FATE/PARALLEL COLORS
Chapter 19: Dimension of Unknown Sorrows
In the endless dimension of yellow walls dotted with white plug outlets, mildew-crusted brown carpet, and humming fluorescent lights, Connla wandered around for an indeterminate period of time. Now that she was here, she wasn't worried about what was going on with Chaldea anymore. She had left her home world behind, and figured she was never going to see everyone again. Whatever their reaction would be to her disappearance, it wouldn't matter anymore; no one had the means of retrieving her from this space.
Instead, a new fear crept up on her like a spider's long sinewy legs tickling her skin. This was much more difficult to describe than fearing for her friends' lives. It was so abstract and out of this world that she couldn't put it into words. After being whisked away to what was essentially her prison, what was she supposed to do now? She wasn't confined to one little room, and had the freedom to explore wherever she wanted. The trouble was, what could she possibly look for? Being able to journey through an endless hell of monotony and silence was practically no different than sitting alone in some dungeon cell that the world had completely forgotten about.
… Then again, maybe that was the point.
This wasn't a prison in the traditional sense. This was a dimension designed to torture its victims by starving them of the usual stimuli they took for granted – people, animals, nature, entertainment, sensible infrastructure, and everything in between. With no one around to keep her sanity in check, her soul would hunger for more nostalgic times, and she would inevitably go crazy knowing that no relief for such an isolating madness would ever come. It made her think back to the fictional story that Daoloth sent her before, where she was a nameless surveyor sent to Arkham to investigate the 'blasted heath'. She recalled her fictional self's journey through an abandoned house, and how it stirred a similar sense of nostalgia within her. That depressing feeling of kenopsia was probably what this whole dimension represented.
Should she bother wasting her energy walking around aimlessly like this? Maybe she should just lie down and wait for her mana to dry up so she could return to the Throne of Heroes. Then again, she was honestly surprised that she was still alive after being fully cut off from Ritsuka and Waver's Command Spells. Maybe this dimension forced her to remain as a Rogue Servant against her will. If that was the case, maybe it would be smarter to just kill herself. She had the means to do it. She just wasn't sure if she had the will.
Connla stumbled through a huge chamber lined with hundreds of identical-looking columns, like she was in an urban mine shaft. It was certainly different from the incoherent mess of random walls and dead end corridors she had been passing by for who knew how long. Even so, having to spend hours making her way past what looked to be a billion neatly arranged pillars was going to get tedious and disorienting real quickly. Still, she didn't have anything better to do, so she went for it. Once in a while, she would lean against a column for support while she caught her breath. The opposite walls looked so tantalizingly close, yet they never came closer with each step she took.
Eventually though, the illusion started to falter. She was now approaching the walls… but something seemed a bit different. For some weird reason, she started to see other colors besides the awful browns and yellows swimming in her tired vision. She thought that maybe she was hallucinating, but the more she rubbed her eyes, the more she could discern some streaks of pink, green and blue. Her attention became more focused as she stumbled toward these refreshing new colors, hoping they would be a good sign. Once she was within range, she realized that these odd colors belonged to some party streamers wrapped around some columns closest to the wall. Although a new darkened hallway would lead her further into the maze, there was also a plain white door right in front of her, also decorated with some quaint stickers and a colorful banner that read HAPPY BIRTHDAY.
Connla didn't understand what was going on. Was this some kind of invitation to her? Or was this just the remnants of some party that no one bothered to clean up? Who in the world would want to have a party in such a deranged dimension anyway? Whatever the reason, she grew more and more dizzy as she heard the distant sounds of children giggling and laughing with each other. She could just forget about all of this and go down the dark hallway, but she had a suspicion that she would go even further insane if she didn't at least investigate this. Unable to resist the temptation, she clenched the doorknob tightly and clicked it open, slowly swinging it inward to get a view of what was inside.
The first thing she noticed right away was that it was a normal room, comprised of four walls painted white, and a polished wooden floor. Such a neat and organized design was in shocking contrast to the random mess of yellow corridors she had been exploring until now. It was lit up with a halogen bulb that quietly emitted a soft white glow, rather than yet another obnoxious buzzing fluorescent light. Inside the room were a couple of tables, some chairs, and a large old-era television with a VCR unit attached at the base. Normally such a basic room wouldn't warrant much attention, but there were also more party favors strewn about – multicolored streamers lining the walls, balloons tethered to paperweights on all four corners, unopened presents scattered all over the tables, and some toys lying on the floor (one of which resembled some kind of weird mushroom-themed mascot). The sound of children playing never subsided, even though there was no one else present besides her.
As Connla stepped into the party room, the door slowly creaked and closed on its own behind her, spooking her so much that she inhaled sharply and took a moment to compose herself. As she stood there uncertain of what to do next, she heard some unusual whirring coming from the television. That was when she noticed a video tape sticking out of the VCR unit, and it was being swallowed into the device. The TV flickered on by itself, emanating some static before the contents of the tape eventually started playing.
