Chapter 2: Jumping At Shadows
"Artoria Pendragon. Artoria Pendragon! How in the five Magics did that no-name, worthless, talentless kid summon the Saber of the Heaven's Feel Ritual?!" Olga-Marie screamed.
"Well, apparently he did," Da Vinci mildly commented. "You know they can't hear you,"
"Oh. I suppose that's good. How long until communication's back online?"
"Give me half a minute," the Caster assured her.
X
"Whoa, hang on. Did Arthur Pendragon have a twin sister the world never knew about or what?" Tyler spluttered.
"The world of magi has known for years that the King of Knights was actually a girl. Since the event we're trying to fix, actually," Nikki corrected him. "But, I've seen pictures. Artoria Pendragon was taller."
"I, uh, didn't have quite enough energy to manifest as my adult self. The best I could manage was, um, this version of me," Lily explained, nervously tapping her fingers together. "I'm sorry . ." she pouted.
So adorable. The words stamped themselves onto the eyes of every person watching.
"Aw, you're fine. We're not in a position to pass up help," Nikki assured her.
"Yes, I see a mob of undead approaching us. And I sense a Servant, too. If I had to guess, a Lancer," Sita assessed, looking at the offensive rabble that was approaching them.
"Not just any Lancer! I'm scanning this Spirit Origin, and it doesn't match a standard Heroic Spirit!" Dr. Roman shouted at them. "It's a Divine Spirit!"
Two out of three Masters flinched.
"What's the difference?" Tyler asked.
"Mostly? Power level. Doesn't really change anything, though, we'll have to hope four to one gives us enough of an advantage to overcome them being a higher grade," Nikki assessed. "Still! We have no idea what you four can do, so let's have a demonstration!"
"Got it!" Astolfo cheered, and Sita nodded.
"I'll do my best!" Lily agreed.
"Let me know if I can help at all," Tyler offered to her.
"Ahem. There's still the matter of my contract," Cu reminded her. "I had to use my Noble Phantasm to beat Assassin, remember? That ate up more of my magic than I really should have used, and so did the summoning circles. I'm practically running on empty."
"Right. Uh," Nikki considered her options. "Era! You have the best magic circuits of the three of us. Think you can support Cu as well as Sita?"
"I'll try!" the orange-haired child nodded, determination in her eyes.
"Alright, show me your Command Seals," Era obediently raised her hand, showing a red tattoo in the shape of a stylised fox with two tails curled underneath it. "Your will creates my body, and my sword creates your destiny. I answer your call," With that, Cu planted a kiss on the seals, and they flashed with light.
Era blushed a bit.
"Yeah I don't know everything about your legend, but I'm not comfortable with what I'm seeing here, Hound of Ulster," Nikki frowned. "Hope that wasn't a mistake,"
"Don't worry, I'm not interested in kids. Now, let's get going, shall we?" Cu asked.
He then realised, somewhat belatedly, that the other three had gone on without him.
Lily and Astolfo crashed into the first wave of skeletons in sync, swords out and carving chunks from the bones of the undead. Arrows riddled the fringes of the army, the sheer concussive force generated by Sita's bow blasting the skeletons to pieces.
With a thrust, a golden-white laser shot through the ranks. Lily growled, swinging the blade, but finding that the diffused sword beam wasn't enough to destroy their opposition. She glowered at the undead converging on her and started relentlessly hacking at them.
Astolfo laughed with pure glee, spinning and slicing through the spines of several skeletons. His motion was arrested when one of them sunk their jaws into his blade, catching it with its teeth.
He only had enough time to glare at it before an arrow smashed through its neck, freeing his blade plus one skull. "Gross!"
"Excuse me?" The voice was light but chilling. "You would decry my sweet, beloved souls as 'gross'?"
The Servants paused as the skeletons parted, bringing forward a petite woman, shadowed as Assassin had been, wielding a large lance with exposed pigtails.
"You want him so much? Have 'em back!" Astolfo glared, swinging his sword and sending the skull flying at her.
The Lancer caught it between both hands. "Rest now, my precious," A blue light escaped the skull and vanished, while it crumbled to dust.
