Chapter 19: Together with you
The time I had spent in Chaldea had been exactly one year, just a single year, but it was enough to change my life forever.
I experienced things that far surpassed my wildest dreams: I saw ancient civilizations in their zenith; met incredible people that with time began to call me their friend, and even fell in love for the first time in my life.
However, there were hard times too.
There wasn't a single day that I didn't feel the crushing weight of humanity's fate on my shoulders. I was constantly tormented with nightmares of "Solomon." I saw him ripping me apart with a move of his hand; I saw Chaldea and my friends falling before him over and over again. I felt that any mistake on my part could spell the end of everything.
But as chaotic as that year of my life was, I had learned to accept it, as well as my role in all that. I was the last Master of Humanity, the one that had to stop Goetia and secure the future of the Human Order. That was my role, and nothing would have ever changed that.
Or so I thought.
Looking back, perhaps I was just deluding myself, trying to pretend that as long as we were together, as long as we fought with all our strength and spirit, we would be able to face any challenge Goetia might have stored for us.
What I had forgotten was that time was also our enemy, because time didn't wait for anyone. Everything must come to an end sooner or later.
I was reminded of that fact the day Roman finally told me about Mashu's condition.
As a designed baby, she was closer to a homunculus than a human; her lifespan was limited, and it would come soon to a natural end, in no more than a year from then on. Humanity didn't have a future past 2016 due to Goetia's actions, but even if we stopped him, Mashu still wouldn't live much longer than that. Her fate was unavoidable.
But did that stop me?
No, in fact, it had the opposite effect.
That day, I confessed my feelings to her; all my doubts had disappeared in an instant. Time was no longer a luxury we could afford to let slip by. I didn't want to waste a single moment with Mashu, because I loved her, and I wanted nothing more than for us to be together, no matter if it was for one year, one month, or just a single day.
So when we set foot in Goetia's time temple and headed towards the final battle, I knew what I wanted: I wanted to live and see the dawn of tomorrow with her. I wanted us to leave Chaldea and travel to Japan. I would have taken a part-time job so we could rent a small apartment and live together. I wished to show her around my neighbourhood, visit my parent's house, and introduce her to them as the person I had chosen as my partner.
It could be said that it was Mashu the one that gave me a far "realer" purpose. Stopping Goetia and saving the human order became a stepping stone for me to achieve my true goal, to live what remained of her life together. Even if our time was limited, I was prepared to spend every single moment of it with her until the end.
But even that bittersweet end was robbed from us when she died at the hands of Goetia, and I was inexplicably transported to a foreign world. A world with no one waiting for my return, no home to come back, no family to receive me, and no friends to hug and cry.
I was alone.
The only thing that remained of that journey were my memories, those precious moments when I hung around with my Servants or got caught by their antics. Those times I talked animatedly with Roman, shared a coffee break with Da Vinci, spent a free afternoon with Mashu…
That moment Roman gave back his ring, his original self, to stop Goetia, knowing full well what would happen to him.
That moment Mashu sacrificed her life to shield me from Goetia's Noble Phantasm.
Those memories, the memories of their sacrifice, were the only thing that allowed me to get out of bed every day. I wanted to be strong for them, so their sacrifice would mean something even if my old world was no more.
But I wasn't.
I wasn't as determined as Mashu, nor I could keep up with the intelligence of Da Vinci or the leadership Roman evoked. I couldn't even stand side by side proudly with my Servants on the battlefield. I was just an average guy, one that could be found anywhere. I wasn't as strong as them; there wasn't a single day I didn't wish I could go back and relive those moments again, no matter how many years passed or how older I got.
That was my wish… but what was in front of me wasn't what I wanted; the girl in front of me that looked so similar to Mashu wasn't her. She was nothing but an illusion created by the enemy to trick me, a fake, a false image of her.
That's what I kept repeating inside my head, but my eyes were locked on her figure. I couldn't turn away from her, no matter how much I tried.
"Senpai." She slowly extended her hand to caress my cheek; I couldn't stop her. "Why are you crying?"
"Crying?" I brought my hand to my face and just then realized tears were, in fact, running down my cheeks. "No, this is..." I tried to hide my face from her. This affected me more than I thought. I needed to focus; she wasn't really Mashu, she wasn't her!
"Senpai..." She said as she wiped away my tears. "You can tell me what happened; you know I am always willing to listen."
"Don't speak as if you understood me! You are not-" I tried to take her hand away but stopped as I touched it; even her softness was the same as I remembered. Touching her hand was just like touching hers so many years ago.
"You felt lonely, didn't you?" She asked.
I looked away; I didn't have the strength to deny that.
"You have been suffering the weight of your past alone, unable to tell anyone what you went through, incapable of sharing your pain or showing your wounds." She showed me a smile I had not seen in a long time. "But I am here now, Senpai. You'll never be alone again."
She quickly saw right through me; even if I wanted to deny it, I felt like she would immediately know it was a lie. Yes, my life in this world had been lonely and aimless. I told myself every day that I had to continue living, but more often than not, I felt myself wavering. I felt myself daydreaming about the past.
In a world where no one knew about me, what was my purpose? What was the point of continuing living, just for the sake of living?
"Never?" I finally asked.
"Never again." Her words almost made my heart stop; I had wished to hear them for years. Maybe that's why I could do nothing as she got closer to me and placed her head against my chest. "We'll be together once again."
She wrapped her arms around me in a hug, and for a moment, it was as if everything went back to how it used to be.
I was slightly taller now, but that was as far as the differences went. Everything else was the same. The warmth of her body against mine was the same, the rhythm of her breathing was the same, the sound of her heart beating in her chest was the same. She wasn't Mashu, but she was the closest I had been from her in years.
Perhaps that's why I felt my eyes getting even wetter as she hugged me, and why my arms moved on their own to embrace her.
