Fifth Morning (5)
"...Sorry, but did you just say you want my Shirou to fight one of the most dangerous creatures on this planet as a diversion?"
The Wizard Marshall nodded, Illya offering an entirely false smile-
"You can got to Hell."
-and the sheer spite in her tone caused even the King of Rats to flinch slightly, Zelretch's expression not shifting in the slightest as he met the volcanic gaze of the far shorter Homunculus.
"Why should we care about your problems? My family was made pawns and playthings of the ritual you helped propagate and maintain, Shirou's life twisted and molded into something unnatural while I was raised on a lie and constant, agonizing experiments so that I could die earning someone else a pointless victory. And you want our help, help that will likely kill one or both of us when we just fought our way to a measure of freedom and happiness?"
Illya's teeth bared themselves.
"You, Wizard Marshall, can fuck. Off."
Dead silence ensued.
Waver's cigarette slipped from numb fingers, Reines and Sella's jaws hung open in shock, Saber's eye twitched rapidly between the gathered crowd, The King of Rats awkwardly shifted his weight and even Shirou warily glanced at Illya, hands slowly relaxing in preparation for battle.
Only Illya and the Kaleidoscope kept their cool, staring the other down with no change in expression.
It was Kischur who eventually broke the stalemate, a tired sigh escaping his lips as all signs of irreverence or humor left his expression.
"The Director would have loved to be here for this...your anger is completely justified, Miss Illyasviel. And the honest truth of the matter is that, yes...however indirectly-or however benevolent my intentions were-a great deal of your suffering and that of your family can be traced back to me."
The albino made no sign of having accepted the Vampire's words, stony countenance still in place.
"But the reality of the situation cares little for past mistakes and current wants. Tell me, what do you know of the Dark Six? The being meant to be revived by the Alyesbury Ritual?"
Deciding to humor the Vampire Illya coldly retorted, "Almost nothing. It's supposed to bring all Dead Apostles together, right?"
"Quite so. But here's something alarming that almost no one really seems to talk about or consider...what is the Dark Six?"
"Shouldn't you know? Being an Ancestor and True Magician?"
Humorlessly smiling Zelretch replied, "I don't. Neither does Altrouge. Neither does Solomon or Blackmore, not even the few True Ancestors that remain know of its identity or power, of how it's going to 'bring Vampires together'."
Illya narrowed her eyes, asking, "Even in all of your viewings of parallel worlds you never discerned its composition?"
"No. Not a single time. Granted, the Second Magic can be difficult when attempting to parse out specific details but large scale events can be researched in a broad and general matter with little trouble. But in all my viewings of the Dark Six's successful revival...my perception ends after it awakes."
Both Shirou and Illya glanced at each other, the Homunculus stating, "Explain."
"Normally, I can view parallel worlds without limit. Even a dead world can be observed, albeit such a thing becomes rather boring, for obvious reasons. But in all instances of the Dark Six becoming active? I can no longer view the events of that world, as if my eyes become blind to the events occurring within."
The albino found her gaze narrowing, tone neutral.
"That sounds...ominous. What could disrupt the Second Magic to such an extent?"
"I have a theory, one that both the Director of the Association, Solomon and an old friend of mine, Caubac Alcatraz, agree on. When it is said that Dark Six will bring all Vampires together, it means that literally."
Illya felt her blood run cold at that statement, eyes instantly alighting upon her Shirou, calmly standing nearby.
"...You mean-"
"Yes. There are other explanations but this fits what little evidence we have. The Dark Six can wield absolute dominion over any and all Apostles-perhaps even the True Ancestors, if Crimson Moon's work before I defeated him was thorough enough-to a near perfect degree. The reason I can't view it through the Kaleidoscope is because it desires that I not do so. While its influence may not be able to reach across parallel worlds its dominion can prevent me from gleaning details or information about its composition."
Illya's hand automatically grabbed Shirou's, grip tightening almost painfully as she glared at the Apostle.
