…I was my grandmother's daughter after all. I refused to just bow down.

"You are only buying yourself moments. You'll never win. Not against the whole of the mage's organization, they'll always be more waiting. Did you think you'd get away with this? Summoning a forbidden Servant? Even when the war is over you'll never have any peace." She was hissing at me while working on a shield of her own.

Was Gilgamesh forbidden? That wasn't in any of the rules I'd read. Certainly, there was a need for a catalyst to summon a Servant, that was by the basic rules of magic involved in the grail war. However, no one had ever said that summoning a supposedly dead Servant was off the table. Was there more to it or was she simply bitter that she'd lost her twin in this process?

I took the time she was complaining and threatening to complete an aggressive spell before she could form her protective one. The birdlike white energy was almost blindingly bright and it slammed into her swiftly, knocking her backward across the entire field at the power behind my cast. She somersaulted wildly in the air like a rag doll slung from a catapult and slid for a while after she landed. I saw blood coming from her after the impact and she didn't move but judging by the wild screaming of her Servant nearby she wasn't dead. Berserker hadn't even flinched at her master's plight…then, sometimes it was hard to judge when it came to Servant's.

I stared at my hands in surprise, what was happening here? I shouldn't have been able to throw a spell with that much strength…I glanced toward Gilgamesh but he was laughing as he fought with Berserker, dodging, parrying and being parried on strikes of his own. He wasn't going to be offering any answers to my new list of questions right now.

I glanced toward where some of the other mages were beating on my shield after my incredible attack, raising my hand toward them and muttering the short incantation to shoot blackened projectiles of energy back at them. What I didn't expect was the targets or the forest, anywhere my energy hit burned so hotly it lit them on fire. What had happened to my magic? Was this because I'd fused my circuits with Gilgamesh? Was some of his power reflecting into mine? That was the only logical answer I had for this unexpected new development.

I didn't have time to consider it in detail now, gesturing and having to put another shield into place as the second started to crack. More powerful or not, I wasn't particularly fond of needing to take on this many opponents at once, it would still be a matter of time before they wore me down. I was trained in magic and even a little dueling but this hardly qualified. Hopefully Gilgamesh would finish his battle with Boudicca soon because it was a matter of time before one of the other mages got through…

Gilgamesh –

The mongrels could fight each other, I had something more rabid to deal with and while my pet's spells were strong it would have taken little effort for Berserker to wipe away the shield she'd created. Servants were always meant to be on a higher level than humans after all, that was why they were Heroic Spirits and not just normal humans. Well, that and the amount of mana they produced simply by existing. They were the energy to fill the grail after all…they couldn't be of a human level of power and accomplish that.

I laughed as the red-haired woman growled when I blocked her strikes, sometime by a blade in my hands, other times by blades that came from the gate of Babylon. What did she expect fighting me? Still, it was entertaining, her relentless stream of attacks swept away a modicum of the boredom I normally felt in fighting the majority of Servants. Yet, like most of her class, her lack of much rational thought tarnished her skill. I smirked as a few of my blades cut into her legs, holding her, however temporarily to the ground.

"I am curious." I remarked, watching her glare at me while grinning unconcerned at her ire. "You haven't released your noble phantasm; do you think yourself capable of defeating me without it?"

"Tch." The woman tore her legs free of my weapons and they faded to return to my armor for repairs, another of my blades bend in front of my face at the impact of her strike. Was that it then? Her legs were already nearly closed despite the wounds I'd caused. All Servants regenerated swiftly but hers was exceptional. Was she like Saber had been? Her Noble Phantasm always active to some degree in her exceptional reflects and regeneration. It was impressive, the only better I'd seen was Hercules himself but I doubted she would return from the dead. I jumped backward, and portals surrounded her, shooting at her from every angle.

"You will eventually run out of tricks! All men do." She cried out as the dust was clearing. She'd managed to parry any deadly strikes and was pulling weapons from her legs and arms. I chuckled at her, spending the time she was using to recover to glimpse Natsumi. She was battling well but her shield was starting to falter. I sent several blades into the mages, they certainly had no chance against them. I saw her send a shocked look my way but I only grinned more. This was the most fun I'd had in a while…then, I was also still full of energy.