"I am sorry... I am sorry."I kept repeating as I hugged her tightly, my voice breaking with each word. "I am sorry." I knew she wasn't her, but kept apologizing anyway.
I am sorry, Mashu.
I am sorry for not being able to save you.
I am sorry for not being able to let you go.
"It's alright" She whispered between my sobs as she caressed my head. "Everything is fine now, Senpai. We can be together again. Together forever."
Together forever.
Yes, that didn't sound so bad.
It didn't sound bad at all.
We remained like that for a while, as close to each other as it was physically possible, together like one being. To be together like this with the person I loved again, to never be apart again. There wasn't anything I wanted more than that.
"So don't ever forget about it... although knowing how you are, I am sure you cannot actually forget."
However, those words still resonated in my mind. That voice, so familiar yet so alien at the same time, was right: I couldn't forget.
I couldn't forget what happened that day in the time temple, nor could I forget Mashu's smile when she turned to see me one last time.
Even if she looked like her, I couldn't forget that the person I was hugging wasn't her. Because Mashu was dead, and nothing would ever change that truth.
My hug slowly lost its force until I gently pushed her back.
"Senpai?" She looked at me surprised as if my actions were completely unexpected."Why?"
"I am not as strong as them; that's why I needed this." I began, wiping away tears."Even if I knew you were not the person I loved, I still needed that hug." I raised my head to look at her directly in the eyes. "I don't know what you are, a Siren or just an illusion created by the black cube, but I can't stay with you here. I am needed in the real world."
With that said, I slowly began to put some distance between us, our gazes stuck in each other's eyes until we turned to walk away.
"Senpai!"
She caught me before I could make a single step, her arms around me again.
"I don't want to be alone." She sounded heartbroken. "I want to be with you, so please… don't leave."
Hearing Mashu's voice speaking those words made my heart ache and destroyed me completely.
"I am sorry, but I can't live this lie with you. The maids-no, the entire Royal Navy, they trusted that I would destroy the black cube, and even if we have our differences, the least I can do is to fulfill that promise."
They were still out there, fighting against that Siren. I couldn't let them down, as a Commander and as a Master.
I took her hands away from me and continued walking. I could hear her sobs behind me, but I didn't turn back. I had to find my way out of this illusion and go back to the real world.
However, the sobs suddenly stopped at some point.
"Is this not enough for you?"
And I, too, stopped my steps.
"What did you say?" I turned around.
"This simulation is not limited to these parameters. If you so desire it, the black cube can recreate not only Mashu Kiryelight, but also Romani Archaman, Leonardo Da Vinci, and the multiple Servants that you came in contact with." The fake Mashu had a dead serious expression on her face; her worried and teary exterior had utterly disappeared in an instant. "You could see all of them again; that's what you want, right?"
I remained quiet for a few seconds until I could finally respond.
"So those are your true colors." I stared at her. Aside from her appearance, there were no traces of Mashu left; only an empty, soulless husk wearing her skin remained.
Purifier sprinted towards Alpha while her mechanic shark stayed behind and released a series of multi-colored energy discharges towards her.
Observer didn't move one bit as her octopus extended two of its multiple tentacles and rapidly deflected the incoming lasers as if they were nothing, while at the same time pointing its cannons towards the approaching Siren.
Energy shots were fired, but they only hit the floor as Purifier was just too fast for them.
"Ah!" The moment she was close enough, the crazy Siren leaped in the air and used her momentum to perform a descending kick directly on top of the octopus, where Alpha lazily lay.
"Heh." Alpha released a small laugh as she was forced to abandon her comfortable position on the octopus to avoid Purifier's attack. Unfortunately, the mechanical animal wasn't as lucky because Purifier's leg descended on top of its head and practically stomped it to the ground with a loud crash.
Purifier didn't waste time and tried to follow Alpha. She knew the Siren wasn't as strong as her in close combat; a couple of accurately landed hits would be enough to critically wound her.
"...!" However, she only could try because a slimy thing suddenly took her by the foot and stopped her down in the place. Alpha's mechanical octopus wasn't quite defeated yet. One of its tentacles had firmly tangled on Purifier and wasn't letting her go.
Purifier quickly threw a powerful punch towards the octopus's head, strong enough to pierce its black skin and expose the mechanical interior of the animal.
But that still didn't stop the octopus; in fact, it only served to get Purifier even more entrapped by its tentacles, which began entangling her fist and her other foot.
"Phyrna!" Purifier called her shark while she desperately fought to get away from the tentacles.
The mechanical shark dived into the air to help her but was quickly intercepted by Alpha.
"Be a good girl and die alongside your owner!" Observer punched the shark and sent it flying backward.
"Hey! Don't hit her like-" Purifier started until she realized the octopus had its cannons pointed directly toward her.
"Boom." Emoted Observer.
A bright light began to emanate from the cannon barrel, and Purifier's eyes shone as a powerful energy blast covered her body from head to toe at point-blank range.
Observer smiled pleasantly.
"Is that enough for you, my dear Purifier of humanity?"
The light disappeared to reveal a heavily wounded Purifier. Her body was full of black burn marks, and her breathing was ragged. Around her, however, lay the destroyed parts of the mechanical octopus.
"Ha…hahaha…haha." She laughed, but her laugh kept getting cut between exhalations. "I… I can do this all day!" The mad Siren raised her fists.
Observer Alpha could only smile at that.
Warspite was frozen in her place. She felt that any movement, no matter how small, would trigger a reaction from the 'Siren', who observed her with her dead eyes.
"If you interfere, you'll die as well." Was what those blue eyes wordlessly told. Even when the Siren wasn't interested in her, she wouldn't hesitate to kill her if she became an obstacle in her way.
"Perfect." Formidable made a step forward. "If you are only after me, then I have nothing to worry about; I'll fight."
"Formi, you…"
"I have done something unforgivable to the Royal Navy, Lady Warspite." She said with a sad smile, without looking at her directly. "The least I can do is to make sure you and her Majesty are able to leave this place alive. Don't worry about me and go, leave her to me."
