Wow. What a long, long, long journey it has been up to this point. I am sad about everyone I have lost on this way due to the insane delays, but still happy for everyone who joined me for parts of this path or all of it. Maybe some aspects of the following chapter will be controversial, but we have finally reached the end. For now we will see the final fates amidst ice and fire...
Have fun!
Chapter 15 – Birth of a new World
Kirei
Kirei Kotomine regained consciousness to the faint sound of rain and blips of hospital machines. Somehow, inexplicably, he found himself standing with open eyes, looking out of a curtained window. As his eyes adjusted to the light, he realized that the outside was completely shapeless, with the only visible detail being black raindrops falling from the sky. And… with the exception of that last detail, all of it felt somehow strangely familiar.
"I am glad you made it here, Kirei."
That voice! Of course!
It was a familiar atmosphere because it was his house. This was their bedroom. Kirei turned around and saw a picture just as he had imagined it to find. A brightly lit room with white walls that would have been judged extraordinarily spartan by an outsider. There were two beds, a small wardrobe, a couple of picture frames telling stories of a decidedly one-sided relationship… and of course the bulky breathing apparatus next to the bed where a pale white-haired woman was lying in, her head turned towards him from atop her pillow.
"Claudia", even as her name left his lips, the absurdity of the situation struck him. "No, it is impossible."
"My dear, what makes you say that?", she asked, her soft voice barely reaching across the room.
"For one, you… she died years ago. And… I was falling. I was fighting for the Grail and the ground gave way all of a sudden. What is this?"
A deep voice spoke behind him:
"You should already be aware where you are."
Kirei turned towards it and suddenly found himself back in Turin where he was briefed about the Grail War, staring right into the face of another dead person, Tokiomi Tohsaka.
"Am I now?", Kirei asked back with a dubious frown.
"There is only one place you could possibly be in", his father said behind him.
He was back in Turin alright. Looking back at forth between the two men circling him, his mind raced and latched onto the first answer crossing it.
"An illusory world? No, all of this has been created from my memories. These are all images constructed to make sense of… of whatever you are…"
"Indeed, it is my only way of communicating with you", the person with the face of Tohsaka replied.
It suddenly struck Kirei that the darkness he fell in and the pain that was numbing his senses weren't quite the pain what you would expect from a fall upon sharp debris. It also seemed apparent that this something must have been responsible for the floor's crumbling.
"This place was created by the Grail?"
"Not quite", a young female voice spoke. "You are inside it."
Kirei turned around once more and found himself in the dark hotel room, Arya leaning against the door. Even here the sound of raindrops was all too present.
"I was not informed the vessel can still be sentient at this point", Kirei spoke his suspicions with narrowed eyes.
The girl gave a dark smirk, an expression he rarely saw on the actual Assassin.
"You still don't quite understand. The vessel has taken its shape and is almost filled. All it needs is one more soul and a wish. Then it will birth what is inside."
Kirei's mind ached from the implications.
"It will birth you?"
The girl gave a nod.
"Now you understand. I apologize if this here has confused you. Using existing assets from your memory is my only means of communication. I just could not help when the opportunity presented itself. You… intrigue me, Kirei Kotomine."
"Do I now?"
Kirei noted that this thing was still keeping his true nature hidden. He didn't like that part at all.
"Yes, you do", another female voice spoke from behind him and Kirei suppressed a slight bout of annoyance when he turned around once more.
He was now standing in the middle of a forest clearing, the moonlight illumination having taken a noticeably more sinister tone by an orb of black and red hanging in the sky above him. Kirei had to wonder whether it was responsible for the black rain that existed even here where he was facing the homunculus and… the Magus Killer. Both of them looking at him with serious expressions.
"The other one may have a grander wish", the homunculus spoke. "But it is you who contains in his heart the key to how I will be born into your world."
Somehow, those words stung. A key in his heart. A heart so rotten, so twisted. What could this creature possibly be that it needed him of all people?
"You need my wish for your birth? What is it you would like me to wish for?"
"Only for what you truly desire", Claudia's voice spoke and once again Kirei found himself in the familiar four walls of his home.
He turned towards her, this time he was standing right at the side of her bed.
"If you have truly read my thoughts and memories you would know that there is no desire I would be in need of the Grail for."
The thing with the face of Claudia smiled playfully.
"You can try to delude yourself, but deep down you know the same truth I do. A truth I can help you accept: The truth of who you are at your core, Kirei Kotomine."
"If you are so assured that you can just confirm my suspicions to me like that, why would I be in need of the Grail then?"
If not to fix myself, that is… but I somehow doubt this thing would be interested in that.
"Oh, I am not talking of knowledge. What I can give you is far more carnal", her pale bony hands reached out to his, pulling her fingers around his fist and pulling them gently close to her. "I can grant you the joy you have always been lacking. I can wipe away all your regrets and make you become who you were always destined to be."
"Destined…"
Of course. That thought had come to him before as well. Something as outside the norm as him could only come to be for a purpose, if it wasn't in the end only a practical joke on his parents' devotion. Then again, nature was fickle like that in its blessings sometimes… and maybe that thought of his was just something he had come up with to deal with the stinging emptiness that he was always feeling. An excuse this thing would only be too aware of."
"I understand you, Kirei Kotomine. I know you maybe better than you do, for even now you are still in denial. I understand you… and accept you."
"Accepting me in exchange for my wish, I wager."
Her grasp became tighter as she gently, but determinedly pulled his fingers open.
"No. All I wish for is for you to embrace your true self. To stop this fruitless mummery of yours."
Kirei somehow stopped resisting. When his fingers were forced open, she put them to her own throat and he couldn't help but have his heart race at the touch of her soft, silky skin, of the movements of her muscles and the fragility of her life itself. He only needed to squeeze and watch that life drain out of her as Claudia would surely express the even deeper sting of his betrayal and the shattering of her hopes. A scene he had imagined countless times in the most shameful corner of his mind. A scene that the voice of that same corner was eager to see him fulfil even if this was also just an elaborate illusion.
He looked down into Claudia's pleading eyes.
"You have no idea what a tempting offer this is."
"Maybe not, no", she spoke, almost a whisper. "Come, embrace your destiny!"