"Who are you?" Lily asked, sensing a lull in the combat.
"A goddess of the dead, divorced from the underworld. Though my home doesn't exist here, my nature remains unchanged, and as such I now bring Kur with me wherever I go. I suppose you're al quite lucky to face me in such a weakened state, if I were at even half my full power I'd obliterate you in an instant,"
"But the fact that you haven't means that you can't, yeah?" Cu challenged, stalking forward, staff in hand. "Also, I suspected as much, but it's good to confirm you are indeed the source of the undead infesting this city, Goddess of Kur,"
"Psst. Anyone know what Kur is?" Tyler asked.
"It's the Mesopotamian afterlife. Which means she is probably the ancient Babylonian goddess Ereshkigal," Mash whimpered.
"Need another round of First Aid?" Nikki offered.
"Don't waste your magic on me. It's more than enough that you haven't just left me behind," Mash assured her. "I can handle the pain until we figure out how to get back to Chaldea,"
"Okay," The eldest Master wasn't convinced but knew their Servants might need the support more.
An arrow flew through the air, and Ereshkigal snatched it a second before it hit her face. "Really?"
Sita shrugged, entirely unapologetic. "It was worth a try,"
"Tch. Fine, fine. I mean, I was already going to kill you all. But now I don't have to feel quite so bad about enjoying it so much," With that, Ereshkigal kicked off, ignoring the other three and making straight for Sita.
"Don't take me so lightly. After all, you aren't the only one here who's a goddess!" Sita declared, firing a barrage of arrows that the Lancer danced around, dealing no damage but delaying her enough that Sita was able to avoid the attack.
The other Servants made to help her, but were waylaid by the undead. Lily found a rusted sword catching her own, Astolfo was struck from behind by a crude staff, and Cu found himself struggling to fend off a sudden swarm from all directions at once. "Could use a little help here." he grunted.
Unfortunately, his Master only had eyes for her other Servant. Era watched with bated breath as Sita ducked, weaved and evaded every blow from Ereshkigal's lance, dropping globs of fire and occasionally collapsing flaming debris. The fire seemed to wash over her skin harmlessly while Ereshkigal had to move with greater and greater care to avoid getting burnt.
"She's restricting her mobility," Tyler whispered in dawning realisation.
"Huh?" Era frowned in curiosity.
"I read up on the Servant Classes' strengths and weaknesses. Lancers are kinda the most balanced class, they emphasise agility, closing with their opponent and delivering rapid strikes from inside their guard. But Sita's turning the area into a fiery minefield. Ereshkigal can't move at her top speed, so Sita can stay out of range and wear her down,"
"Very astute, but did you have to tell her that was my plan?" Sita snapped, avoiding another lunge and firing an arrow at just the right angle to trip the Lancer and send her sprawling into a puddle of fire.
The Masters collectively winced at that. "Huh. So the death goddess is a bit clumsy, too? That helps,"
"Who are you calling clumsy?!" Ereshkigal roared, springing to her feet and taking off, raising her lance to stab directly at the filter-lacking Master.
This, unfortunately, exposed her, and several flaming arrows embedded themselves in her back, inducing a wince of pain that did nothing to prevent her from thrusting straight at the young man's heart.
"No!" Suddenly a purple-grey cross-shaped shield was in her path, taking the hit without a flinch. Mash, who had thrown herself out of the cart to put her shield in front of Tyler, screamed in pain and collapsed, the shield falling away moments later.
"You humans really can be quite silly sometimes," Ereshkigal mused, pausing for a moment as Tyler crouched over Mash, pouring another First Aid into her broken and crushed legs. "But I suppose that's what I really love about you. You'll both make lovely additions to my kingdom,"
"I hope this isn't a rude thing to say to a death goddess!" Ereshkigal yelped as a flying blade carved a gash into her stomach, and leapt back as Saber Lily interspersed herself between her Master and the enemy. "But, go to hell!"
"How did you break free of my followers?" she frowned.
"Yeah, I dunno what sorta bargain bin necromancy that corruption or whatever gave you, but you should ask for your money back. These things ain't worth the dust they're made of," Astolfo yelled as he and Cu slaughtered the remains of Ereshkigal's forces.