Warspite looked at her in awe. Formidable's words were brave, but it was apparent that she was scared; even Warspite herself felt a chill running down her spine when she looked at the 'Siren.' However, Formidable wasn't deterred by it. She was ready to face such an enemy head-on.
"I am sorry for doubting you, Formi." The knight said and finally walked to stand next to her. "It won't happen again." She directed a fierce gaze towards the Siren. Her doubts were finally gone.
"Lady Warspite!? What are you doing!? You know that Her Majesty's life always comes first and foremost-"
"It's as you say, Formi. She is only interested in you. That means Her Majesty's life is irrelevant to her." Warspite affirmed, determined. "She is not the one in danger, you are." She gripped her sword with force. "And I won't leave you behind. What kind of knight would be if I leave one of the vassals of Her Majesty to fight an enemy by herself?"
"Lady Warspite..." Formidable could feel the resolution in the knight's voice. She wouldn't take a no for an answer.
They would fight together.
All this happened in front of Observer Zero, who seemed to watch them with utter indifference. However, once the two had decided to fight her even after her warnings, she showed the first sign of emotion.
She released a tired sigh which came out in a rather unnatural way, as if she wasn't accustomed to breathing normally.
"Foolish pawns."
We stared at each other for more than a couple of minutes. Her gaze lacked any kind of emotion whatsoever, as if her human exterior was just a façade and the real being was nothing more than a machine.
"I will repeat myself then: I can't live this lie with you, no matter how many of my friends you try to bring back!" I declared again, more determined this time.
Yes, I wanted to see them again. I wanted nothing more than that. But I wouldn't be able to live with myself knowing that I let the shipgirls die to live in a fake world.
"That won't be a problem." She said as if reading my mind. "Those memories can be easily erased."
"Eh? Erased?"
"With precise electric stimuli, the memories stored in the hippocampus can easily be modified at will. A current of 0.00001 Ampere would be enough, and the risk of a stroke or brain hemorrhage would be less than 0.1%." She calmly explained the process.
"Do you take me for a fool? I am not letting you mess with my brain anymore!"
"But you would be able to experience it again, Chaldea, as if it was the first time."
"What!?"
"The black cube can erase your memory up to the point you first came to Chaldea, those six years you lived in this world, your meeting with the Sirens and the shipgirls, it would be like it never happened." She opened her hands as if showing off the place. "In this simulation, you could relieve your time in Chaldea until the end, only to get your memories wiped and start from the beginning again."
"Are you saying... that I could experience all that as if it was the first time forever?"
"It would be an endless simulation of your past for the rest of your life, and you won't even notice it, a true paradise for finite beings like humans."
An eternal repetition of familiar events where nothing ever changes, a life of blissful ignorance. That's what she was offering to me.
"You are insane."
"The one you are talking to is not a conscious being. It can't be insane or sane." She explained. "Its only function is to integrate your body into the black cube by any means necessary.
"…"
I have talked with a lot of non-human beings in my life, beings that were once human, beings that just took their form, and some that were utterly alien to the concept of humanity, but this one, this fake Mashu, was completely different from all of them.
"Even if you can replicate them, you don't understand human emotion, right?"
She looked at me without saying anything, as if my words didn't make any sense to her.
"I see." I turned around. "I am leaving."
"Your actions contradict themselves." She said. "When you were hugging this one, you thought 'It wouldn't be so bad to be together with her forever,' so it makes no sense to reject this offer now. You wouldn't have to worry about anything else again. You'll be back with the people you left behind. Wasn't that what you desired?"
Silence. I didn't answer immediately.
"You have access to my memories, right?" I asked.
"To a certain extent."
"Then you should know why I would never accept that." I looked at her straight in the eyes. "Goetia wanted to create a world without the concept of death, a world without ends, a world with no tomorrow or today, a world without future or past, a world of stillness." I clenched my fist. "What you are offering me is what Mashu and I fought so hard to stop! Accepting it would be an insult to her, to all the people that supported me in Chaldea!"
"Guilty is irrelevant, those feelings would disappear as soon as your memory is erased."
"But I don't want them to disappear! Even if they hurt…they are the proof that they existed!"
"You would willingly choose to suffer, even if those very same feelings are the ones weighting you down. Your logic is flawed."
"Perhaps, but maybe those contradictions are what make me human. The fact that you can't understand that even after coming from the future tells me that maybe the Sirens aren't as advanced as I thought."
I didn't get a response nor did I need one, so I just walked away. I had nothing more to talk about with her.
She appeared in front of me once more, blocking my way.
"You are right. This one doesn't understand human emotions. However, that doesn't mean it can't use them. Love, hate, happiness, sadness or… fear." Upon saying that, a black liquid fell from her left eye, like a tear.
I instinctively stepped back.
"Magecraft is an undocumented phenomenon in the original timeline. Its effects in humans are largely unknown." Another black tear fell through her eyes; this time, it was from the right one. "Your biology should be that of the common homo sapiens, but overwriting your genome has proven impossible for unknown reasons. Something is stopping the cube from fully accessing it, something that might be related to your reluctance to join the Sirens."
More of that black liquid started to fall from her mouth as she talked. It was like she was vomiting black blood. A pool began to form to her feet; her steps leaving black footprints behind.
The corridor around us also began to change, the lights started to flicker, and the walls seemed to melt as if they were made of wax.
"If you aren't going to accept the black cube by your own will, then your will must be broken."
"It won't work. I know this world is not real. If you could hurt me, then you would have already done it."
"Killing you is not an option; however, you will soon wish you'll be dead."
The liquid started to pour from the pores of her face, from her ears, from the tip of her fingers. Her entire body, as well as her clothes, soon got engulfed in that dark liquid.
And from the black pool, something began to move.
Fear, she said.
I took a battle stance because I knew what was coming.