"All this hissing, perhaps I should consider you a snake instead of a mongrel." I remarked as I glanced to where Boudicca was letting out frustrated sounds at being blocked by my blades at every angel. "Haven't you realized it yet? That I am beyond your ability to touch. I enjoy dancing with you well enough but my Master is struggling and I haven't more time to waste."

The fear that appeared in her was delightful. That moment of terrified realization where her defiant eyes rose in recognition of what she was about to see. At least, what she thought she was about to see. She began to back away when I raised my hand to draw out a blade, but it wasn't what she was hoping for. Ea had already been reintroduced to the world and I had no need to misuse her here, this man hating shrew wasn't worthy of her. Instead I caught her in Endiku, the Chains of Heaven she'd broken before but it had always taken her time. Still, they wrapped around her, pulling her body down and twisting her arms so she had to drop her spear.

"Ha, this only buys you ti…" She too had recognized that she was able to break through this attack but what she hadn't expected was for me to follow it with more blades. The combination of Endiku and my endless noble phantasms from portals would decimate her, had she really believed she would defeat me simply because I was a male? Foolish. Male, female, all mongrels too rabid would be put down if they stood against me regardless of something as trivial as gender. She didn't get to finish barking; her tongue was one of the many pieces her body lost in the attack.

Natsumi –

I saw several of the mages attacking me die as blades cut through them. Gilgamesh's ability for bloodshed and death was gory but also almost beautiful in the sheer effortlessness. It was incredible, and yet, I hadn't wanted this many people to die. I knew the Einzberg had to have been exaggerating but it felt as though the whole of the mages organization was already standing here against me now. I glanced back to the field of bodies, frowning at what had happened. I swallowed at the view of it, the blood was caked into the ground where the mages had first started attacking, it had dyed the grass beneath them crimson.

I wanted to call out to Gilgamesh, order him to end it now so less would die. I'd even opened my mouth but then I was blasted to the side, energy curled cruelly over my skin and my side where the blast had it was radiating waves of pain that made me feel nauseous. It was only a moment later I realized I'd been tossed backward, well away from where my shield had been. A familiar laugh drew my eyes, the Einzberg, whatever twin that remained, was fine now. She must share her Servant's swift regeneration. I was aware of many golden portals in the air where Gilgamesh was fighting but I couldn't look at them. Instead I was caught by the vicious gaze of the wizard walking toward me. She was already chanting again and I struggled to get a spell of my own in place.

"You think that's enough? You think this little gambit of yours matters? I'll hunt you to the ends of the earth." Clearly, she wasn't happy we'd killed her sister.

Dizzy. It was difficult to concentrate after I'd been tossed so far, with the pain that seemed to be spreading out further from my chest. At least one, if not several, of my ribs were certainly broken. It was more my newfound power than personal skill that I managed to construct anything before the next series of blasts hit. The shield I had formed was far lesser than the last few and it fell almost immediately to the strikes. I grit my teeth and wove my hands again, pushing the pain away. I had survived being Gilgamesh's master, I refused to die to a damn uppity homunculus on a vengeance kick.

My aggressive spell bounced off of one of hers but it was near her, driving her back. I smirked at her frustration and wove my fingers again, the syllables of the spell pouring out of my mouth now that I was waking up again. She couldn't match my next spell and it hit her near center, throwing her backward again but I followed with more of the black projectiles so she was on fire by the time she hit the ground. It was close to the time I heard an explosion from nearby, I could guess Gilgamesh was making short work of his own opponent and couldn't help but smirk, being on the field with him was intimidating at first, and still painful, but it was sort of thrilling. The mages were on the run now…they must have realized it was pointless since I didn't see any more blasts hit my shield. Was this bloody field the end of this grail war then?

All that was left was to make a wish…

End Chapter

Just one more chapter for this story, just gotta find time/my muse to work on it. Whew, getting there. Almost done!

-Aura

To my reviewers:

Thanks to everyone that's stuck with my story so far. Anthem – I feel you on the Boudicca thing, still irritated by it whenever I see her in FGO. I've started calling her Boobica.