"Master, could you spare a Command Spell to finish this with my Noble Phantasm?" Lily checked.
"By the power of my Command Seal, blast her back to whatever ass end of history she crawled out of," Tyler nodded, pressing a finger to his tattoos.
"No - wait - hold on," Panic flashed across the Divine Spirit's face as she back-pedalled, only to trip over a well-placed arrow courtesy of Sita. "Oh, fine, just get it over with," she frowned, closing her eyes.
Nikki hesitated, almost reaching out to the Divine Spirit, but it was too late.
Lily had already brought up her sword. "Golden Sword of Promised Victory: Caliburn!" A single shot of golden laser flashed out of her blade and struck Ereshkigal head-on. Almost in slow motion, four smaller lasers rained down from the heavens and struck the ground around her.
A scream faded into the wind, and when the light cleared there was only a crater with glowing particles floating out of it.
There was a moment of silence as the vestiges of Ereshkigal faded.
"That was . . sorta sad," Era observed, biting her lip.
"If it makes you feel any better, that wasn't really Ereshkigal. The real one died at Saber's hands a couple of weeks back. That was just the copy made of shadows," Cu shrugged.
The gathered Masters and Servants stared at him in confusion. "What the hell are you talking about?" Nikki finally asked.
"Oh, yeah, right, I didn't get around to explaining that, did I? Well, we should get moving. I know I owe y'all an explanation of what's been going on in this Singularity, and it's about time I deliver. But we can walk and talk," the Caster declared, already starting to make for the west side of the city.
The rest of the party hastened to catch up, Tyler dragging Mash's shopping cart with him until Lily stepped up and casually lifted it, saving her the discomfort of being bounced across an uneven floor.
"To be honest, I have no idea what actually happened. The Grail War was going fine - well, you know, as much as a seven way duel to the death for a wish can 'go fine' - and then everything went weird. The city was turned into . . this, all the people disappeared - except I guess they actually just all died, because Ereshkigal got all those skeletons from somewhere - and it was just us Servants left. No Masters, no orders, for about a day we all just hung around,"
"Something changed, though?" Tyler pressed.
"I guess Saber decided that she didn't want to give up on her wish just yet. That or the Grail did something to her. I didn't get a good look but I'm pretty sure her sword was golden in the first couple of days of the War, not black like it was last I saw her. Anyway, she started the fighting again. Sneak attacked Berserker, cut down Assassin, chased down Rider and Lancer. Archer might've been our best shot at beating her, but for whatever reason the guy all but fell on her sword. He was a weird one, sure, but," Cu just shook his head. "The worst part, though? Every Servant she beat, the Grail spat back out some kind of shadow copy of them. I'm not certain but I think they're acting like Saber's personal familiars, they seem pretty in tune with everything she wants. She's guarding the Grail now, and Archer's guarding her. Lancer, Assassin and Rider have been running all around the city, hunting for me. Don't know where Berserker got off to, but if we're lucky it won't matter. I'm taking us straight to the cave where they squirrelled away the Grail. We'll have to beat Archer, then Saber, but with this many Servants that should be doable, at least,"
"And hopefully we can avoid ever seeing Rider or Berserker, yeah?" Era piped up.
"Don't jinx it!" Tyler immediately reprimanded her.
"Hey, Master, where're you going?" Astolfo called, and everyone paused to realise that Nikki had been just about to vanish behind a wall into a different street. The directionally challenged Master rejoined the group with a grumble. "Sorry. I was lost in thought."
"About what?"
"How the hell we're supposed to fix this Singularity. Because, if you all forgot, that's what we're here for. To get history back on track. Make it like none of this ever happened - but apparently doing that would require bringing several thousand people back to life? How are we supposed to fix that?"
"Actually, I have good news about that," a voice piped up from their communicators, followed by Dr. Roman's face. "Hey, everyone, I'm back! All the injured are as medically stable as I can make them. Now I'm free to help out all of you and - oh no! Mash! What happened? Are you alright?"