"You believe you can resist, but this is not a matter of strength. The human brain is a sensitive organ. It can be easily destroyed by normal means, but it can also be assaulted by suggestions and ideas… by fears." The fake Mashu tilted her head to the side, and for the first time a smile was drawn on her face. "And no one knows more about your fears than I."
Her smile grew larger and larger, to the point her face started to tear away, starting from the sides of her lips and revealing an additional series of teeth, as well as a long tongue, almost as big as the rest of her head. Her hair also felt quickly from her head, and her eyes were entirely covered by the black mud until they disappeared as if they had been absorbed by it.
The fingers on each of her hands fell apart, and her arms lost their shape in favor of larger appendages that ended in sharp spikes. Finally, her feet retracted as if they were not needed anymore, and the second pair of appendages came out of her back to function as another pair of legs.
Nothing remained of Mashu, and only a monster was left in front of me.
It was a Lahmu, a creature born from Beast II, Tiamat. They were created to replace the "old" humanity during the seventh singularity. Begins that knew no emotion other than cruelty.
"Do you think I would be deterred by that form? We defeated the Lahmu; we defeated Tiamat!" I chanted my aria of reinforcement, letting glowing green lines appear in my arms. "That form is just an illusion! A fake! It means nothing to me!"
The Lahmu released a strident laugh.
"I am real." The monstrosity pounced towards me, raising one of its hand-claws to impale there and there. "I am real to you!"
I jumped to the side and dodged the attack, and then prepared to hit the Lahmu.
That monstrosity was wrong. Yes, I once feared the Lahmu, but the one in front of me wasn't real; it was fake, like this world.
I clenched my reinforced fist and moved to give the Lahmu a powerful hit.
"Wha-?"
However, the moment my fist connected to its body, I froze. It did nothing to it, it didn't even flinch. Before I could further react, I was instantly swept by its legs-claw. The impact sent me flying towards the nearest wall as if I was nothing more than a ragdoll.
"A Lahmu is as strong as a Servant." It said, and its voice echoed in my head as if multiple people were talking inside my mind at the same time. "And humans can't beat Servants. As long as your mind is convinced of that idea, you won't be able to harm us, Fujimaru Ritsuka!
The Lahmu tried to jump over me, but I rolled to the side and evaded it. With difficulty, I stood up and tried to put some distance between us.
That's when I saw it; from the black mud more of those monsters were being birthed. Their appendages came out of the black pool, from the walls, even from the ceiling. I could not fight all of them, I had to run.
And so I did, I ran, I moved as fast as my reinforced legs allowed me while the world around me seemed to be completely invaded by the black mud and the Lahmu.
I was defenseless here; I had to wake up.
"Wake up, wake up, wake up, dammit!" I repeated, but it was futile. Two more Lahmus ascended from the floor and blocked my way.
I stopped, I was surrounded entirely. I had nowhere to run.
No, there was a door to my side; I didn't know where it led but anything would be better than my current situation!
So I smashed through the door, only to find a hopeless prospect.
"I see." I looked at the horror in front of me, unable to move. "She was just toying with me."
Two enormous eyes looked down on me; their pupils were x-shaped within blood-red sclera. The face vaguely resembled a woman, but the draconic mouth with thousands of teeth and the black and red horns between tuffs of light blue hair made it impossible to recognize her original humanoid form. As she appeared to me, she was closer to a dragon.
"AaAaaaAAaAAAAaaaaAa." Tiamat cried, and opened her mouth. Its teeth were as big as my whole body; even if I tried to run, I would not be able to escape.
"I never had a chance in the first place." I said as the mouth swallowed me whole, and my world became darkness.
Warspite sprinted towards the pale Siren, brandishing her sword in her right hand and preparing to hit her with a vertical slash.
Zero stood still until she was about to receive the slash.
"Deep wound on the right ankle, average speed reduced to thirty percent of its max output." She moved a bit just in time to avoid the slash. "Threat level: harmless."
Warspite didn't give up after just one slash and tried to follow it up with a series of swings towards the Siren. However, every single one of them failed to hit her by mere centimeters; the Siren wasn't even trying to fight back. It was as if her attempts were nothing more than child's play.
However, Zero's movements came to a sudden halt.
"Don't move an inch!" While Warspite kept pressuring her to dodge, Formidable had activated her ability, and not even one of the Siren leaders could resist it. "Lady Warspite!" The Royal Navy Carrier moved her sole arm and sent her drones towards the Siren.
"Understood!" The knight jumped back and manifested her rigging. Its cannons quickly pointed towards the frozen figure of Zero. "This is for Her Majesty!"
A combined attack of the drones and Warspite's cannons were released upon the Siren, creating a series of explosions with her as the epicenter.
The smoke had not fully dissipated when Warspite charged again towards it, waiting for the exact moment Zero's figure appeared beneath the black fumes.
She didn't have to wait for much though, with just a glimpse of the white fabric of Zero's dress, she could pinpoint her location and attack. The ability of Formidable should have still been in effect, so the Siren would not be able to dodge her this time.
And so the knight took the hilt of her sword with both hands and swung it with such power that the cleaving completely cleared the smoke from the area, revealing, at last, the complete figure of Zero.
There was not a single wound on her body, and Warspite knew why.
When her sword slashed through her, she felt it. Zero's body didn't offer any resistance to her sword, even though it had clearly passed through her; not even a drop of blood stained the blade. It was like she had cut the air itself as if there had never been anything there in the first place.
"What… are you?" Warspite asked before falling motionless on the ground.
Zero didn't even shoot a glance towards the knight and only gazed towards Formidable.
Then, she started to walk towards her.
"…!" Being unable to use her ability again in such short time, Formidable sent more drones towards Zero, but it was futile; as soon as they approached the Siren, they inexplicably stopped working and fell on the ground, their lights turned off as if their power had been instantly cut from them.