Kirei closed his eyes, took a deep breath and opened them again. Claudia was still in front of him, his hands still firmly clasping her throat.
"Your choice of people to talk to me through has been most ironic as well. My father, Claudia, Tohsaka… they all judged me by the person I pretended to be. By the path of righteousness that I thought I'd have to follow all my life to fight the evil within me."
"They would have never been able to understand you. But I do. I know your pain", the thing with the face of Claudia spoke.
"… and yet you also showed me Arya…"
"Who laughed at your concerns!"
"True… but who did so to remind me of satisfaction in a life beyond selfish desire. Who reminded me that my father, Claudia and Tohsaka had their expectations for me not because of their own selfish reasons, but because they saw value in me being who I strived to be."
"They saw value in a lie!", Claudia chided him harshly.
"Some lies hold the world together I suppose."
"You will never be able to defy your nature! Your true self is God's destiny for you!"
"How can you presume to know the will of God?", Kirei's heart ached, but he still forced a bitter smile onto his face. "I sure don't either. Maybe this is just a trial I have to overcome. Only in the afterlife I will know if I have succeeded in living a pious and honorable life."
"Honor?"
Claudia's exasperation was so tangible, it actually ended up calming Kirei's inner whispers a little. He tried to pull back his left arm, clasping the cross on his bracelet, but Claudia's arm followed it and held it surprisingly firmly in place. Then again, Kirei didn't necessarily need it to commune with him. He closed his eyes again.
Lord. If I am defying my fate, then this would be the best moment to intervene. If not, then grant me just a little of your strength.
He opened his eyes again and put his hand back on her throat. Claudia seemed confused at first about his intentions.
"I kill, I give life. I injure, I heal. There are none who escape from my hands. There are none who escape from my eyes."
"What are you doing?"
"May it be so that you are shattered."
All of a sudden she jolted in the bed, trying to wiggle free, but Kirei held her firmly in place.
"I welcome the defeated, the aged. Surrender to me, learn from me, obey me. May you be at rest."
Her fingernails kept digging into the flesh of his arms, drawing blood, but he still held firm with all his strength.
"Do not forget the song, do not forget the prayer, do not forget me. I relieve you of all burdens."
Forgive me, Claudia… I should have been your salvation.
"May it be so that there is no deception"
In the corners of his eyes Kirei noticed that the room was loosing shape, the white walls distorting, trying to rearrange themselves into splendor of Turin, the dark blue forest clearing or the shuttered blackness of his hotel room, but each transformation seemed stuttering and interrupted.
"Retaliation unto forgiveness, betrayal unto belief, despair unto hope, darkness unto light, death unto life."
The thing with the face of Claudia stopped her struggle. Still clawing into his flesh, she instead seemed to pull herself closer into his grasp.
"You are making a grave mistake! If you refuse me, you will have a brief and miserable life, devoid of any joy and happiness! You will live and die in regrets and suffering!"
And I hope I can take pride in it!
"May you rest in my hands. Let there be mark of yours sins. Eternal life is found only in death."
"I curse you, Kirei Kotomine! Angra Mainyu curses you!"
Ah, the name of the creature? Curious…
"Forgiveness is before you, and so my incarnation vows…"
"Suffer… Die…!"
"May God have mercy of this soul! Kyrie eleison!"
A bright light engulfed both Kirei and Claudia, shattering all remnants of the illusion. But as Kirei was pulled back into reality by the grace of the Lord, so did his senses reconnect with the worldly situation he found himself in. As the shockwave subsided, the Executor found himself alone amidst dancing black shadows, grey concrete, orange flames and thick smoke. He crawled through black pus, his lungs aching with every breath and an unending pain racing through his entire nervous system as if he was constantly stabbed, at the same time feeling an even deeper pain tucking at his heart, a curse of pure hate that was trying to lay waste upon him through despair and hopelessness. He may have escaped the illusion, but he was still certainly not free of that Angra Mainyu's grasp.
Thanks to a pure luck, Kirei noticed a seemingly untouched flight of stairs ahead and singlemindedly crawled towards it, passing flames and crushed cars. Apparently the contents of the Grail had wreaked so much havoc, they had burned their way down to the underground parking lots and Kirei had been carried down to them along with them. After long, excoriating minutes, the Executor managed to heave himself upon the stairs, still ragged, his lungs aflame with every breath and the curse still clutching at his heart. Turning upon his back, Kirei clasped his cross with both hands and prayed:
"Blessed Michael, Prince of the heavenly host. Defend us in the battle against principalities and powers, against the rulers of the world of darkness and the spirit of wickedness in high places!"
Turning the exorcism onto himself, he felt the cleansing energy emanating from his pendant, driving that hand inside his body back before it was able to firm its hold.
"Come to the rescue of mankind, whom God has made in His own image and likeness, and purchased from Satan's tyranny at so great a price."
He gritted his teeth as the holy and unholy powers wrestled inside him, the stress made him pass in and out of consciousness, though even if he really wished he could just lie down and close his eyes, Kirei knew he couldn't afford a second of hesitation.
"Entreat the Lord of peace to cast Satan down under our feet, so as to keep him from further holding man captive and doing harm to the Church!"
There was a throbbing pain his ears and a shrill wristling, but he still endured.
"Carry our prayers up to God's throne, that the mercy of the Lord may quickly come and lay hold of the beast, the serpent of old, Satan and his demons, casting him in chains into the abyss, so that he can no longer seduce the nations! Amen!"
A final jolt threatened to hurl Kirei back down the stairs, but he clawed at their edges and kept his hold. The unnerving grip upon his heart had disappeared. Whatever curse it was, he had managed to dispel it in the nick of time. He wondered whether it would have been minutes or seconds more and the prayer might not have been able to remove what would have already become a part of him.
Maybe I am the son of Risei Kotomine after all.
Coughing and with burning muscles, Kirei attempted to push himself up, but yet failed. The crackle of flames came closer and closer and what the curse failed to do, the carbon monoxide in the air may make up for. So he needed to get out of this place as quickly as possible. And on top of that, there was…
Kotomine looked upon his remaining Command Spells, still indicating his connection to her.