"I'm okay, doctor! Hanging in there. Just have to bear it out until we can go back to Chaldea, right?" the Demi-Servant assured him.
"Al . . alright, well. Take care of yourself," the doctor offered, unconvinced. "Um. As I was saying, about solving the Singularity. I'm pretty sure the Holy Grail is the only thing that's maintaining this divergence from history. The entire area around you is permeated with a magical effect that indicates this space is only a little shy of being no more real than a Reality Marble. It's already on the verge of breaking down, but something's forcing it to continue to exist. It can only be the Grail. If we can retrieve the Grail and remove it from this Singularity when you Rayshift back to Chaldea, the Singularity should collapse on its own directly afterwards. Of course, to do that you'll need to defeat this Saber,"
"Okay. Okay. Good. Thar's a plan then. Now, we need a plan for the plan. How do we defeat Saber? Cu, you've met her, you've watched her fight. How much do you know about her?"
"Well, for starters, her True Name is Artoria Pendragon," Cu began.
Everyone stopped dead, and most of them turned to face Saber Lily.
"Wait, what?" the Servant in question spluttered.
"Yup. I don't know just what to make of that either, but she's a taller version of you with a much meaner sword," Cu summarised.
"Uh, hang on. You're saying my adult self is our enemy?" Lily asked, pale face going paler.
"Exactamundo. She's done something to herself, though - or maybe the Grail did it. No real way to tell, but she's been corrupted, sort of. Not turned into a Shadow Servant like the others, but she's different. If I didn't know any better, I'd think it was some nonsense about her being replaced by a version of her from an alternate universe or something like that,"
"So, is she weaker or anything?" Tyler hoped.
"Nah, she's still the King of Knights. Fighting her comes with two problems. The first is that as soon as she feels like it she's gonna wave her glow stick of doom at us. Can anyone here take a hit from Excalibur? No? Didn't think so. The second is hitting her hard enough to put her down. We'll have a window after she uses Excalibur for the first time, while she's recharging. That'll be our best shot at taking her out with one big, clean hit. But I don't have anything like that up my sleeve. So! Cards on the table, everyone. What have we got?"
"I can strike her down with my Noble Phantasm," Sita immediately put forwards. "I have a Core of the Goddess, its energy output should grant me enough power to defeat Saber in a single blow. That said, I'll be vulnerable for a few seconds while it's charging. I'll need the three of you to buy me some time and get me a shot,"
"Hey, yeah, you mentioned that before," Tyler interjected. "Sorry for my ignorance, but who exactly are you? Everyone knows the King of Knights, and I heard about the Paladins of Charlemagne a bit," Astolfo preened at the recognition. "But I'm not familiar with the name Sita,"
"Very well, I can explain," Sita took a breath. "In short, in a manner of speaking, I am 'Rama'. The avatar of Ravana, hero of the Ramayana,"
Nikki started, but Era and Tyler still looked confused. "Nope, don't know it,"
"It's one of the most famous Indian epic myths of all time!" Dr. Roman yelled from the communicators.
"But, Rama was a guy, right? Or did you pretend to be male like Artoria?" Nikki spluttered.
"No, no, I can assure you that the real Rama was male. He's my beloved husband, after all, I should hope that I know what's between his legs," Sita chuckled, pursing her lips. Nikki pulled a face, and Era was just baffled.
"The problem is that Rama was cursed with Separation from me during his life, and that curse persists even whilst we are Heroic Spirits. The Throne addressed this by adding me to Rama's record rather than granting me my own; under normal circumstances two of the same Heroic Spirit can't be summoned to the same place, after all,"
Everyone cast a glance at Saber Lily. "Pretty sure there's nothing normal about what's going on here, but I don't have any answers either," the younger Saber admitted.
"You're all familiar with how Heroic Spirits can be summoned into different classes and emphasize different parts of their legend as a result, correct?" Sita pressed on.
Cu scoffed. "Don't remind me. I should be a damn Lancer, you know? I miss Gae Bolg."