"Unauthorized experiment, number four-seven-eight-eight-five-four." Zero calmly walked beneath the drones in her path. "The wisdom cube in your unit has been compromised; cease of operation is imminent. Resistance is futile."
"My name is Formidable! I am not an experiment; I am a member of the Royal Navy!"As wounded and weak as she was, she tried to face the Siren. "And I will not fall without a fight!" The golden clock appeared behind her back as she tried to stop Zero one more time.
But she was too slow; Zero grabbed her by the neck with her pale hand and raised her above the ground. The golden clock vanished as Formidable tried to get Zero's hand from her neck, but she was too strong.
She was starting to suffocate when the Siren's grip weakened.
"I inquire," Zero spoke in a monotonous tone. "Do you hear the voice of The Creator?"
The ship girl didn't understand; why hadn't she killed her yet? Wasn't that her mission to eliminate her? Why ask such a question now? She didn't know who this "creator" was, but it wasn't necessary, she already had her answer.
"I only serve Queen Elizabeth the First." She fought to get those words out of her mouth while looking at Zero with conviction.
Zero's expression didn't change.
"Then die."
"Have you given up yet?"
A voice made me open my eyes, and I saw nothing but darkness.
I could not move, but I felt as if I was falling, slowly, in an infinite descent. It was as if I was sinking deep into the ocean, where no lights or sounds could reach me.
But "he" was there, the owner of the voice.
"Are you an illusion?" I tried to ask, but the sound of my voice was lost in the infinite sea of darkness.
"Fuhahaha!" He laughed; somehow, he seemed to have heard me. "Do you think I am?"
"No… I feel… as if I had heard your voice before."
"Fool, of course, my voice has reached you multiple times; you just weren't able to hear it until now." He chuckled. "Although our contract is over, it seems we are still connected by the thread of destiny, Master."
Master?
"Are you Da-?"
"Don't say it. You know I am no longer that man." He quickly interrupted me. "More importantly, I ask you again: Have you given up yet?"
I waited a bit before answering.
"No, I haven't."
"Then what are you doing lazing around here? Taking a break? Enjoying the view?" He asked sarcastically. "Didn't you promise those girls you were going to destroy that cube? Was that promise a lie?"
"No, I… I… failed." I recognized. "In the end, I couldn't win against the Sirens."
"HAHAHAHAHAHA! Failed? You? HAHAHAHAHAHA!" He cackled as if I had just told a bad joke. "You, Fujimaru Ritsuka, the one who saved the world, losing to a machine, a being without a soul? HAHAHAHA! Hilarious! What an amusing jest!" He stopped abruptly. "Tell me then, if you truly had lost, then are you ready to give on hope? Are you prepared to abandon those girls and descend to hell with me?
"I…"
"Are you ready to give up on your life after she sacrificed hers for yours!?"
"No!" I shouted. "I won't give up; I can't give up!"
"Then break this illusion and return to reality. Save those maids if you want; destroy that cube if you so desire it! All that is possible for you, savior of humanity, you only need to remember."
"To remember?"
"Remember what saved your life. And remember what was given to you."
What saved my life?
What was given to me?
"Mashu saved my life, and the shield was given to me."
"Wrong, there is more than that. Remember, search in the innermost part of your mind; the answer lays there."
Search…? The answer…? What saved my life? What was given to me?
What saved my life? What was given to me?
What saved my life? What was given to me? What saved my life? What was given to me? What saved my life? What was given to me? What saved my life? What was given to me?
Saved. Life. Given. Me. Saved. Life. Given. Me. Life. Given. Life. Given. Life.
Give life.
Life.
"…!"
And then, I remembered.
A torrent of images began to assault my brain. I saw myself in the Time Temple again, holding Mashu's shield as I blocked Goetia's attacks.
Goetia, he was no longer a monster; his form had reverted to that of a human, and his magic was slowly disappearing as his body crumbled, the same way his demons pillars lost their will to fight, and his temple collapsed on its own.
But even after losing everything, he still wanted to fight. I could see it in his eyes; he wanted to face me one last time before he and his temple were destroyed. Even if his plans were ruined, even if he would not gain anything by fighting me, he still stood on my path.
And I felt the same. After a year of living in constant fear of his shadow, after fighting so hard to stop his plans, and after watching the person I loved die by his hands, in that precise moment, I understood Goetia completely.
I wanted nothing more than to kill the bastard in front of me.
So I ran towards him as he released wave after wave of magical energy, every single ray of light was capable of killing me in a single hit, but they were nothing against Lord Camelot. I blocked every attack and advanced; each step brought me closer to my objective until we were almost face to face.
"GOETIAAAA!" I raised my fist, and he did the same, but only mine hit its objective.
I, a member of the human order, punched a former Beast straight in the face. I would have died just by being near him in the past, but at that moment, a single reinforced punch was enough to throw him on the ground.
I had won.
"It's my win, Fujimaru Ritsuka." He spoke to me, still lying motionless on the ground. "As hollow and nonsensical as it might be."
Those words made no sense to me, until I took a look at my body.
I had a hole on the right side of my stomach; an entire part of my waist was missing, leaving only a grotesque mix of bloody entrails.
I quickly tried in vain to stop the blood loss, but the vital liquid kept escaping my body like a river current. I felt a freezing cold running down my body, but I did not feel any pain; my brain must have turned off the nerves of my body to prevent the shock.
My vision started to blur, so I had to support myself with Lord Camelot to avoid falling. Breathing had become incredibly difficult, and my strength was gradually disappearing.
Eventually, my knees gave out, and I fell to the floor, but I still kept clinging to Lord Camelot.
"I didn't let it go, not even when my conscious faded away." I recalled.
"And at that moment, Fujimaru Ritsuka succumbed to his wounds and died alongside the fake king of magic and his temple." The voice said. "That's where the story should have ended, but that wasn't the case, was it?"
"No, dying in the time temple is different than dying outside of it. I remember being inside a void, much like this one, when a figure appeared before me."
