69: All according to Plan
The first matter is to set the stage.
The precise details of how thou experienced the previous twenty-four loops are beyond me - Oblivion Correction is not so precise a skill as to allow me perfect recall of every event which unfolded. Only those memories which I hold a 'grudge' about shall be retained. Still, there be details which I can provide, and thou deservest to hear at least them, boy.
Of twenty-four loops thy allies only reached Paris four times, and in each case, 'twas but one or two of them at most. Each of those times, thou wert absent, having been abducted by the Alchemist, and try as we might, we could not locate thee.
'Twas on the fourth of these occasions, the previous time that thou didst arrive in Paris, that I finally made the acquaintance of that abominable tactician.
The aftermath of thy clash with the nameless Black Knight was a scene of carnage, as always. Georgius and I arrived seconds too late, forestalled by Fafnir's intervention. Would that I knew whence that foul beast came by such a perfect sense of timing!
My first thought was that none were alive - most had already dematerialized, save a pair of normal human corpses. After all, Mash Kyrielight is a Demi-Servant, and Kongming a Pseudo-Servant. 'Tis only natural that they should leave human corpses behind.
"Wait, wait, Pseudo-Servant?" I blurt out, interrupting Ahab's tale. "What the hell is that?"
"Aye, I suppose thou wouldst be unaware." Ahab replies. "'Tis much the same manner of being as a Demi-Servant, though the creation process is different. The end result is still that a heroic spirit is summoned in the body of a living human, but rather than manifesting in a pre-prepared vessel, the grail itself provides one, usually the body of a former master in a Holy Grail War."
"Ah..? Is that possible? And why would that even happen?" I mumble.
"'Tis a slightly difficult matter. Unlike Demi-Servants, or the living Servants created by the Watcher class-"
"Sorry, the what now?" I interrupt, but Ahab continues to speak as if I said nothing.
"-a Pseudo-Servant acquires a living vessel because it is truly incapable of manifesting without one. Either the Spirit in question is too poorly defined to create a body for itself, or it is too incompatible with the modern era to appear without using some manner of trickery."
"Ugh, that's got to be a bad deal for whoever's getting possessed." I mutter, trying to ignore the traumatic flashback.
But you know, when you think about it, I'm someone connected to the Holy Grail now, right? Doesn't that mean I could end up as a Pseudo-Servant? Especially when there's a guy I'm pretty sure could be summoned who has that exact kind of connection with me?
…Ugh, I think I'm gonna be sick. Nice work, Geuse-san. You're really climbing up the list of people I really don't want to see again.
"If thy questions are done, might I resume the tale?" Ahab asks.
"Y-yeah, sorry, go ahead."
He nods. "As we approached the bodies, he emerged from hiding - a second Kongming, identical to the corpse save for his manner of dress. While the corpse was wearing a black suit and glasses, the second one emerged from spiritual form clad in a strategist's robe and hat. I could not have detected him - his presence was terribly weak, far weaker than any servant's ought to be…"
"You're late." He said to me, brushing the dust from his robe.
Georgius apologized, as he is wont to do. I, however, simply scoffed at his accusation. "Do not blame me for thine own failings."
"It's not my fault, really. The plan was foolproof, as usual. But that Berserker's Luck Stat went and messed with my [Tactician's Advice]. This is why I can't stand legendary heroes - can't they just be good little stones and go where expected?" He complained - although, even while doing so, a manic grin was affixed to his face as though he couldn't have been happier. "It's been a while since I was last backed so thoroughly into a corner! "
"Thy excuses are lost upon me - from where I stand, thy strategies are naught for twenty." I answered, and in that moment, his eye fell upon me in truth.
I know not how to describe it - to say he dissected me with a glance, fails to even approach the truth of the feeling. 'Twas the gaze of a craftsman upon his tools, the gaze of a chess player upon his pawn, the gaze of a pagan god upon a desirable woman.
"Tell me more." He said, with nary an ounce of doubt. In an instant, he understood. In a glance, in the blink of an eye, he analyzed my statement, took it to be true, and began planning his next move accordingly.
I told him, of course. All that I knew, and my best guess as to the cause. Know that at the time, I had yet to link the phenomenon to thee - 'twas not an intuitive explanation, and the best guess I had was some innate distortion originating in the nature of singularities.
"Solving this kind of mystery isn't my specialty - this is what I get for sacrificing El-Melloi to fake my death." He sighed.