"Arya…"
With one more burst of strength, Kirei finally managed to crawl his way up, heaving his leaden legs up towards still more intact parts of the Civil Center. The words of both Claudia and Lady Melisandre were ringing threateningly in his ears.
I hope I am not going to be too late…
Jaime
A red flash lit up at the stands where Kiritsugu Emiya had raised his arm. Jaime tensed his muscles, anticipating the coming jolt through his body as the Command Spell took hold. But what threw him off-guard was that Oathkeeper flared up the same way it just did moments ago when triggered by his move to protect Arya. Was the Command spell counting as a vow? Or was it the brute force of his Master's twisted magic that forced it all out? Jaime couldn't say for sure, he knew nothing about these matters. But he knew that he had to buy Arya all the time he could.
"Run!", he pressed out through clenched teeth. "Get away!"
Arya took a few steps backwards, but he still noticed her eyes were fixated on him. That back and forth must have confused her greatly. But then again, as much as Jaime pushed against the spell's tightening grip on his arm and his legs, he was still too weakened by Oberyn's poison to give much of a fight against it. He was a helpless puppet, struggling and yet impotent against the strings forcing his hands. Out of his kneeling position, his legs joltet up and at the same time the flaming Oathkeeper struck downwards and the girl assassin. Having no space to realistically avoid it, she reflexively raised her sword for a parry. A parry it would have been if it were two ordinary Westerosi swords meeting each other in battle, but the slender Eastern blade had no chance to stop an awakened Valyrian Steel sword. With a hollow clinking sound, Oathkeeper cut right through steel and fabric and flesh, embedding itself deep into her shoulder.
No!
Feeling the pull of the Command Spell immediately lessening, Jaime mustered enough will to banish the roaring blade away, leaving only the mortally struck girl and her broken blade to slump to her knees. He wasn't quite sure whether it was the rush of the situation or a way to cope with it, but her eyes were lowering and fixating on the hilt in her hand.
"You broke Needle", she whispered.
Jaime slumped back to his knees, unsure how to express his sorrow.
"I.. I'm sorry, I… I didn't mean to…", now he himself wasn't quite sure whether he meant the sword or the strike itself.
The girl didn't seem to register his words either.
"You broke Needle", she whispered again. "Needle was my brothers and sister and my mother and father…"
"Was it?", Jaime didn't know what to say, he had no right to try to console her.
"Winterfell's grey walls… the summer snows… Old Nan… the heart tree… the glass gardens… the north wind… Jon's smile…"
"I'm so sorry… I really wanted to get you there. To make you see them all again."
Arya still wasn't reacting to him. Tears were running down her cheeks as she was clutching the ruined sword to her blood soaked chest. And then, much to Jaime's astonishment, the hilt started glowing, with this light becoming rapidly brighter as much so as it was hurting his eyes. More out of instinct than any genuine call for help, Jaime averted his eyes and looked up to where Kiritsugu was still standing above them. The Magus Killer seemed himself awestruck, whispering words of recognition that weren't audible to Jaime. The knight of the Kingsguard looked back to the girl and as he did so, the light engulfed him.
A chilly wind creeping beneath armor and padding was the first thing that Jaime sensed, even before his sight was returning. He clearly wasn't in the Civic Center anymore. Or Fuyuki, for that matter. There was no wooden stage, no cushioned seats, no mud-spewing Grail hovering in the air above them anymore. Instead he felt cold soil beneath him and saw a grey sky above him. And surrounding him… dark walls and towers out of granite, with diamond-shaped window panes. The shape of the towers differed in design, indicating expansions across centuries, with one particularly accursed tower looking collapsed inwardly with nobody seemingly bothering to repare it. And despite that, the Northern school of design seemed instantly apparent to Jaime. Who also had very little doubt about which castle's courtyard he had found himself in.
Winterfell! Impossible!
The insanity of the situation was overwhelming. Just a moment ago he was lamenting his inability to adhere to his word, to lament how fate was tormenting him by making it impossible to fulfil Lady Catelyn's wish in the end… and now he was here. Somehow. And as ridiculously as it sounded, it must have been through Arya's power alone.
Is it because I broke the sword? Was that a requirement? Is this… her true Noble Phantasm?
Jaime noted early on that the castle seemed almost deserted. He spotted a scant few guards dotting the battlements. Most of those few people who populated it had gathered around the courtyard, watching the scene of the kneeling Lannister and the bleeding Arya with grim faces. Faces even Jaime remembered, either through memory or through connecting the dots that it were only the people closest to the girl. Some of them looked just like he remembered, others however were older, definitely not the children he barely paid attention to. Some of the guards he even recognized as among those accompanying he had ordered killed in his wrath about Tyrion's capture, one other he recognized from Lady Stoneheart's retinue. There was even the Butcher's boy Sandor Clegane killed at the Trident. All grim reminders of the injustices he and his family did to the Starks.
Then there were her siblings, all accompanied by their ferocious direwolves. A scruffy young boy clothed in rough skins alongside a particularly vicious looking one. The boy he broke, riding on the back of a dim looking giant, accompanied by not only his wolf but also a small flock of ravens. Then a beautiful young woman in a blue dress without a direwolf, but instead with a falcon perched on her shoulder, certainly the one Jaime sought in vain to restore his honor. Of course there was the Young Wolf in all his battle regalia that he wore when Jaime tried to fight his way towards him in the Whispering Woods. However the first to charge to his sisters side and holding her was a dour looking young man clad in the black of the Night's Watch, a white beast following silently on his heels.
As the boy was cradling Arya, two other Starks were walking up to Jaime, icy stares boring into him. As he was looking up, he saw the gaunt rugged features of Eddard Stark looking down on him, judging him like always. Next to him was his lovely wife, grim and hateful, but still noticeably warmer and more human than the last time he had seen her. Jaime flinched under their silent gazes.