"So regardless of your feelings on the matter, little lady...you're in this whether you want to be or not. Sure, I might be wrong, but in a game with stakes this high can you really afford not to play?"
The Homunculus ground her teeth, replying, "Why not just sit back and let the Counter Force deal with this? A being with complete control over every Vampire in existence? That sounds like an extinction level threat if ever-"
"Relying on Alaya is a mistake."
Kischur's blunt words cut off Illya's train of thought before she could even finish it, his expression grim.
"Think, Miss Illyasviel. The Will of Humanity is comprised of, what, between six or seven billion people now? The Counter Force is rarely even called upon anymore, since who cares if a few million-or an even billion-are wiped out of existence? Technology and numbers will almost certainly guarantee the rest survive. And who's to say the other surviving billions didn't want others to perish, so as to free up more resources? Alaya has become inundated with so many conflicting wills that it's own directives are muddled and occasionally contradictory."
The Wizard Marshall's countenance became grim.
"We stopped relying on Alaya the moment it withdrew its Counter Guardians from restraining the Beast of Gaia, simply because it was no longer actively trying to murder every Human in existence. Probably why it follows Altrouge now, if she was the one who managed to jump it through that loophole. Besides, who's to say the Dark Six will be an extinction event?"
A humorless smile tilted his lips.
"Apostles need blood and I don't think they'll settle for the odd rabbit here and there to slake their thirst. There will be precious little blood of sufficient quality in the world if Humanity dies out. I honestly wouldn't be surprised if some manner of eugenics program arose to promote Human growth in numbers if Vampires came to rule the world, the exact opposite of an extinction event. Except I imagine there would be little place for ones such as ourselves in this hypothetical future, now would there?"
Illya lapsed into silence, emotions turbulent and thoughts dark as she gripped Shirou's hand all the tighter.
"Thusly, it's in your best interest to help us deal with the Alysebury Ritual. It's completion will affect you along with everybody else."
Silence ensued, Illya shaking with barely suppressed emotion.
"Why? Why us? It's not enough that we go through this damn war, that papa and mama die for it and Shirou has to turn into one of you...now we get dragged into another battle that has nothing to do with us, all because we dared to survive this one."
No one had a good answer for that, Shirou slowly and uncertainly setting a hand on his sister's shoulder.
It was only after a few uncomfortable seconds that Zelretch sighed, gaze tilting upwards so that it was facing the still smoky and bruised sky.
"You know, it's not often that I'm reminded of the cost of my poor decisions...a Third Magician once more enters the world and now it feels more tragedy than it does success."
The Wizard Marshall's gaze settled on the distressed Homunculus.
"But there is only so much I can apologize for, when cruel reality makes its presence known. This will sound incredibly hypocritical of me, I know that...but perhaps the greatest mistake we can make as individuals of power is to sit back and do nothing. To tell ourselves that it's someone else's problem, or that things will work out eventually so there's no incentive in becoming involved."
His fingers traced the side of one of his crimson eyes.
"I made that mistake, once. I and a few others had the power to stop Crimson Moon, to destroy it in the many years it walked the Earth...but we didn't. Because there was no immediate threat, because it wasn't our fault that an Ultimate One walked the planet."
A humorless smirk colored the Apostle's features.
"So when the time came that Brunestud finally began to openly move against Humanity...I had to fight. And in my hubris and haste I challenged an Ultimate One at less than my absolute best, only seizing victory through merit of my foe's reciprocated arrogance."
His gaze once more landed on Illya, the young woman clenching her jaw as his tone become soft, almost grandfatherly in nature.
"You're right, you know. This isn't your fight and it never should have been. We should have taken apart this ritual the moment we learned of its deviation, risks and losses be damned. Yet here we are, yet again on the precipice of disaster because we dug our heads in the sand and refused to take action."
His hands folded themselves over the gem located atop his cane, expression deathly serious.
"And it falls to you to help us right our own wrongs or become swept up in the consequences...to that end, me and a few others are going to personally ensure that you are justly prepared and rewarded."