"-Wait, El-Melloi!?" I blurted. "What the hell does she have to do with this!?" I only met her once or twice at the Clock Tower, but the blonde's demonic grin is engraved into my mind.
"To my understanding, Kongming's vessel was one El-Melloi II - I never met the man, of course. The tactician used some manner of trick, sloughing off the saint graph of the living human to use him as a decoy while preserving his own life." Ahab says, and I feel myself relax a bit.
"Ah, the second, not the third… Well, I never met the guy, but if he's anything like his descendant, he's probably a piece of work who might have deserved it." I mutter. "Still, that is pretty self-serving of Kongming."
"Nay, 'twas only a matter of practicality. After all, his next words were-"
"If I had known that it was going to be a mystery, I would have sacrificed myself instead, and left him behind." He continued. "Well, it should work out anyway - after all, the answer is clear. The resets occur upon the death of Natsuki Subaru, my master."
"And for this, thy justification is…?" I asked.
"Simple. My master has consistently foreseen all circumstances that might get him killed, up to this point. In fact, I'd estimate it's been precisely ten times since our last arrival in Paris, yes?" Kongming said.
"...Thou art correct on thy guess. But thy theory makes no sense! If thy master is able to overcome these events through repeating them over and over, why is he arriving inconsistently? Should he not have arrived every time since his first?"
"Prelati. He's been dropping hints, this entire time, that he knew - and just after we arrived, he betrayed us, and dragged my Master away somewhere. He's playing some kind of game - erasing his memories with hypnosis, I'd wager." He answered, taking a puff of his cigar. "As for his motive… he'd probably say something annoying like, 'I always hated people who need reasons to do things.' and laugh. In other words, it's because he's a sadistic pervert."
"That doth match with my grasp of his personality." I didst reply, nodding. "But what of the gaps between thy arrivals? They have not been uniform."
He chuckled. "For that, I suppose we'd have to thank the other Avenger in this singularity. He caused my master no end of stress, and I suppose this explains it."
I raised an eyebrow. "So the enemy has one of their own, then? What manner of creature is he?"
"A slippery one, unbelievably fast - really, we wouldn't have stood a chance against him if not for my master's foresight and his own penchant for dramatic ent-" In that moment, he cut himself off and whirled around, hand outstretched, an instant before a black shadow with flaming eyes and hands appeared there. "[Unreturning Formation]!"
A series of stone columns fell, entrapping the would-be ambusher, and Kongming laughed. "I can't believe you fell for that, you buffoon! You truly can't help but take my cues, can you, Dantes!?"
"Kuh- bastard!" The man grimaced as light shining from the stone columns drove him to his knees. "Don't think that this will hold me, Kongming!"
"Of course it won't." The strategist shrugged. "But before you escape, I have a deal to offer you."
"Kuhaha! As if the likes of you could offer me anything I would take - all I desire from you is your life, Zhuge Kongming!" The man shouted in response, grinning with fury.
"That price works." Kongming answered calmly - and in a single motion, fired a bolt of energy through his own chest.
"What-!?" "Thou art mad!" Dantes and I shouted.
"Heh - now, I gave you the payment you asked for! Will you fulfill my request, oh King of the Cavern!?" Kongming asked, grinning madly, even as his Noble Phantasm began to disappear.
"...Ha! Ha! Kuhahahaha!" The man laughed, leaning backwards and covering his eyes with one hand. "Fine! Fine! How can I refuse an exchange like that!? What would you have me do? Make your plea!"
"Then - will you kill Francois Prelati, and save my master from his clutches?" he asked, face growing pale as he began to collapse to the ground. "I have no one else I can ask, much as I hate it. But you have a grudge against Prelati anyway, so… if there's any human heart left in you, please- save him."
The other man grinned wickedly. "In that case… wait and hope, Kongming."
In the blink of an eye, he was gone.
At that, the strategist laughed, standing once more and brushing himself off. "Well, that part was simple enough. I wonder if he even realized I only cracked my Spirit Origin with that shot? I bet that I could have gotten away with just pretending to hit it after all."
"And what of thee?" I asked. "Dost thou realize that he intends to kill them both?"
I expected he had. He was a legendary tactician, after all, there was no chance of him missing that obvious possibility. He would doubtless have already prepared a backup plan - only needing confirmation from one more understanding of the minds of the depraved.
In truth I had underestimated the depravity of his mind.
"Of course he will - that's what I'm counting on, after all." He replied with ease, and in that moment I truly understood the manner of monster I was dealing with.