"Yes, well among the classes that Rama qualifies for, his best is Saber and his second-best is Archer. If Rama would be summoned as a Saber, he appears as himself, everything as it should be. But if Rama would be summoned as an Archer, the Throne of Heroes puts me forward instead. The side effect of this is that in addition to my own meagre abilities, I have all the powers that a hypothetical Archer version of Rama would have,"
"Which means you have a Divine Spirit level Noble Phantasm to blast Saber with. That sounds perfect," Nikki grinned.
"So I summoned a good Servant?" Era asked.
"You summoned exactly the sort of Servant we need to survive and win. So yeah, you did great," Nikki assured her, playfully ruffling her hair.
"Oi, we've still gotta figure out how to block Excalibur," Astolfo argued as they continued to walk. "Also, you said we're gonna need to fight Archer just to get to Saber? What's he like?"
"I don't know his True Name, but he's not very strong. He's definitely weaker than Lancer, for one thing. As you might expect, though, he specialises in ranged combat. He has this really annoying trick where he curves his shots around whatever sort of cover you're taking, too, so when we fight him, always stay on the move. If he gets a free moment to take a shot, dodging is possible but nothing short of being covered from all directions will stop the blow from hitting you. We just have to keep him distracted and off-balance, and wear him - grrk,"
Everyone froze as Cu stumbled, a sudden spray of blood erupting from his chest.
"Oh! Oh, oh dear, oh, goodness. It's so sad, so incredibly, unbearably sad," Everyone turned to face the road, which ended at the entrance to a cave about a kilometre ahead.
Approaching was another Shadow Servant, a man clad in armour with his face exposed. "I can't have you giving away all my tricks, that would be so, incredibly, saaaaad," the man simpered, idly swinging a bow in his left hand. In a simple, casual motion, he flipped it into the air and plucked the bowstring like a harp.
Astolfo's eyes widened and his jaw went taut. "Get down!" the Rider hollered, leaping to the side just barely quickly enough for an invisible projectile from an impossible angle to strike his arm rather than shred Era's chest.
"He's targeting Era. He must know that as my Master, she's the weak point of our plan to defeat Saber. We must defeat him quickly!" Sita barked, dropping Mash next to the orangette and firing a salvo of arrows.
"Yeah, not on your frigging life!" Astolfo concurred, charging in and closing the distance.
"Oh, this is so intolerably sad. You really have underestimated me, haven't you. You really thought that I'd accept a one on four fight? That's so, distressingly, saaaaad," the Archer crooned, bringing his bow up to block a strike from Astolfo's sword.
Lily, who'd been about to follow, froze as she processed the implications of his words. "What does - oh no. Everyone, look out! He's not alone!"
"Damnit, Archer, you just had to run your mouth!" The Masters turned to see another knight, this one on horseback, slowing as he approached them. Lily was already moving in to confront him, and Cu, clutching his chest, moved to join her.
"First Aid," Tyler whispered, healing light suffusing the Caster, who shot him a grateful smile.
"It would have been so convenient if I could have run you all down. But, fine," Rider groaned, brandishing his lance. "The hard way will suffice,"
"I won't let you!" Saber Lily yelled, charging and bringing her sword around to decapitate the shadowy horse. The knight's shield swept in to block it, and Caliburn bounced off the jousting shield.
"Cu, True Names! Who are we fighting?"
"I don't know who Archer is, but Rider is Saint George!" the Caster declared, charging a bolt of magic.
Tyler sharply inhaled. "The dragon slayer?!"
Hearing that, Lily winced. "Oh -" Whatever she was about to say was lost as the knight's gauntleted fist struck her in the face, sending her staggering back. The horse wheeled and neighed, rearing up and lunging forwards to bring its front hooves down on her exposed chest.
"Instant Enhancement!" Tyler barked and a shot of magic suffused Cu, who grinned and yelled something grateful as a substantially larger blast of magic than he'd been expecting shot out of his staff, striking the horse and sending it crashing to the ground.
Never one to miss a good opportunity, Lily leapt back to her feet, Caliburn whipping around, and buried her blade in the horse's neck.