"I was… trying to bring her back", Jaime cried. "I'm sorry… I'm sorry… I didn't want it to end like this… I wanted to bring her home… But again, I failed… I'm sorry Lady Stark… I failed you… again…"
With notable reluctance, another young man approached them, a lean dark-haired boy with a kraken-emblazoned surcoat. He was carrying the massive sheath of Lord Eddard's ancestral sword. After some hesitation and a pained moving of his jaws, the young man bowed deeply and presented it to Lord Stark, who looked grimly back and forth between Jaime and the hilt. In a way, Jaime found himself back in the Red Keep's throne room when a much younger Ned Stark judged him just like he did now. Back then he had met a different Jaime, albeit exhausted and pondering the implications of what he did, but still with his stubborn arrogance that clashed immediately with Lord Stark's stubborn sense of honor. This time Jaime felt not like giving any kind of retort because he had none. He was sick of all of it. He was sick of the poison, sick of his oaths being trampled over, sick of that whole damn Grail business. And he had struck down the man's daughter with his own steel. Being judged and executed by the very same sword seemed like a fair deal. Not to mention that he also found a grim satisfaction in the knowledge that dying here would screw over that bastard Emiya. So he lowered his head and braced himself…
… and the seconds passed and the seconds passed.
Come on Stark, do it before I change my mind!
"Mylord! There is not much time left!"
Jaime opened his eyes again. The Stark children had surrounded the still dying Arya and the one speaking out was the old grey-clothed Maester kneeling at her head, carefully inspecting the wound. Jaime dared looking up. Stark for some reason hadn't taken up Ice and the Greyjoy boy was still holding it out to him.
"I did not know you were capable of this much remorse, Kingslayer", Eddard said grimly. "If you were not, I would probably waste this precious moment on you instead of tending to my daughter."
And with these scant words, he walked away and dropped down to hold Arya's hand. Lady Stark held her stare a little longer and Jaime flinched, thinking of what memories of her last moments she would hold even in that restored form. And he wondered whether she was contemplating taking up Ice herself. But in the end she followed her husband and joined the circle around the dying girl.
"We are here, little one. We are all here", Lord Stark said. "Nobody is going to hurt you anymore."
"You are… everyone… you truly are…", Jaime was able to hear her soft sobs amidst them.
With Stark's heavy fur cloak blocking the view, Jaime was unable to make out the girl's reaction to their expressions of affection, but was certain it was overwhelming to her. He also felt like he had no right to look. This was no place for lions, he had no right to pry on the bond between wolves… though in a way he was still watching on with some growing envy. Would his own father have held his hand in his last moments? His brother? Gods know how his sister expressed her hatred for him in their last moments. There was one other person left out of this though. Still clutching uneasily to Ice, the Greyjoy hostage was still standing there, looking sick. Jaime had a flicker of memory about how it was said he had betrayed the Starks and sacked Winterfell. That moment of bemusement about the oddity of him being here was passing quickly, as Jaime looked back to the crowding Starks. They went round now, each speaking soothing words of encouragement as sobs indicated the presence of many tears.
Jaime slumped down and tore with his hands in the dirt until Winterfell's walls slowly faded into nothingness.
Kirei
Kirei reached the top of the stairs, barely catching his breath before entering. He had rushed as fast as his aching body could carry him to the closest balcony overseeing the stage, unsure how much of the concert hall was left after the havoc the Grail must have unleashed up there. Unfortunately it turned out he had chosen the wrong balcony.
The moment he stepped forward, he already sensed the rapid motion of a gun being raised to point at him and heard the click of a safety cocking off. Kirei froze instantly, assessing the situation. Down below a particularly distressed looking Saber had dropped to his knees, staring at a small puddle of blood in front of him. The Grail meanwhile had manifested and was floating in the air behind him, still spewing forth more of that black mud Kirei just had an unintentional encounter with. It had eaten away most of the seating area behind the stage, leaving behind only a black abyss that made it half a miracle how everything else was still so intact. With no sight of Arya anywhere, realization dawned on him that he was too late. Instead Kiritsugu Emiya was standing just a couple of meters to his left, his weapon trained at him. Kirei found it odd enough that the man hadn't pulled the trigger yet, despite his usual inclination to end fights as quickly as possible.
"So you have survived", Emiya said instead. "But it doesn't matter. You are too late, I am the victor! There is no point in continuing this battle."
So it's true… Arya…
Kirei clenched his teeth and glanced towards Emiya as unthreatening as possible as to not provoke him. Then he spoke, loud and carefully, making sure that Saber heard him as well:
"I am not here to continue the fight either, Magus Killer. I have just seen the inside of the Grail and must tell you we have been deceived."
Emiya gave a dismissive grunt.
"The only attempt of deception I can see is yours. And it is done very poorly."
"Look at it, Emiya! Look at what it spews forth! I don't know what your wish is, but is this truly the salvation you seek? There is an evil sealed inside it! I have seen it! I have spoken to it! It wants one of us help give it birth!"
It seemed like for a moment Emiya was considering a glance towards the Grail and its black contents, but he quickly caught himself.
"Is this truly the game you are playing? You want me to believe that even after you fought so hard to acquire it yourself?"
Unexpectedly, Saber rose up down below just before Kirei caught give a reply.
"Listen to him, Emiya! How can this entire mummer's farce be anything other than that? So many have died! For what? The Grail pissing on each one's honor! For what? How can your peace be born from something so rotten?"
"Peace?", Kirei couldn't help but repeat the wish Saber was so freely revealing.
Emiya ground his teeth.
"If my wish is granted, we will in just a few moments laugh off the thought that we were trying to kill each other."
Am I hearing right? This is what this man has pursued so ruthlessly? Could it be… that he is not like me after all? That instead he is just broken?
If that was true, then his current attempt at reasoning with him might not be quite as desperate and futile as he initially thought.
"Aren't you listening? Everything you have done will be for a wish that might doom us all! All your deeds, it will all have been in vain when this thing inside the Grail turns the world into ash!"
"Is this true?", Saber asked, his initial hanger having somewhat calmed down, but now he looked more bedazzled than anything.
"That is what I am saying! When I was touched by this black ooze, the Grail spoke to me and tried to tempt me to use the wish for evil."
He glanced back to Kiritsugu, who seemed to avoid eye-contact with him.
"You have no idea how much I sacrificed to get to this point! How many I lost…"
"No, I don't. And I couldn't. I could never. Up to this point I thought I understood you, Emiya, but now I am seeing a man who is plagued by different demons than mine. As such I hope defying the Grail comes easier to you than it came to me."
