I swear, I'm going to strangle him next I see him! That… that… that rat faced bastard! Leave Berserker to me? Leave Berserker to me?! What the hell do you mean 'leave Berserker to you'?! Why the fuck are you out here provoking Berserker in the first place?!
Another roar by Berserker. Another thunderous bang. Daring to look over, large chunks of rubble from the road was easily spotted, scattering wildly. Before it all could come raining down, potentially damaging the surrounding houses, red streaks of light intercepted them, reducing them to clouds of dust. Ugh, to be receiving assistance from Archer, even in a form like this… Admittedly, ignoring my wounded pride, it was definitely fortuitous that Archer was dealing with it; no way Lancer could deal with both Berserker and collateral.
"Lancer, status!"
"Not looking so pretty master, no going to- huph! …I've fought monsters before, but this is- is something else!"
"Fall back; keep Berserker on the road, away from the houses."
"I get the need to regroup, master, but- …but where to?!"
That was the problem, wasn't it? I didn't know where Johnathan was, or even where Nathan was anymore. Hell, I didn't even know which direction we were running in! Could barely see shit as is in the blackout, and it wasn't like I had the city streets, and how they all connected, memorized!
A flash of purple light off in the distance would provide me the answer. That flash… that had to have been from Saber! If we could join up with Saber and Johnathan, then-
"Those flashes, Lancer! It's Saber's lightning; use that as your guide!"
"Not exac- …exactly easy to do, but I'll make it wo- Oh no, get away from-"
A loud, ripping sound, and a moment later I could make out a large object sailing through the air. It took multiple arrows from Archer to shatter it to bits. Upon contact by Archer's arrows, a loud crack echoed through the night, momentarily drowning out the sirens.
Lancer, what was-"
"Just ripping trees out of the ground now! Even with Archer's support, master, this can't go on much-"
"Sortiara! Get back here, you damn coward!"
Damnit!
"Whatever you can do Lancer! Just keep falling back!"
I took off running again as Zach and his… creations… came into view at the end of the street. I'd been hoping for more time to form a proper plan of attack, but clearly that wasn't going to be allowed to happen!
"Buzz blades!"
Manifesting four blades, I fired off at the two flying… whatever the hell they were. I had quickly come to realize from the first batch that twice the number of blades were needed to deal with them: one blade to distract, the other to land the killing blow.
As with the previous time, upon contact with the blades, the flying things exploded into what I could only describe as a black, tar-like substance. It bubbled and popped where it pooled on the ground, and a dark purplish haze steamed up from the pools. What kind of curses Zach had used to fashion these things I had no idea. Seeing how it bubbled, combined with how Zach was acting now… I had no desire to find out.
"Have you lost your damn mind" I shouted back at Zach, using air step to get out of reach of the hound-like ones. "Berserker's tearing up the entire city!"
"I don't care! Whatever it takes, so long as I take you with me!"
"Buzz blades!"
Now safely out of reach, I took aim at Zach. As the blades shot through the air, the hounds leapt to the defense of their master, intercepting them and exploding into more pools of black liquid. In response, Zach muttered a chant that was incomprehensible. Purple haze similar to that rising from the black pools rolled out of him, coiling and taking the forms of more grotesque creatures.
"I can keep this up all night" he boasted, irritating smile forming on his face. "You never could go the distance against me!"
"Care to put that to the test" I snorted, glaring down at him.
"You're so full of yourself, lording over the two of us just because you could control the wind! Noble element my ass! You're just a clown out of her depth now that the rest of the pitiful circus is gone!"
The rest of-
"You dare-" white-hot anger flared through me.
"No wonder that pathetic loser managed to worm his way in and take my place! If I was Johnathan, I'd have done the same thing!"
"Buzz blades!"
I felt the surge of magical energy course through me more clearly than I'd even done so before. As they sailed through the air and turned his beasts into more puddle of goo I surged forward and rushed him.
"Wind blade!"
Before the blade connected; before I could take his head clean off his shoulders-
"Too slow" his sneered from behind the dagger he'd raised to block my strike. "But as hot-headed as ever. Oh, how I can't wait to put you in your place tonight!"
"The feeling's mutual" I roared, pushing aside his block and forcing him to roll out of the way.
