A/N: Read this note would you kindly? Got some important info to go over.
Finally got around to watching all THREE of the Heavens Feel movies. Ate up a huge chunk of my day...
But now that I've seen them, its given me another kick to finish what I started; that, and to think of some new ideas.
Heck, just take a look at "A Smiling Monster" That story proved far more popular than I expected!
I've even got a new Fate Zero idea in my head, with Naruto summoning Tamamo (Caster) and the sheer chaos that ensues from such. But that's another story for another time. And only if folks like it!
As ever, I own no quotes, references, themes, or memes. They're merely tributes to legends greater than I~!
One chapter left now, which'll be the epilogue. Thanks for joining me on this journey.
Nearly done now...
"If this ritual failed, why not try a new one?
Back to zero, then? Sounds like an awful lot of work...
But wouldn't it be worth it? Are you really satisfied with this ending?
~?
Back to Zero (Prelude to the End)
"BIJUDAMA!"
"EXCALIBUR!"
"BELLEROPHON!"
Three words. A simple set of syllables. A trio of declarations.
Yet beneath them, the Holy Grail burned in a maelstrom of cleansing fire. There could be no other outcome; not with its true nature revealed. Not with so many servants set against it. Noble phantasms crashed against the corrupted husk time and time again; beating it, burning it, battering it down to the most basic of elements. Nothing would remain.
Illya found it cathartic...and painful.
The destruction was beautiful to behold; even from a safe distance away, perched atop Berserker's shoulder; watching intently as the once-esteemed legacy of the Three Families was rendered naught but a charred wreck. High above the cavernous ceiling trembled, yet held, affixed by Caster's seals. He, Rider and Saber were really going at it. She doubted they'd stop anytime soon. A small part of her wanted to stop them; she knew could at least
...enjoying the fireworks?"
She flicked a baleful look Rin's way. "Are you?"
"Not really." Tohsaka shrugged, knees tucked into her chest, aqua orbs fixed on the flashing lights before them. "I think they're owed this, don't you agree?" here at last, she looked away. "If we'd unleashed that thing into the world just for the sake of a wish, I don't think I would've been able to live with myself."
Illya fought down a shiver. True. If they'd unleashed All the Worlds evils into this reality...no. Best not think of that.
How had it come to this? It felt like a bad ending. Shirou was dead. Sakura gone half-mad, a wailing wreck sealed away until they could find a cure. Zouken had tried to slink away into the shadows like the bug he was. He did not succeed. With one there to protect him, Caster slaughtered his very soul. To call what followed a slaughter would have been generous.
Zouken's screams would haunt her dreams for the next few months.
Without his Assassin, he was, in the end, just a mage.
Mages broke easily.
In all this, that annoying priest was nowhere to be found. Kirei Kotomine had vanished to parts unknown and that strange golden Servant with him. Another thorn in their side to deal with-but later perhaps. In the end, she and Rin were the only proper masters remaining. They'd considered sacrificing themselves to seal that "thing" away, but Caster had shot them down. She'd seen the look in his eyes.
The Holy Grail would be a problem for future generations perhaps, but not this one.
A seed of an idea entered her mind as she watched the last of the corruption crumble. Caster alighted on a rocky outcropping. Rider wasn't far behind, and Saber with him. The former said something had the half-corrupted blond barking a laugh; less so as Rider slung an arm around his shoulders and kissed his cheek. Said seed sprouted as she watched the trio squabble. Their servants were still connected to them, after all. They wouldn't be going anywhere. All that knowledge and power; why let it go to waste like this? This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
It might take them years to achieve it, decades even, perhaps even the rest of their lives.
But if they succeeded...they'd have a wish. A pure wish. A chance to fix everything.
"We could always start again." She said. "Go back to zero, as it were."
Rin was silent for a long moment. Her head lifted.
"Sounds like an awful lot of work...
"But wouldn't it be worth it?" Illya rounded on her, the ghost of a smile on her lips. "Are you really satisfied with this ending?
She certainly wasn't. And not just for herself. So many others had suffered or otherwise lost their lives to this madness. Shirou, Sakura, even Caster, being forced to slaughter his former mentor. It wasn't fair. To any of them. Didn't they deserve better? Illya certainly thought so. If they were clever -if they were careful!-they might be able to have their wishes, all of them.
Wasn't such a future worth fighting for?
...alright." Tohsaka said at last, jarring her from her reverie. "I think I'll take you up on that offer. You should be grateful."
Illya couldn't let end there. An impish smile tugged at the corner of her mouth as they sook hands.
"You know...it might be possible for you to have a child with Caster...if you really try."
Rin's face turned crimson. "Hweh? Where'd that come from?!"
"I've seen you looking his way~!
"Shutupshutupshutup!"
A/N: Back to Zero indeed.
Totally not hinting at any future ideas. Nope, nope. Not me.
One chapter left now, which'll be the epilogue. Feels good to finally go around finishing these stories up once and for all.
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So In the Immortal Words of Atlas...
...Review, Would You Kindly?
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