Emiya was truly glancing down now, even though the grip on his gun wasn't relaxing in the slightest.
"Saber…"
"Let's take a little bit of time and think this all over. This whole business has been madness from the start!", the man in the white armor pleaded.
"I know… it has always been a gamble…", Emiya took a deep breath, Kirei noted how insanely tired he looked at that moment. "A gamble that I just have to take. I'm sorry."
Something warm and joyful flared up in Kirei's heart and he didn't like the implication at all.
"Don't be foolish!", Kirei yelled.
"With my last Command Spell, I order you: …"
"Stop this!", Saber screamed from below, but it was too late.
"Take the Grail and wish for an end to all conflict!"
"Don't do it! Fight against it as hard as you can!", Kirei shouted down to Saber, knowing that he had only a very brief window to act in order to prevent a tragedy beyond the scale of even his vilest fantasies.
Kiritsugu Emiya must have come to the same conclusion. There was no hesitation anymore. The man immediately pulled the trigger, even before the red shockwave had time to reach his Servant. There was no avoiding the shot at this distance, no time to move his body out of its path, no supercharged Black Key to take the hit. There was just one option left and that was to change the path of the bullet itself. Kirei whirled around and flicked at it with his left hand, catching it with its side through superhuman speed and calculated audacity.
"Urrggh…"
An almost unbearable flash of pain travelled through his entire lower arm as the bullet passed it in its entirety. And yet that sacrifice bought him the fraction of a second that he needed to straighten out his body, move his center out of its path and let it leave through his elbow to plunge harmlessly into the wall far behind him.
"Tch", was Kiritsugu's only response as he realized that Kirei was still standing and still had one functioning arm left.
More than enough at this distance!
The Executor jumped and crossed that distance within the blink of an eye. In that same split-second, Emiya had drawn a knife with his left, moving it to intercept. Kirei flicked it away with a sideways punch against Emiya's wrist, but from the other side came Kiritsugu's right with the butt of his gun flying fast towards Kirei's head. Having no other choice but to take it, he flung his ruined arm up and defended himself with it, even though it caused another eruption of pain. With his time being so limited, Kirei immediately went for the offensive summoning a single Black Key in his right, pressuring Emiya to try and defend himself with his knife. And he did again and again, catching each of his strikes even though the result was an anguished face and veins popping all over his face, blurring the man's vision with blood.
The magic that he uses to make himself faster seems to be ripping him apart! This means I only need to keep this speed up!
Time seemed frozen. Seconds felt like minutes. Every feint, every attack, every single movement, every turn of his muscles was carefully planned and executed. Kirei Kotomine felt the fate of the world resting his shoulders, the world his father taught him to protect. The Black Key darted forward, again and again, until he finally created an opening. Emiya was so single-mindedly focusing on matching his strikes, he never saw the kick against his knee coming. With one violent twist, he sank down, unbalanced and opening an even wider gap at his most critical defense line. Kirei went through it. And Emiya's counter came too slow, too sluggish. All Kirei needed was one quick sideways slash and the deed was done.
"Grrgh", acknowledging his defeat, but certainly not the finality of his wish, Emiya wanted to say something, but it got drowned in the blood bubbling up from his cut throat as his head rolled off his shoulders. With a spray of that blood reaching Kirei's face and dotting his frock, the Magus Killer finally slumped to the ground.
But there was not a single second left to waste.
"Saber!", Kirei cried out as he rushed to the edge of the balcony.
The knight was truly giving his best. His arms were stretched out towards the Grail and he was inching towards it, but he was driving his boots deep into the splintering floor to get any shred of friction to help him fight the pull towards the edge of the stage. There the golden Grail was slowly starting its descent, seemingly eager to find its owner.
"I… I… can't much longer!"
If he touches it, we are all going to die!
"Heed my words: My will creates your body, and your sword creates my destiny!", Kirei rushed to the edge of the balcony, stretching out his healthy hand.
"If you heed the Grail's call and obey my will and reason, then answer me! Do so and I will entrust my destiny to your sword!"
The Lannister Saber seemed to quickly realize what he was doing and doubled down on his fight even as the Grail hovered on his eye level and was just about two steps in reach.
"On my honor as a Saber and a knight of the Seven Kingdoms, I, Ser Jaime Lannister, accept you as my Master!"
The last Command Spells on his hand flared up and reactivated, binding him to the white knight. The second that connection finally kicked in, Kirei used his second-to-last one.
"I order you, stop!"
A jolt went through Saber and he dropped once again to his knees as the magical strings forcing his movements had been cut all of a sudden.
"Come, get away from it, quickly!", Kirei hurried. "If you touch the Grail or that mud, everything will be over!"
The blonde knight didn't make him say that twice. He jumped back to his feet and quickly retreated a back to the edge of the stage. The Grail seemed less than pleased. It rose back into the air, spewing forth even more black ooze that ate into the stage and set fire to it. The entire concert hall by now had taken on some apocalyptic shape.
"Okay… now that we avoided that doom… what now?", Saber asked, genuinely puzzled. "That thing seems content staying there wreaking havoc. I don't think we can just kindly ask it to leave."
"No, that much seems true", Kirei looked up at it, there it was, only waiting for his call. "The vessel is connected to the actual Grail containing the magical energy collected during the Grail War. It seems to take that energy and generate a constant stream of concentrated curses that it leaks out. It will do this until it finds someone worthy and willing or it runs out of energy. At this rate, it will burn its way through the entire city once it is finished with the Civic Center."
"You must be kidding!"
Kirei shrugged.
"I have not come anticipating any of this. I can only make educated guesses. It is possible the city may even be an optimistic estimation. Theoretically it should have accumulated enough energy for things far beyond our imagination."
Like Emiya's foolish wish…
"I am only working under the impression that this ooze is a very ineffective way to go about its business. In the end, this creature of evil still wants to use the Grail to be born into our world. Therefore I see only one way", the priest continued. "We must destroy the vessel!"
Saber grimaced at that, unhappily muttering a name under his breath as he stole a glance at the floating cup.
"I suppose that needs a bit more than a good whack with my sword?"
"I advise against any physical contact with it. I don't know how easily it might swallow you."
