Chapter 7

Nightfall.

Kiritsugu sent Arthur on ahead. Before escorting his wife to the Tohsaka house, with Maiya trailing invisibly behind, he made his final demand: Irisviel would not need the scabbard where they were going. Complying, her eyes betrayed no hesitation—she had, after all, been raised on his dream—but, perhaps, a little regret.

The moon rose as the servants and masters arrived at the place selected for the tourney. At midnight, Arthur gave the signal, and battle commenced.

The result of the melee was perhaps a foregone conclusion, given its literary antecedents. In the end, Sir Lancelot stood alone on the lawn, the sparks of light that had been her fellow combatants vanishing into the air.

Her long hair stringy with sweat, and supporting herself out of exhaustion on her sword, Lancelot looked over to the side of the lawn where the masters waited. She saw them in a commotion: the pale woman had collapsed, and the men were arguing with increasing violence. Someone had grabbed her master by the shoulders and was shaking him, and she was about to leap to his defense when the world changed.

Lancelot had never seen the true Grail in life. Its reflected light was all that she was granted, and even that was more than she had ever hoped to receive. What she saw now was far different from that long-ago vision.

There was a vessel, yes, but somehow, it was at the same time a human figure. It seemed to her that she saw Guinevere appear before her, but as she reached out her hand, the image fell into dust and was gone. Emerging from behind the image was Arthur, whom Lancelot had seen vanish not fifteen minutes before. Arthur's face was briefly contorted in an uncharacteristic smirk, before she, too, fell to dust.

Turning at a sound, Lancelot saw the pale woman. "A servant, then," the woman said. "Do you have a wish of your own?"

"I but fulfill my master's will," said Lancelot.

"How many loyal servants like yourself have shed their blood on my behalf, willingly or unwillingly. You know I shall need your life, as well, to bring this miracle into the world. What would your master ask for?"

Lancelot kept her mind focused on Kariya's instructions, and spoke. "It seems that whatever power you have comes from bloodshed. I pity any who would wish for 'world peace' or an 'end to famine,' for I imagine you would kill any human capable of causing harm to others or feeling hunger... But I do have a fitting target for your rage: the foul magic of Matou Zouken! That is my master's wish: the total extermination of those insects, in whatever form they have taken!"

"This will I do. Now return to your appointed place."

Lancelot fell.

The moon shone blood red.

Beside the now-empty field of battle, Tokiomi was shaking Kariya by the shoulders. "Why didn't you tell me!" he shouted. "I could have helped you! I could have saved my daughter!" He was shocked into silence when Kariya's body became painfully hot, forcing him to let go. Tokiomi backed away just before Kariya was engulfed in dark flames, and he watched in horror as something seemed to bubble out from the other man, distorting his features and causing his limbs to jerk erratically.

An eerie screech suddenly split the night. It seemed to come first from deep below the earth, and then to echo through the city, taking on a buzzing overtone as it spread from the hills down to the river.

Tokiomi watched the flames die down and vanish as mysteriously as they had appeared. Kariya's remaining eye was open and staring, but there was almost something proud in his expression as the last echoes died away, and Tokiomi realized that his one-time rival was no longer breathing.

Elsewhere.

A little girl woke up in the middle of the night, having dreamt of a terrible pain that was even now passing away. She could hear the sound of people moving about in the neighborhood and snatches of conversation, but she had fallen back asleep by the time the doorbell rang and her father went down to answer it.