And just as I had spoken those words, the same figure appeared again. It was too dark, so I couldn't distinguish its features, but I could never mistake his form.
"Fou."
"Do you finally recognize me?" It asked, in a voice far too humanlike for a small animal.
"Yes, I am sorry about before."
"He did the same to me; Master had become too fearful of mind tricks, fuhuhahaha." The voice found that funny, for some reason.
"It matters not. What matters are your memories, Master of Chaldea. Do you remember why I brought you back?
"Yes… because of her."
"Indeed. When given a chance, Mashu Kyrielight decided to relinquish my offer and opted to give that chance to you instead." Fou said, in a tone of mixed sadness and disappointment."To be so dedicated to a person, she must have loved you too much."
"I… I didn't deserve her."
"Yes, perhaps you didn't," Fou agreed but immediately added. "but that was her decision, and I respected it. So now, will you do the same? Will you keep on living the life she gave you? Or will you stay in this void forever?"
"I want to live." He didn't have to ask, I already had my answer. "I want to live the life Mashu gave me, for her and for me."
"So be it then." An azure and crimson flame lit behind Fou. "The only thing that separates you from your objective is this illusionary world." The flame quickly grew stronger and stronger, illuminating the dark void until I could see my body again. "You don't need my or this spirit of vengeance's help anymore; you only have to crush this world by your own hands."
"This is your mind, after all." The voice, who now looked like a man in a long grey cloak. "You could have escaped from the start; you only lacked the confidence to do so." He tipped his hat to let me see his red eyes. "You are not only carrying your own will, but your Servant's too. You are strong, Master. You can do this."
The bright light grew stronger until it blinded me completely.
When I opened my eyes, they had disappeared, and I found myself back in the room I was in before.
The monstrous Tiamat was still there, but she couldn't reach me; something was on her way. Lord Camelot stood still between us, creating a barrier that she could not break, no matter how many times she hit it.
I walked towards it and put my right hand on its handler.
"You never truly left me, right?" I took Lord Camelot, and I could feel it. I was unsure how, but I felt connected to it, as it was part of my body.
Yes, from the moment I came back, I was always connected to it, to this shield Mashu Kyrielight used to protect me.
It was time for me to use it too.
I raised the shield in the air, and the barrier hit Tiamat, who released a loud cried and disappeared in a cloud of dust.
The world around us also changed; the interiors of the fake Chaldea had melted completely, leaving a dark sky above me. The black liquid took the form of the demons that looked at me with their thousand of eyes, and a white throne ascended from the ground.
And there it was, Goetia.
"Don't you see it? This path you are following will only lead to suffering. Even if you manage to survive, those around you will eventually die." The fake Goetia spoke as if he felt sorry for me. "I offered you a world of true peace, the thing you desperately longed for. So why? Why do you keep rejecting me?"
"Because that's not living, accepting that would be no different than staying in that void for the rest of my life," I smiled. "and I also made a promise, and I am determined to fulfill it."
"Then you will die!" Goetia's formless face was then filled with rage. "You will die just like her!" He raised his blood-red claw to the sky, and the ring of light that filled the sky began to shine red and purple. "Deploying Third Noble Phantasm. The time of birth hath come; I am the remedy of eternity!"
In the end, it was all the same; he was still trying to use my fears against us. But I would not waver this time, because I knew I was not alone.
I placed Lord Camelot in front of me and held my ground.
"Fool! She could not survive it! So what makes you think you'll be different!?"
"It's true, against the real Goetia, I would have lost." I stared at him directly. "But against you, I have nothing to fear!"
"That reckless bravely will be your doom!" The black and red energy accumulated until it was ready to burst. "Now, burn just like Mashu Kyrielight did before! ARS ALMADEL SALOMONIS."
The monstrosity moved his arm, and the light descended upon me, but I stood still, with the shield in front of me, just like her at that time.
When the ray of red and black light collided against the shield, I felt a tremendous force pushing me back, trying to overcome me; the heat of the ray was enough to burn the skin of my hands and incinerate me completely.
But I did not move. I planted my foot firmly on the ground and resisted, because this was nothing compared to what she felt. Mere mind tricks would not move me anymore!
That's when I felt it: someone was behind me, but it was neither the Count nor Fou. Instead, they had a calm presence; they were someone that could brighten an entire room just by being there, someone whose mere existence gave me the strength I needed to continue fighting.
"I said 'sorry' before, but perhaps that wasn't the right thing to say."
She placed her hands on top of mine, and I no longer felt the force or the heat of Goetia's Noble Phantasm. I only felt the warmth of her touch against my hand.
"What I really should have said was thank you, Mashu. Thank you for everything."
She embraced me from behind, and at that moment, something changed inside me. I could feel an enormous amount of magical energy passing through my circuits and going toward Lord Camelot. A series of images, of memories, was shown to me. I saw Artoria and the knights sitting around the round table, I saw Galahad wielding the shield in battle, I saw Mashu calling its true name for the first time, and finally, I saw myself.
I knew what I had to do.
"I am Fujimaru Ritsuka." I tightened my grip on the shield even more. "I died once, but I came back, carrying the will of the person I love!" Magical energy began escaping from my body like tongues of fire. "That's why my determination will never waver!" And the shield started to glow with a powerful blue light. "Just like this shield will never break! Manifest yourself, Lord Camelot!"
The world trembled as the white walls of castle Camelot began to manifest around me; I could feel their strength, their sturdiness. Nothing would ever pass them, nothing would ever move me, much less that pathetic imitation of Goetia.
"Aaaahhhh!" The barrier of the shield grew larger and larger, to the point the ray that was supposed to incinerate humanity became a small light beside it. It expanded like a dome, destroying the fake world and leaving only a white space devoid of anything.
"Impossible to continue accessing the subject's brain waves." The fake Goetia spoke in an uncharacteristic voice, a monotonous and unemotional tone. "Objective failed." Those were his last words before he too was turned into dust by the barrier.