"That sure sounds very reassuring…", the Kingslayer sighed. "But I might have something that could help us. My Noble Phantasm. If you could make me unleash it, I can destroy this cup from afar. Oathkeeper fortunately seems to treat command spells as vows I need to adhere to. The only question remains whether it would still listen to me, even after I broke my vow to… well, to protect Arya."
His eyes lowered and he seemed to feel genuinely morose about what should have been his main goal in this conflict. Kirei swallowed down the urge to prod about the exact circumstances of this ultimately pointless tragedy.
"In the centuries past of this world, it was custom to take certain vows when someone was knighted", Kirei mused aloud, clinging to one idea that crossed his mind. "The words varied from country to country, but the idea was the same everywhere. Did you take similar vows?"
The Lannister knight visibly lit up.
"Yes indeed!"
"What did you swear?"
"In the name of all the gods, to be brave, to be just, to… protect the young and innocent and all women."
"Ser Jaime Lannister", Kirei began. "Out there are 400.000 innocents threatened by whatever spews forth from this cup! Would it not fall it within your duty as a knight to shield them from that doom?"
The white knight gave a tired smirk.
"True enough. That seems like a just cause."
He closed his eyes and held out his right hand. And with a whirl, the dark red and black blade manifested in it again. Lannister opened his eyes again and made two practice swings.
"This will be my last act in this farce. I really didn't think it would end as badly as this", he made a sideways glance to where Emiya's corpse was still bleeding out.
"Me neither. Fate has an odd way to play grim jokes on us humans", Kirei added.
"Yes. Well, at least the last irony will be that I will be saving a city. I can live with that being a habit of mine."
"Then we shall proceed: With my last Command Spell, I order you, Jaime Lannister, destroy the Grail!"
The white knight turned around and his sword became encased with dark flames.
"Gods, what a spectacular failure. Hopefully this puts an end to all of this", with these words he held his sword high above his head. "Come forth: Oathkeeper!"
The flames from his sword spewed forth and swallowed the Grail, which in turn melted away in a bright light that forced Kirei to avert his gaze. Once it subsided, both Saber as well as the Grail had gone. His Servant contract lifted, the Grail War aborted, Kirei found himself alone overseeing the raging flames below. Taking a deep breath, Kirei started to leave… at least until the building all of a sudden started shaking.
What the…
With one large rumble, the ceiling of the concert hall burst open and a huge stream of the black ooze poured into the building, completely eating away the stage and most of the seating area, but missing the balcony he was at by an inch.
Impossible!
He the noticed the rain that came pouring down from the sky. A black rain. Like the one he saw when communing with the Grail. He felt his heart race. It was not over yet. He miscalculated. And without Saber, he had no further means to avoid disaster. He was forced into the position of a mere spectator to the show this creature, this… Angra Mainyu was about to deliver to him.
No… this is not what I wanted. My desires are meaningless as long as I renounce them!
He looked up and there was a hole not only in the ceiling, but in the sky itself. A giant gaping black void. Origin of that black rain that cursed everything it touched.
"This is not fair! I chose against this! Why are you still…", Kirei shouted against the heavens, but knew it was a pointless affair. There was nothing he could do anymore. For now, his own survival needed priority. He started healing his ruined arm and made his way back down the stairs.
The Executor didn't exactly expected to find an easy way out of the Civic Center, but for some reason the curse seemed content leaving the building after rolling through its corridors, trashing all of them. It didn't linger in any puddles, it didn't waste its energy completely tearing down the building, it just… left. And where to was not a question that was left open to imagination for long. Once Kirei arrived outside the main entrance, he was greeted by a view of utter carnage. Thick red smoke hung in between skyscrapers and apartment blocks as half of Shinto seemed ablaze. With the black void of course still hanging above all, spreading its curse into every nook and cranny. It didn't take the priest long to stumble across the first victims, too. Untouched by the flames, there were bodies strewn here and there on the pavement. Most already unmoving and somehow starting to dissolve into shapeless mush, the others only faintly twitching. He wondered whether some were passers-bys drawn towards these usually so vacant streets by the fire in the Civic Center. But either way, Kirei quickly came to the conclusion that satisfying his curiosity about the workings of the curse closeser might be fascinating, his pride as a man of the cloth demanded he'd make immediate use of his Spiritual Healing.
He crouched down to one of the still twitching people and went to work, speaking words of God and touched the soul of the young woman in front of him. A soul clouded and dim, in the process of being consumed by the curse. She had no wounds that needed to be closed and yet she was dying to it and dying very, very quickly. Kirei poured all of his effort into purging the curse, even switching to downright exorcism. And yet for every bit of the curse he was able to cut out, three times more of the shadow crept back elsewhere and made it keep eating away at her. Until there was finally nothing left and the girl's body started to melt away despite all his efforts.
This is ridiculous. I managed to expunge it from myself when it tried to take root, why am I unable to do likewise here? Are people without magic circuits that much more susceptible to it?
Kirei ground his teeth. He was wasting his time. He needed to find a solution quickly or else he could just as well go to his hotel and watch the disaster unfold on the news instead. But instead he was here, hearing the whispers of his father in the back of his mind to do everything in his power to help. He had to help. It was his duty. It was the pride Arya talked about, the pride he needed to cling to to keep his inner darkness at bay.
Emiya…
The man had made use of an extremely strong healing magic that brought him back from a lethal strike. Since there was no sign of him actually invoking that magic, it made sense to Kirei that it had to be a passive Mystic Code. If he could make use of that one…
He left the dissolving corpses behind and rushed back to the ruined Civic Center. Some of the outlying structure had started to collapse, but despite all the damage the core building was still somehow fighting on. Fighting like he was. He quickly rushed back through the deformed corridors that the priest had just used to escape and found the balcony almost the same as he left it, still overseeing the carnage below where flames had been replaced with more or less just a large crater. And there was still the corpse of Kiritsugu Emiya… except that next to him was something on the ground that certainly wasn't there before. A large sheath of gold and blue, glyphs of unknown origin engraved upon it. Still making a precautionary glance upon Emiya's other belongings, Kirei took the sheath with him. He had enough experience to recognize a conceptual Mystic Code when he saw it, even though much to his dismay he couldn't find any trace of magical energy left in it. It must have been completely depleted, either during their first fight or later in a vain attempt to undo Emiya's fatal injury.