On the other side of the battlefield, Astolfo was locked in close combat with Archer. His every blow was deflected by careful positioning of his bow. "Say, you're pretty good at this for an Archer,"
Archer's finger slid down the string, producing a musical hum as he bounced Astolfo's sword off the crook of his bow, the paladin not missing a beat and pirouetting with the recoil to attack from the other side. "Why thank you,"
Mash cried out as another projectile aimed at Era's heart bounced off her shield, this one coming from the window of a nearby building. Nikki observed this and gritted her teeth. "Astolfo, I don't know how but he's still getting off shots at us! Whatever you're doing, it's not enough!"
"What?" Astolfo yelled back as an opportunistic knee strike was deflected. "He's been doing nothing but block my attacks this whole time, how's that possible?"
"Surprised?" the Archer mocked. "Well, since I'm so sad that Caster over there was incapable of introducing me properly, I'll have to explain myself on my own terms," He plucked his bowstring, and Astolfo cried out as a blow hit him in the back, causing him to stumble. Archer took the opportunity to slam his bow into the pinkette's skull, knocking him to the ground, and pinned him in place with an armoured foot. "Very well, I'll have to introduce myself! I am a loyal Knight of the Round Table; the honourable Knight of Lamentation, Sir Tristan!"
This proclamation was met with a resounding lack of clamour.
". . Really? Nothing?"
"I thought the Archer of Heaven's Feel was King Gilgamesh?" Nikki frowned. "Not that I'm complaining about not having to fight him, but . . no, sorry, I didn't read all the footnotes in the Arthurian mythology. Better things to do, you know?"
Tristan scowled. "Right. That makes me very," he raised his bow and brought it down on Astolfo's neck, snapping, "Sad!"
An explosion knocked him backwards, and he staggered, bow slamming into the ground. "Did you forget you're also facing me?" Sita snapped, nocking another arrow.
Tristan scoffed, plucking his bowstring, and a whistling projectile slashed at her hip, knocking off her aim and sending the arrow soaring into the middle distance.
"It's sound," For the first time, Nikki had a clear view of what was happening when Tristan fired his shots. "He's somehow converting the sound of his bow twanging like that into projectiles of pure sound. Hey!" she barked, pointing an indignant finger at Tristan.
". . What?" the Knight snapped.
"You're not an Archer at all!"
His brows furrowed. "Do elaborate?"
"Archers are supposed to be warriors that use projectile weapons to fight! You aren't using projectiles, you're just being loud and carrying a small stick! You should be an Assassin or something!"
"Ex - excuse me?" Tristan spluttered. "Oh, that does it. I am a Knight of the Round Table, I will not stand here and take the sad slander of a sad little novice Master! I believe a demonstration is in order!" He took a breath and drew back his bowstring. "Singing of pain, playing laments. This is my arrow. Fantasia of Lam-grk: Failnau-grk!"
His hands fell from his bow, and he stumbled, clutching at his chest. "But . . oh. I see. You were distracting me, and I fell for it. How . . sad," And then he crumpled, Astolfo's sword protruding from the gap between his stomach and pelvic armour.
Astolfo picked himself up and retrieved his sword from the disintegrating corpse of the Knight of Lamentations, not sparing another glance at the defeated enemy and instead laughing as he staggered over to the group. "Hahaha, Master, you're mad. I love it!"
"Huh? But, I was just saying things that I thought needed to be said,"
Astolfo and Sita both cast Nikki a surprised look, then chuckled. "Well, whatever the case, you have good instincts," Sita assured her.
"Yep! My Master's the best!" Astolfo beamed. "Nevermind that she was a second from dying, that's not a problem at all, right?"
"Tha-that, uh, wasn't really something I considered at all," his Master admitted, aggrieved.
"Now, about Rider," Sita pointed out, and they looked over to the other half of the battle.
Whilst they had been facing down (non-)Archer, Lily and Georgios had been engaged in melee combat. Divested of his horse and wielding what was ultimately only a replica of a true Noble Phantasm, Georgios was slowly but surely being beaten back.
The fact that Caster was peppering him with bolts of magic was further diminishing any chance he might have had of victory.
"This is hopeless," Georgios realised after a particularly bad clash sent him stumbling away.
"Do you wish to concede?" Lily asked.