Taking solace in her lover's strong embrace that pulled her tight against his side Illya dully glared at the Wizard Marshall as he continued with, "Myself and the Blue will instruct you in what we have learned of our own True Magics, Miss Illyasviel. While each of the Five have their own unique twists and conditions there are still a few commonalities that might aid you on your pursuit of total mastery. And as for your brother, well...we'll be doing everything we can to ensure he has the best odds possible to survive against the Beast of Gaia."
"And why him? Off all the various Magi, Ancestors and True Magicians why Onii-chan?"
"Because, from what I have gleaned of his posture, internal workings and personal experience...your boyfriend might just be the single greatest combatant we possess when it comes to high-speed, brute force battle."
The Homunculus blinked, Zelretch expanding upon his statement with, "From what little we've gleaned of the Beast of Gaia's abilities it isn't a particularly 'mystic' oriented creature, at least not in the sense we're used to dealing with. It has no special abilities, Reality Marbles or any other brain twist of a puzzle one would have to decipher before they could go about actually killing it...it's simple power and conceptual weight given form."
Illya frowned, already not liking where this was going.
"It can kill Humans in the literal blink of an eye, can withstand most conceptual and mystery-based weapons simply by the weight of its own existence and likely would be just as potent against Apostles. For all of our power and strength, battling a foe that can simply move that quickly would be a tall order, if not outright impossible."
The Wizard Marshall smirked.
"But for an Ancestor with control over time-based magic, trained by both one of the most infamous Magus assassins and capable Church Executors in recent memory, topped off by a dash of inexhaustible weaponry of considerable power? You might just be our ticket to remove the Beast of Gaia from the playing field, boy."
Shirou made no outward reply to the Kaleidoscope's words, simply replying, "And what does Illya get when this is all over? A simple thank you?"
"Hardly. We've already gone over what we'll be doing in the meantime, but as for what comes after? Continued tutelage under me and the Blue, if you so desire it, as well as a permanent clean slate that states you have no accountability for the results of the Grail War. And your choice of a select few other favors that we can go over at a later date."
The King of Rats rejoined the conversation, adding, "This too has been approved by the Church. If you two wished to simply disappear from the Moonlit World, never to return and to never be disturbed...we would accommodate that request, only asking a few select insurances as compensation."
Illya scowled, knowing full well that those 'select few insurances' would be a pain...but for the most part she felt herself caving in to their words.
There just wasn't any immediately obvious or possible way for them to sneak out of this crisis heading towards them. It was fight or lose what little she had left…
"Illya? Your decision."
Resisting the urge to sigh at her Shirou's typical lack of care for himself in favor of following her words or orders the Homunculus stared at the gathered group, finally resting on Saber as she resolutely nodded, signifying her complete willingness to fight if that was what she decided.
…
Really, was there any decision to make?
"Alright, Wizard Marshall. We accept."
The Kaleidoscope grinned at her acceptance-
"I hope you realize I'm going to be the biggest bitch of a student you've ever had."
-and for some reason burst out into laughter, musing, "Trust me, you wouldn't be the first to say so over the centuries."
Seeing as how there's not much in the way of info on Dark Six I just went ahead and took some creative liberties with what it was and what it could do.
Given its flavor text there's a lot of leeway in how it can be thought of. Maybe it's the pure body Crimson Moon desired. Maybe it's some kind of uber vampire that all would look up to as an improved type of bloodsucker. Maybe it's a hybrid of Gaia and the Moon.
Or maybe it's Actually Satan, who can say?
...
Random thought that just hit me, if there's an Ultimate One of the moon, doesn't it stand to reason that all moons have a manifestation of its consciousness, seeing as how they're a celestial body?
Because if so then Jupiter and Saturn are OP as fuck.
Or is there a caveat that if a moon doesn't have a strong enough gravitational force it doesn't count? Sorry, you're not fat enough to warrant an Aristoteles.