I'll have to make do with it in this form, I suppose.
Kirei tucked it under his armpit and rushed back down, taken the same path now for the third time. Unfortunately by the time he reached the outside, the curse has rolled into farther parts of Shinto, there being nobody left alive in the direct vicinity of the Civic Center.
Why does the Grail still avoid harming me when it's claiming everyone else? Does it want me alive to relish in its carnage?
Grinding his teeth, he charged along sidewalks, across small bridges and into the nearby residential areas. Soon he passed people still in the process of dissolving, but still no one who he would still be able to save. At least until he reached the sidewalk next to a collapsed apartment block. Amidst flames and debris, a single arm was raised to the sky, as if trying to grasp the ominous black orb above. A child's arm. Kirei rushed to it, removed the debris pinning the boy to the ground and taking a good look at him, ignoring the still outstretched arm. He had lost an eye, blood pouring out from its gash, and his arms and legs were also cut up from some of the debris, but oddly enough he seemed to have been able to fight the curse back up until now. A futile fight, Kirei knew, as the curse would inevitably overwhelm and consume him. And yet… somehow he managed to endure, managed to hold out for something, somebody to save him. The priest noticed that he was looking straight at him. And Kirei twitched uncomfortably under that expecting gaze. Somehow the face of Claudia at her death bed flashed up in front of his eyes. She also expected him to show compassion he did not possess. But then, for a reason that still eluded him, his imagination changed to the face of that fragile pale little baby that he had given away. The child that would have been utterly at his mercy if he had not. The boy somehow seemed just as fragile, just as helpless… and his hopes seemed just as easy to crush.
Kirei ground his teeth even more, fearing they might splinter. He balled his so hard his nails almost drew blood. He had to forget all of this. He had decided. His was to be a life of pride. A life of doing good. No matter how much it drained him of all joy. He placed the sheath onto the broken ground and began with his work, ignoring all of his own troubled feelings and concentrating only on pouring as much magical energy into it as he could. It was a gamble. It could fail. He could misunderstand the workings of this magical item. But it was the only choice he had left. He had to prove that would stick to his decision. And proving he would do that by saving this one insignificant life. Only because it was expected of him to do so.
Shirou
He woke up with the smell of fire and smoke in his nostrils, only to be greeted by the rhythmic beeping of monitoring equipment. The smell of disinfectants, gauze bandages and rubber gloves was quickly replacing the smell from his nightmare, but the image of a black hole in the night sky was still burned in his iris even as he started to stare at the hospital ceiling until his eyes ached. For the past three nights these dreams had accompanied him, starting an exhausting routine that made him dread sleep. It was so bad Shirou was starting to fear that these memories of that one night that took all from him would eventually burn away every other memory. Even now, imagining the smiling faces of his parents only brought forth a stinging pain in his chest and made his eyes watery. And… brought forth a third face. A grim and weary blood splattered priest with an expression Shirou even now couldn't quite make sense of. It was the face of his savior that night.
That night… Thanks to the nightmares, it was still ever present and remembering it came to him as easily as if it had happened just moments ago. Even though… oddly enough, the memories before that were fuzzy. He knew that he was looking forward to dinner, but given how it was so late and how he had been wearing his jacket, the fire must have reached his home while he was outside. Returning from a friend's house, he vaguely remembered. A friend from school, though one he was just vaguely acquainted with. He had been invited, but for what reason he couldn't quite recall. In any case, he was just about to reach his parents' apartment when the entire street was rapidly engulfed in flames. There were screams and dead and dying people everywhere. Why he hadn't been immediately struck down to the ground like all the adults was beyond him as well. He remembered that his mind had shut to autopilot. At first he was trying to brace the flames and beeline for home, hoping that once the familiar door locked firmly behind him, all the gruesome scenes would be gone and he would be safe. But… the flames came from the direction of home… and so he turned… and walked and walked and walked, past the screaming people, past the arms reaching out to him. Of people scarred, burned, torn apart by debris, bleeding and crying and praying and shouting and cursing. Even now he wondered whether he should have stopped and helped them just like the priest helped him, but in that moment, clasped in the grip of the unrealness of the situation, he had blocked his ears and powered on, walking past them, ignoring them even though he was aware that they were there and needed help. Even now he felt miserable about that.
Though he also remembered that all that walking didn't bring him very far. At some point his legs gave way and he fell. He was injured, but didn't know where he had sustained those injuries. Was it falling debris? Had he been falling before? He couldn't tell. And the injuries themselves somehow paled in comparison to the overwhelming sense of helplessness, of defeat overcoming him. As if the heat and smoke weren't the only suffocating thing that was killing him, but just window dressing to the true horror that was clutching at his heart and would have killed him long before any of his injuries did so.
And it was that moment when he was just about to give up and let that horror take him that the priest had found him. He saved him, somehow, during this entire process looking at him with a troubled expression. Shirou would have expected someone who saves a kid from death to look happy. Or at least as content and proud of it as the circumstances allowed. But he didn't. There was hesitancy, there was… disappointment? To this day, Shirou wondered whether he did something wrong that caused this reaction. Was it related to the people he left behind? That seemed doubtful, but he couldn't shake that feeling entirely and the more he ruminated about it, the more his guilt started to weigh on him.
And so his days blurred together as he went always through the same motions. Waking up from smoke and fire, ruminations interrupted only by checkups treating him like some kind of marvel and then uneasy sleep that brought him right back to that hellish nightmare. As he had just finished breakfast and put aside the tablet on the stand beside him, Shirou slumped back onto his pillow and expected the day to pass just like this again. But when the visitor hour arrived, a time where the other children in his room were anxiously praying for anyone to show up, the door actually opened and a man in a dark robe was led in. A christian priest's robe. Shirou was thunderstruck when he recognized him as his savior… and even more flabbergasted when the man was scanning the room and his eyes met his. With not even a nod of acknowledgement, the priest walked straight up to his bed. In a daze, Shirou propped up his pillow and sat himself upright, waiting for himself to be addressed.