"No," the Rider glowered. "You don't understand. From the moment the sky was stained red, I knew everything was hopeless. This transient, meaningless existence was fated to end within days, maybe weeks. I was at peace with that, so I allowed Saber to strike me down and hoped my next summoning might provide more meaning. And yet here I still am, an image of the image of a saint. A copy that lost everything worthwhile about the original in the process of being copied. I have nothing left; not even the promise that these days will be added to my record in the Throne. I don't even know why I continue to swing this sword,"
"Then why do you?" Lily challenged.
Georgios chuckled, stepping back. "A fair question. It might simply be that she bade me do so. Saber, that is. But," A faint noise escaped his throat that could have been a chuckle, a grunt, or anything in between. "Though I am but an empty shell, I still have one trick left. My second Noble Phantasm," Lilly immediately hefted his sword, but the Rider raised a conciliatory hand. "No, no. It's not the sort that one uses as a weapon. It merely allows me to determine whether my foes are good or evil, by temporarily manifesting their spirit in draconic form. I'd like to use it to observe all of you,"
"Why make such a request?" Lily challenged.
"Because I've lost all claim to righteousness, perverted though I am. I had resigned myself to a demise at the hands of some greater evil than my own," Lines of fatigue crossed his face, and heavy eyebrows drooped as he spoke. "But if I were to die with the knowledge that my demise was brought about by something that is good, perhaps I might find some modicum of peace. It's a selfish request, I know, but there's no harm in reaching for even a distant glimmer of light. Or so I'd like to think, anyway,"
"I'll allow it," Tyler nodded, stepping forwards.
"Master!" Lily protested, but he shook his head.
"Saints are saints, and all he wants is redemption. Look at him, he's given up. If this lets him die in peace, then I don't want to deny him that on the slim chance he might be tricking us. I assume that, seeing as you're clinging to what's left of your honour, this isn't a trick?" he challenged.
"On whatever I have that might pass for a soul, I swear I have no intention of harming you with this act. That said, if my judgement determines you're just as evil as I have become, then I've already lost everything and might as well go down swinging," Georgios admitted.
"Lily, put your sword to his neck. No reason to take chances," Tyler determined, and with a resolute nod his Servant obeyed.
"Ah, a pragmatic Master. Very sensible," Georgios nodded. "My demise is assured, then, but my request stands. If I may?"
"Do it," the boy confirmed.
Georgios raised a hand. "Thou Shalt A Serpent Become: Abyssus Draconis!" His cloak and mantle fluttered in an unseen wind, shining with iridescent light that washed over Servants and Master alike. Three pillars of light erupted around their feet, shining into the sky and projecting holographic images from within their very being.
To no one's surprise, Lily's manifestation was a bright red drake. An adolescent Dragon of Wales that as they watched drew itself up, not quite able to reach a shadowy crown high above.
By contrast, Cu's apparition was a bright green Irish dragon. Visibly wizened, but with a cunning gleam in its eyes, surrounded by a corona of magic.
Both were outshone by Tyler's, though; his spirit took the form of a regal silvery-white dragon standing tall with wings outstretched and a red crest on its chest, with strings hanging down from its wings and supporting several ranks of shadowy figures that stood around it. Underneath them was a green and blue texture in the immediately recognisable shape of the Earth's northern hemisphere.
Tyler choked, looking up at the image Georgios was projecting of his own soul. "That's . . me?" He glanced back down at his hand, seeing that his Command Seals matched the crest on the dragon's chest; a stylised triangle partially covering two circles.
"I see," Georgios nodded, while everyone stared at the apparitions. A small smile crossed his lips. "So I was just a stepping stone on the path of one who will be radiant. I can . . accept that,"
Lily felt a pressure against her sword, and looked down to see that the saint's body was slumped over her blade, blood dripping onto the scorched earth underfoot.
By the time anyone else was able to look back at the spot where Georgios had stood, only a cloud of Spiritrons wafted into the air.
A/N
A/N
Fair warning to the readers, I'm not going to keep up this update pace. I just feel really inspired for the first time in ages. And it feels really good to finally get some of these ideas out there. Yay! Hope everyone's enjoying!