After that, he had me lead him to an unused room in town - the same which we now sit in. He taught me the arrangement necessary to create Feng Shui in this room - and then, he began work on his true plan.
"[Chu Shi Biao] - I suppose the simplest way to translate it would be 'Dispatch Troops'. It's my other Noble Phantasm, a report to the throne requesting the formation of a subjugation army. Under most circumstances, it allows me to grant a target 'something needed for the current situation'. But its power grows the more desperate the situation gets - meaning, in my current state, slowly dying just before the timeline resets, it's about as strong as it will ever get."
Of course, it won't do much good at this point. Like I said, everything's already coming to a close. But that's where you come in, Captain. You, who can recall the events of prior loops - I'll be entrusting you with my Noble Phantasm's delivery. It's a report, after all. It's not as though I have to be the one to deliver it. I will engrave the report within your memory, and you will bring it with you to the start of the next loop, where it can grant Natsuki Subaru 'the allies he requires for this situation'. In other words, it will manipulate the summoning system so that he can acquire the allies he needs rather than what the world decides to spit at him, and so that these allies have the instructions to succeed."
"Thou dost understand," I replied, "that I cannot recall every event of prior loops perfectly? Only wrongs perpetrated against me are certain to remain after a reset."
"Of course." He answered with a grin. "That's why I'll be carving them into your skin."
"...I think I should enjoy killing thee, if we ever meet again." I growled in response. "Very well! Do what thou wilt! But know - that some day, in some world, I shall repay thee, tactician."
"Of course." He answered. "Now, hold still. I need to make this hurt a lot, if you're going to remember it."
And so it was, that his stratagem was imparted to me. The criteria for Servants to be summoned, and the orders to be implanted in their mind upon summoning.
To one who was best suited to match Edmond Dantes, Fafnir, and the Black Knight in combat: "Victory is assured if Natsuki Subaru reaches Paris. Do all that you can to ensure this."
To one who was able to do so:
"Shatter the illusions of Francois Prelati. If you can achieve this, victory is assured."
To an assassin capable of achieving it:
"Find and kill Francois Prelati in the tunnels beneath Paris. If you do this, victory is assured."
And to the strongest servant able to be summoned:
"Slay the false Jeanne d'Arc and claim the Grail. If you can do this, victory is assured."
"Of course, it's not a perfect solution. It may be not all of the calls will work - especially that last one. But that's fine. Saint George ought to be powerful enough to make it work - especially with command spells backing him up. As long as Subaru can make it to Paris, and as long as Prelati ends up dead, everything should work out." He concluded - and at that moment, the black shadow that had already risen from the tunnels beneath the city some two hours prior finally broke through the defense of Saint George.
As her inky shadows crept through beneath the door, and swallowed us whole - I opted to annihilate myself, lest she erase what he had written and all be in vain.
"[From Hell's Heart, I Stab at Thee]!"
My spear, my Noble Phantasm, to my understanding, operates on an old Zoroastrian curse - at least, this is what the blasted Parsee Fedallah told me when he created it. A curse of shared pain, inflicted upon its target, followed by annihilation of the wielder in an ultimate suicide attack.
Of course, my attack could not reach her. The shadows grasped at it and its time slowed to a crawl long before it reached her. But the second half, my own death, occurred without a hitch. And As I died, I heard the tactician's last words as the shadow swallowed him.
"Make it count, Captain. We likely have only one or two tries before she catches on."
And then I knew nothing, as the fires of my own vengeance consumed me.
"Well, it's not like I'm expecting that much." Kongming concluded after the old whaler disappeared. "There's still far too many mysteries, after all. The identity of that Black Knight, the reason behind Fafnir's reported change in tactics, the cause of Corday and Kiyohime's disappearances before our arrival… and of course, the question of what became of Napoleon Bonaparte."
One of those would come in to bite him, and ruin his plan. Or the Black Knight's absurd luck stat, or perhaps simply the insufficiency of Saint George's power to defeat the enemy. Regardless, he doubted it would go so simply.
"So long as we break through the obstacle of Prelati, it should work out, though - sorry, Master. I'll be needing you to die a few more times before we can really untangle this mess."
Of course, from the grin on his face, it was obvious he didn't feel sorry at all.
A/N:
Sorry for the delays. Some stuff happened that sort of nuked my writing confidence a bit ago, and also I've been lazy. Here's hoping this one wasn't too much of a catastrophe.
Kongming is a bit of a bastard. Anyway, the good news is we've reached roughly the halfway point of the France Singularity (kill me).