The world of lies created with my memories, fears, and dreams was destroyed, turned into dust. Everything that was left was me standing in the nothingness, with Lord Camelot by my side.
"Are you satisfied, Purifier?" Observer Alpha wiped off a drop of blood that fell down the side of her mouth.
"Hahahahaha." The insane Siren laid in a pool of her own blood, with a smile on her face; her laugh was not as loud as it used to be. "You know I will never be satisfied, Alpha. Even if you kill me now, I will eventually come back. The one and only Purifier can't be stopped with something as mundane as death! Hahahaha!"
"My dearest Purifier." Alpha walked towards the fallen body of her co-worker, and kneeled beside her. "You keep trying to kill me, even though you know it's futile. How many times does this make it? One hundred thousand? Two hundred thousand?"
"One hundred seventy thousand, eight hundred and five exactly." Purifier raised her head a bit and whispered. "And I would do it again."
"I see." Alpha's hand gently caressed Purifier's bloody hair. "I look forward to it, then." She raised her hand. "Until the in the next simulation." She moved her hand to pierce her chest when a sudden pain assaulted her core and made her stop.
Alpha brought her hand to her own chest; she wasn't familiar with this type of sudden pain. Was there something wrong with her cube?
"You felt it too, don't you?" Purifier asked, her smile remaining unchanged despite the pain.
"Something must have happened inside the Siren network." Observer was about to create one of her holographic screens when she felt a presence behind her.
"Ah, I see." Observer Alpha stood up. "So you have finally woken up, Fujimaru Ritsuka."
She turned around to find the man just as how she remembered; despite the fusion with the black cube, he still looked pretty much like a human.
"Curious, your physical appearance doesn't seem to have changed." She eyed him from head to toe. "I don't feel your presence in the Siren network either, so I wonder, just what happened in your dreams? Did you see what you desire the most?"
"What I saw is of no importance right now." He quickly disregarded it, but it was apparent to Alpha that it must have been something important. "What matters is that I am finally here, ready to fulfill my promise to you."
"Hmm? What could you mean by that?" Observer tided her head, a bit confused.
"I mean this." Ritsuka extended his hand, and the black cube appeared on it.
For a second, Observer was almost surprised.
Almost.
"Fascinating, so you are able to control the cube that much already." She narrowed her eyes. "Tell me, have you seen the truth, Fujimaru Ritsuka? Can you hear his voice whispering inside your mind?"
He shook his head.
"You are mistaken. I am still human." He put the cube between his hands. "However, I have heard your proposal of joining the Sirens, so I have to properly answer you."
"Hmm?"
"This is my answer." Ritsuka closed his eyes and intoned a mantra that Observer had not heard before; glowing green lines soon appeared in both his arms and legs. Then, while staring directly at the Siren, he began to press the cube with both hands.
"Wait, what are you-?"
Before Observer could do anything, the black cube was crushed between Fujimaru's palms; its black fragments fell on the floor one by one, and Purifier would forever remember Observer's face, even across timelines.
"I told you I was going to destroy it."
Observer didn't say anything for a while; she just looked at the glass fragments of the black cube scattered on the floor. She then lowered her head, her long white hair obscured her face.
For a moment, I thought that I had finally managed to get the upper hand against the Sirens.
"Ha…ha…hahahaha!" That thought, however, was quickly disproved as I heard her laugh. "HAHAHAHAHA!" It was the laugh of a maniac, no different from Purifier's. "Marvelous! Fantastic! You are the first human to ever break a black cube with his bare hands! To be the first after so many trillions and trillions of humans to do it…!" She devoured me with her golden eyes. "I wonder what other thing you can show me." She rolled her tongue against her lips.
I stepped back. Her excitement was frankly unnerving. Also, perhaps it was just my imagination, but I could almost feel lust mixed in that gaze.
"However." Her gaze turned to one of superiority as if me breaking the cube was in her plans all along. "You didn't think it would be that easy to destroy one of the centerpieces of our technology, right? Fu-ji-ma-ru?"
"What!?" I quickly looked at the broken cube beside my feet.
The broken pieces had started to slightly move, gathering in one place as if they were magnetized. Soon the pieces began to form the cube back until the artifact was as good as new.
"…!" I moved to hit it again, but it quickly floated towards the hands of Observer.
"It was a good try, regardless." She started to approach me again. "If nothing else, you showed us that you are a far more precious resource that we had imagined." She pointed her hand to me, the cube floating on top of it. "What do you say if we try it aga-"
Observer couldn't finish her question as a black foot hit her from the back and sent her flying a few meters to the right.
"Alpha, I like you, but you talk too much!" Purifier descended in front of me, looking proudly after delivering such a high kick towards her fellow Siren. When her gaze finally turned towards me, a cheerful expression appeared on her face. "Fujimaru! I missed you!" She leaped towards me in what seemed to be an attempt to hug me.
"Stay away!" I stepped back and adopted a battle stance. "Purifier!"
"Come on!" She puffed up her cheeks as if she were a small kid. "Is that how you greet an old friend after being apart for so long?"
"I am not your-" I began but immediately realized it wasn't worth trying to talk with her. I needed a way to protect myself against these Sirens, so my gaze naturally searched for Lord Camelot.
And there it was, nailed in the wall after my fight with the Admiral, just where I had left it.
The moment I laid my eyes on it, a strange feeling invaded me. It was as if I could reach it just by extending my hand despite being meters away. Could it be…?
"Oh right, you forgot this." My thoughts were interrupted as Purifier threw something at me, which I caught it in a reflex.
"Why are you giving this to me?" The black cube was again in my possession.
"Well, you wanted to try breaking it, right? So are you just going to give up after one try? Pfff, that's not the Fujimaru I know." She said that totally convinced, even though we hardly knew each other. "If someone can destroy a black cube, then that's you, my friend!"