Before I could lunge at him again though, the purple haze engulfed me. Breathing immediately became nearly impossible, and I could feel my muscles beginning to seize up on me, to say nothing of the lack of visibility.
"V-Vacuum wa-wave" I chocked out, dispersing the haze with a gust of wind.
Just in time for me to see one of his creatures lunge at me, fangs barred. Still feeling tight and short on breath, it was all I could do to stay standing as the beast caught my blade in his mouth. Its mouth wedged open, I could see more of that black liquid dripping out.
"Wind wall!"
Dissipating the blade, I simultaneously threw up a wall of wind, pushing the creature away from me and giving me time and space to recreate the blade.
"Now who's the coward" I shouted out into the night as I had a buzz blade slay the creature, the black good exploding from it hitting the wind wall and deflecting away from me.
"You have no right, you traitorous assassin!"
Lunging at me from behind, if he hadn't impulsively responded I would have been late to turn around and defend myself. It only saved me from death though; I may have managed to block the dagger slash, but I was still too sluggish to move out of the way of his garb.
My vision blurred as he delivered a vicious headbutt, forcing me to stagger backwards. A follow-up slash caught me on my left side, and a final kick to the abdomen sent my sprawling backwards.
The pain from the cut numbed quickly from the night chill, but the headbutt left my head pounding. Forcing myself back to my feet, I had to fight against the urge to vomit as I blinked rapidly to clear my vision.
"Assassin" I spat, tasting some blood in my mouth. "You're insane! We never assassinated your father!"
"Bullshit!"
Blades collided and held each other in lock as he continued to push me back down the street.
"Our parents died too, you dumbass!"
"All as your father planned!"
"Don't you dare accuse my father of such a thing" the anger that surged in me giving me the strength to finally start properly pushing back, breaking the lock and cutting into his right arm.
"Arrg! Hah… hah…" Zach backed up, leaving a few feet between us as he clutched at his arm, breathing heavily.
Blood was dripping down from it and onto the road. While I welcomed the moment for a breather, it wasn't as serious an in jury as I'd have liked to have inflicted. Of all people to be left-handed, why did it have to be him!?
"You're so stupid…" he half-laughed, half-sneered. "No wonder Johnathan sought out someone else to work with…"
"Shut your mouth alrea-"
"No! You shut your mouth, for once in your life! You don't even know how it all works!"
"How what works?!"
"The grail system!"
"If it wasn't for my family, you and yours wouldn't even know about the Holy Grail! Bullshit you know more about it than me!"
"Then tell me why the Einzberns were part of the original three founding families!"
…Huh?
"The Tohsakas provided the location! The Makiri provided the command spells! So why were the Einzberns needed, huh?! If you're so smart, tell me!"
"…They provided the money for the cover-ups! We all know this already!"
"Ha…! Ha ha ha! This is what I mean! You don't even know why!"
"Then you tell me what-"
"The vessel for the lesser grail!"
…What?
"On, the confusion in your eyes gives it all away" Zach continued to laugh, letting go of his bleeding arm. "The answer's so obvious, but of course you're too stupid to figure it out yourself! What do you think the homunculi were for?!"
"They… They were-"
"To serve as the vessel! The Tohsakas provide the land, the Makiri provide the command spells, and the Einzberns provide the vessel for the lesser grail!"
…The homunculi of the Einzberns… were the lesser grail…? But then, that would mean…
"And us?! How did we divide the process?! Do you remember?!"
"…Hold-"
"My father tampers with the ritual and alters the rules, Johnathan's mother provides the leylines required to power it, and your father provides the base framework to go off of and makes sure it all starts up! So tell me, Sortiara, where was the homunculus?! Where was our vessel for the lesser grail?!"
"I-I-"
"You don't recall seeing one? Maybe that's because there never was one, don't you think?! The rules are altered, the leylines anchored, and the invitations to the Association sent, but what about your family's end of the bargain?! Where's the lesser grail to get all this started?! That's right: we don't have one! Not unless…!"
"…Unless" the words were suffocating as I worked through them, reaching the ending that Zach was implying. "No. No, you're just blindly making assumptions! There's no way- Father would never-"
"Bullshit he would never! Getting the ritual going to rub it in the Association's face was all he gave a damn about since arriving in America!"
"That doesn't explain-"
"Explain what?! Johnathan's mother?! Of course it does; one magus alone can't equal the magical capacity of a homunculus! Especially one made by the Einzberns!"