"I hope you are doing well, boy", the priest started nonchalantly, looking down on him with cold eyes that made Shirou shift a little.
"Even better than anyone expects me, they say", Shirou heard himself say, somehow it was the first thing going through his mind.
"Neither a surprise to me nor you, it seems", his stare made Shirou shiver.
"Because it is something you did to save me, isn't it?"
The priest's head tilted back slightly. Somehow it seemed an expression of surprise and a nod of confirmation all at once.
"So you remember that I was there?"
Shirou had the man's twisted expression flashing up in front of him again. All of a sudden he wasn't quite sure whether saying anything more would be a grave mistake. Then again… how was he saved in the first place? That little detail somehow eluded his memories. Shirou gulped and nodded hesitantly. The priest's tension however eased and he raised his hands in a soothing manner.
"Please do not misunderstand. It is not a mistake that you remember me. That… might even make things a little easier."
"Easier how? Who are you even?", Shirou didn't intend to come off this harsh, but somehow the man's tone irritated him.
Thankfully, the priest didn't take offence, instead he seemed more amused than anything. With a smile so thin that it didn't help Shirou's tension at all.
"I apologize my mistake. Obviously a proper introduction should have been the first matter to breach. I am sorry that I let my curiosity get the better of me. My name… is Kirei Kotomine. I have recently taken over the chapel in Shinto after the passing of my father."
His expression tensed again. Shirou wasn't sure whether his mind and his nightmares were playing tricks on him, but as Kotomine was looking around the hospital room, he could have sworn to see a brief flash of similar anguish on the man's face as he had seen in him with in the fire.
"Unlike you, most of these children had survived at the very edge of the catastrophe, but still lost it all… just as you did. My order has tasked me with transforming the surprisingly spacious living spaces behind the chapel into an orphanage."
Shirou swallowed. So that's what he was here about. He knew himself all too well that both his parents were single children and that his grandparents had died before he was even born. He couldn't remember any family gatherings, neither at holidays nor for special or casual occasions. Somehow he never questioned it much, to him that was normal, but with his parents taken from him… the world all of a sudden felt dreadfully cold and lonely. And yet… even as that realization settled in, he noticed that one detail was off.
"My name is Shirou. But if what you are saying is true, why speak only with me? Just because I'm the one you personally saved?"
Kotomine nodded.
"Good observation, boy. Indeed. I have a very selfish request that I think I can only make to you. You see… my track record as a parent is not exactly the best. Therefore I am seeing this orphanage as an opportunity to practice. However my orders are to make the orphanage a strictly temporary venture. And so I thought that maybe I could ask you, who has no one left either and who may look beyond my obvious failings due to me saving you, whether you want to join me not as my charge, but through adoption."
Shirou felt his jaw dropping.
"That is blunt", he blurted out unthinkingly.
"One of my failings is that I am not fond of mincing words. I hope that is not an issue."
"No, no, it's fine."
Adoption… That weird priest wants to become my father? For practice…
"You are an odd man, though."
"I am very aware of it. It is your choice whether you want to deal with my eccentricities. I can only tell you that I will be strict in your education and will demand no less than total devotion to a life of diligence, worth and pride."
"And if I join you as your charge, will that be different?"
Kotomine hesitated a little before answering.
"Maybe. I am afraid I cannot tell you any more before you have made your decision, but my duties and skills cover more than mere sermons and welfare services. If you so wish, I could teach you some of these skills."
Skills like how he saved me?
Even though Kotomine's stare was still piercing him, Shirou looked down, looking at his blanket and yet not looking at all. He was given a choice and albeit it should have been a difficult, life-changing one, he felt like there was only one way for this to end.
"I accept", he said with a finality that surprised himself.
The priest himself seemed surprised as well, even though his features didn't move. But he didn't respond right away, instead he kept staring, kept thinking apparently.
"I am glad about your decision, as rushed as it may seem. I hope you are aware of its gravity."
"I am… I think… Maybe. I just know that I have lost everything. It hurts just thinking about it. I want to start somewhere. Start anew from scratch and move on."
The way the words came out sounded incredibly selfish and Shirou felt his blood rising to his cheeks in shame. In a way, he wanted to use the priest in much the same way as he wanted to use him. And indeed Kotomine's expression seemed to have turned a bit more grim when Shirou looked up at him again.
"Whatever I offer may be a new life, but it should in no way overwrite your old happiness, Shirou. Even if it hurts, I want you to embrace that pain and to never forget what you have lost. Just like I will embrace the pain inflicted by the loss of those who led me to where I am today. So in the end, my offer is a new chapter, not a new book. That and at the very least the attempt of the safety of a home."
He was looking around the room again, almost wistfully watching the other children as they were tended to.
"These last few days I kept thinking about the words of an acquaintance I have a lot to thank for. She said, quoting her own father… When the snows fall and the white winds blow, the lone wolf dies, but the pack survives."
Shirou didn't know what to say. So he said nothing. And so they looked around in silence for a few moments. Then suddenly, Kotomine's shoulders slumped and the tension was leaving his body.
"Very well, Shirou. I am then off to do the paperwork. If everything works out, I can come pick you up tomorrow. The doctors say they were about to discharge you any day anyway. I hope you are not afraid to get your hands dirty a little, since we need to refurbish the chapel as our first order of business."
"Not at all. I'm looking forward to it", Shirou replied truthfully.
The priest nodded in acknowledgement.
"Then I wish you a successful day."
With this he walked out without looking behind once. Shirou was left behind, pressing his head deeper into his cushions until his neck hurt. He did not know whether trusting this man was the right decision, but it was his saviour and maybe in this way he would get know the meaning behind his odd reaction back then.
… and he wants me to embrace this pain…
Shirou recalled once again the faces of his parents, somehow the pictures felt a little sharper than before. A burning sensation stung his heart. Would this sensation accompany him every day for the rest of his life from now on? He wasn't sure he liked it, but Kotomine's words sounded wise. It was a chapter of his life, no matter how many pages he would add from here on out. It would be shameful to dismiss them.
The rest of the day was unremarkable like all of the previous ones with one slight exception. For the first time, this night he wasn't dreaming of fire and smoke. Instead, for a reason he could not fathom yet… Shirou dreamt of snow.