"Oh, but I can't let you do that." The voice of Observer came from afar, followed by a barrage of violet lasers directed towards me.
Purifier moved in front of me to block the attacks, and I jumped back. But as I did, I could see an enormous cloud of black smoke gathering inside the room. It moved like it had a mind on its own and passed by Purifier to move directly towards it.
In an instant the black cloud was almost on me, it compressed itself as it approached, forming a white hand stretching towards me. Soon, the rest of the body followed and Observer was formed, staring as if she was just a step away from victory.
"Got you!"
Time appeared to slow down as her hand got closer and closer to me. I knew I had to move, to get away from her grasp, to run like I always did.
But I did not move, because I felt it. I felt as if the shield was just next to me, waiting for me to hold it to stop the Siren's charge.
"I did not feel it before, but you were always next to me, right?"
I focused my magical energy on my free hand; I knew where it was, but I needed it on my hand at that moment. If what happened in my dreams was real, if that connection I felt was actually real, then it would come in my help.
"Come to me, Lord Camelot!"
The circuits in my arm burned, as if hundreds of needles were driven directly in my veins. However, the pain was nothing compared to the warm handle of the shield, as it materialized in a burst of blue light in my hand.
Without losing a second, I moved my hand, and the shield struck Observer's figure as hard as I could. The Siren was taken off guard; her grab was deflected, and she was thrown to the side.
She landed on her feet and then touched the side of her face I had hit.
"Are you truly human?" She asked, her expression dead serious.
"…I am."
She didn't answer, but the maniac smile that was drawn on her face was enough response. She seemed to want to charge at me again, but Purifier got in her way.
"He is mine." She raised her hand as if to separate us. "Only I get to play with him!" She looked back at me. "Now, why don't you start working on that cube, hmm? I want to see it go 'KABOOM!' before I kill her!"
"Purifier…"
Why was she helping? Was there even a reason, or was she doing it just for "fun"? I couldn't know, but I had learned not to question Purifier's actions anymore.
"This doesn't change anything between us."
"So you say, but I assure you, you'll be glad to have me as your friend." And with those words, she turned back to Observer."Now, what do you say Alpha, are you ready for the final round!?" The Siren asked, excited, opening her arms to summon a horde of drones.
"Fufufu, you truly don't give up, Purifier. I really should have killed you long ago!" Observer raised her hand, and the mechanical octopus appeared by her side.
But I couldn't afford to get distracted by their battle; for better or worse, Purifier was actually buying me time, and I wasn't going to waste it.
I nailed Lord Camelot to the floor and kneeled down behind it to protect myself from the crossfire. Then I carefully looked at the black cube. There was no apparent change in its form or cracks on it; it was as if it was never destroyed.
I applied some force until I made a minor fracture on its surface; however, the crack disappeared after a couple of seconds.
"So I can't brute force it." Even if I had the strength to crush it again, it would just repair itself. Either every piece must be reduced to dust at the same time or the mechanics behind its self-sustain should be stopped.
I had no way of doing either of that.
Or did I?
I put the cube on the floor and placed my hand on it.
Emiya said that adding your magical energy to a complete object was like poisoning it; the foundation of reinforcement was understanding the internal structure of the object and channeling the magical energy into the small available open spaces in them.
I laughed.
"Fortunately, I don't have the slightest idea how this thing works." I closed my eyes and began to visualize the object in front of me. I saw the vague shape of a cube, but I could not distinguish its insides; its image blurred out whenever I tried to take a careful look. Regardless, I began to pour my magical energy carelessly into it.
Sorry, Emiya, but I was going to do the exact opposite of what you taught me.
When I opened my eyes, I saw no immediate change until the black light inside the cube attained a greenish tint. Then, the cube started to move by itself, vibrating in its place very slowly at first, but increasing its frequency with each passing second, to the point I had to withdraw my hand.
What started as a small vibration became a violent shake as if the cube was fighting to get rid of my magical energy inside it.
"What you did to me is what I'm doing to you. So enjoy it, you piece of junk."
The cube did not respond but was shot in the air and remained there, floating. Then it began to shine with a black light, only for another cube to take form from within it. The two cubes were identical, but they shook in different directions while also occupying the same general space at the same time, it was as if they were trying to move away from each other, but were stuck.
Then another cube appeared in the same space, then another and another, the group of cubes moved more violently with each addition.
However, the strange spectacle got cut short as a black and yellow shark came out of nowhere, swallowed the cube whole and promptly left behind as quickly as it came, leaving a hole in the ceiling.
"Purifier!" I looked at the Siren, only to find both her and Observer with a knee on the ground as if they were in pain.
"I told you that you would be glad." Purifier said with a grin.
I did not understand her words until a powerful sound reached my ears.
Purifier's shark swam through the air, breaking through each military base level as if everything in its path was made of paper. It continued moving upwards after leaving the base and ascended in the air as fast as it could.
It had barely reached the stratosphere when the cube finally imploded on itself, sucking everything around it, including the shark, and forming a small ball of yellowish energy, which stayed in the air for a few seconds until it expanded and exploded, creating a massive expansive wave and illuminating the night sky, to the point it could have been easily mistaken as daytime for a second.
The black cube had finally been destroyed.
END OF CHAPTER 19
AN: Longest chapters up to date, also probably the most difficult to write as it took me three months. Hope it was worth the wait and you guys enjoyed it.
Next chapter is the end of the arc, for sure. It would have been in this chapter if I wasn't pressured by exams, really.
As always, thanks to Fleece Johnson for the PR, and Lower Black for the Quality Check and making sure everything looks neat despite the fact that surely F F . net messed up with the format in some way.
Important: the site is working like shit again, and notification might not be sent to people following the story, so I will probably re-upload this chapter once that's fixed.
Discord where we talk about dumb things: discord. gg / kvRCbruzaT (erase the spaces, obviously)
I am feeling like a youtuber announcing everything at the end of the video, so I stop here. See you in the next chapter.