"…"
Stunned silence. Even tonight, with the sounds of countless sirens blaring in the night. Even tonight, with the roars and explosions of combat. I heard nothing. Felt… noting. What Zach was saying… What he was accusing…
No. It… It couldn't be true. There's no way! Father-… Father wouldn't-
"…I feel bad for Johnathan" Zach speaking again was the only thing that could snap me back to reality. "He's innocent in this. But he… he still sided with you; stuck with the original plan even though it was obvious from the start your father played foul in some way, though I couldn't prove it back then. I'm taking my vengeance, and in turn, he will seek vengeance on me. He's a good friend; I don't want to kill him. But we…"
Leveling his dagger, he switched to a fighting stance. Tendrils of purple haze emanated from him, dancing and coiling around in the open air.
"We have never been friends. Not from day one."
Stone faced, I raised my blade.
"Here I thought I was going to be stuck pretending forever" I admitted, emotionless.
"I'm going to enjoy this."
"No, you won't."
The world fell still, neither Zach nor myself moving. Sirens rang out, but I could barely hear them now. Deep breaths. Focus. I would not lose tonight. I will not die here; not to him, of all people. Time seemed to slow down to a crawl, until…
In the distance, lightning flashed. Purple lightning.
Time returned to normal. The sirens blared louder than ever. The chill of the night disappeared as an explosion of warmth surged through me. Adrenalin sent my sense into overdrive. Another flash of purple light in the night sky served as the signal.
With a shout drowned out, rendered incoherent, we charged.
A/N
So yeah, this is getting finished much later than I'd have liked. Two reasons for that, I admit. For one, studying for exams. God damn university exams are such a bitch! And let me tell you, I'm SO JEALOUS right now of all the University of Toronto students who got their final exams cancelled if they were in-person and scheduled for the 17th and onward! Like fuck me, all my remaining exams are in-person on the 17th and 18th! Why couldn't my university cancel our final exams?! It's not like COVID only exist at the University of Toronto!
Reason number two though... Recently, I was invited into a Discord server that's more or less specifically for FATE and the extended Nasuverse, and I've been digging through their resources for information on FATE's systems. While they have some cool stuff that I'd never seen before, I admit... so far, my search hasn't turned up what I'm looking for. Still got some more stuff to shift through, but honestly, I'm starting to think that they really just have never released any hard info on the underlying systems. If this Discord server can't lead me to anything... well, I don't see anything else doing so.
That said, I happened to come across a Q&A Nasu did that I hadn't seen before and, well... I understand now why I dislike (maybe more like hate) everything Nasu himself writes for FATE. It's very clear that, fundamentally, we see how Holy Grail Wars play out (or should play out) very differently. From what classes he thinks are strong, to which servants he considers 'weak' and the reasoning behind it... I'm personally just left speechless. Sure, some of his thoughts could have changed since the Q&A, but the Q&A was from, like, 2014, give or take maybe a year, so it's not like it's all that old of a Q&A.
The other thing I found that Nasu said in one of those interviews/Q&A things that I found interesting (and somewhat funny) was that he, at least at some point in time if not still does, wanted to make a game like Romance of the Three Kingdoms out of FATE and it's systems. And not Romance of the Three Kingdoms like Dynasty Warriors type of game (Fate/Extella basically), but Romance of the Three Kingdoms as in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms strategy game series. Now, if you're like me and know both the Romance of the Three Kingdoms strategy game series, and how FATE and it's systems (stats, nature of the Holy Grail War, etc.) work, you're probably thinking the same thing as I did when I first saw that, and still am as I type this: how the FUCK would that even work o.O
Like, lets be real here, FATE plays out more like D&D with its stats and skill systems than it does any real-time or turn-based strategy game!
…I don't know; just found that tidbit really funny and thought I'd share xD
Anyways, with my finals coming up, and me then moving back home for the winter break, the next bit probably won't be posted till Monday at the earliest, but more like Tuesday or Wednesday. For that, I'm sorry, but I can't really do much bout that; time's a real tight bitch!
Last thing: for the person who left something in the review last post, I sent you my answers as a PM, as it'd simply be WAY too long to discuss such things in the A/N. So, if you're looking for my response to all that, check your inbox.
As always, thanks to all of you who read this far o7