What played was the intro to some humorous game show called Tempest: Illya's Castle. Some invisible 'player' selected a Master-Servant pairing, then it changed to a dojo where the contestants lined up in front of a woman in a training dougi.
"Thank you for coming, my elites!" the fast-lipped woman exclaimed. "So like, hear this. That little devil's just my student, but she rebelled against her instructor – that is, me – and plans to become the heroine if she's given the chance! Simply put, she'll put you all in a pinch and mark the end to your peaceful days. Bear that in mind and GET PUMPED! Your target is the Tempest: Illya Castle!"
Connla sat down in front of the TV and became engrossed in the humorous program. The children's voices she kept hearing were now laughing and having a good time with the show.
"By the way, Lancer's already dead," the Artoria character muttered.
"You murderer!" the Shirou character shouted.
As the comedy show continued, a strange expression crept onto her face… one that she didn't think was possible for her. All of her depression and loneliness seemed to melt away as she was distracted by the humorous jokes and situations the characters got themselves into. She appeared much brighter and happier than usual.
"Tch. It's just the two of us left," the Cuchulainn character grumbled. "I'll settle things with you once this battle's ove-"
"Ooh, a hamburger!" Artoria chirped.
"Listen to me!"
"Eh… he he he he…"
She was indeed laughing along with the invisible children. Nothing else mattered to her anymore. She was just going to stay in this room and act like the child she should have been.
Chaldea
In the royal lounge, which currently doubled as a secure bunker, everyone mingled around and talked with each other. That was, everyone except for Gilgamesh. He panned his eyes across the huge suite, taking note of how fearful and apprehensive the Masters and staff members were. Roman's announcement about the true nature of this new enemy certainly made a lot of people upset, and the Servants stationed to guard them also had to keep them calm. He made no such effort to chat with anyone, figuring the other Servants could handle such a menial task for him.
Instead, Gilgamesh had a more important matter to attend to. He kept to himself in the farthest corner of the lounge and turned his chair away from the fracas, then dunked a powerful sedative into his glass of wine and drank it. Within minutes, he was fast asleep and transmitting his conscious mind into a familiar realm. Before he knew it, he stood upon a cliff overlooking the impossibly multicolored sky that was the Kaleidoscope, less than 100 meters away from a lavender-haired lady in her early twenties.
"Eh? Lord Gilgamesh?" Connla Aibi blurted when she saw him. She ran up to him and asked, "What are you doing here?"
"Something's happened," he told her in a blunt tone.
"What do you mean?"
"We're under attack by fragments of Daoloth's body. Da Vinci's been going around calling them Hedrons, or something silly like that."
She immediately grew shocked when she heard this. "You're kidding! Is everyone all right there!?"
"The mongrels are holding their own, but it looks like the bedlam is just a distraction so he can abduct the runt without interference."
"Oh no! If she disappears, Cliste's plan will not work!"
"That's why I'm here. If she somehow dies, then our success at punishing Daoloth rests entirely on your shoulders."
Aibi grew more worried and bit her thumbnail as she thought about what to do. Gilgamesh grinned and rebuked, "Come now. Why must you ponder what it is you must do when the answer is so obvious?"
"But if I leave here, no one will be around to keep track of Aisling."
"I'm sure you have some sort of contingency plan in mind. You're just not sure if you want to use it or not."
"Well…"
"Fine then. I will make it an official order. Put your secondary plan into motion and come to my dimension as soon as possible."
"But I'm not your retainer yet. I don't really have an obligation to follow any orders you make."
"What makes you think that? Everyone is my vassal by default. I just didn't make it official for you until now."
Aibi rubbed her forehead and grumbled, "Incorrigible as ever, I see. Very well. I'll sort things out on my end, then go there right away."
"Be punctual about it. I've had enough fooling around with this Outer God as it is."
As Gilgamesh slept in his reclining chair, Ritsuka, Waver and Da Vinci observed him with mixed reactions. Waver looked thoroughly unimpressed as he muttered, "Look at him, taking a nap while we're under attack. Must be nice to be one of the strongest demigods in human history."
"Aw, come off it. We knew this was going to happen," Ritsuka grinned. "The fact that he's not taking this so seriously means we have nothing to worry about."
"That's how you interpret it!? What happens if the Chaldea Workshop fails while he's off in dreamland!?"
"Oh, come on. If I didn't know any better, I would think you were doubting the Uomo Universale's genius at devising an impenetrable barrier under such short notice," Da Vinci said.
"Well, no, but… I mean, wouldn't it be more appropriate for the King of Heroes to be a bit more upset over his little 'kingdom' being besieged?"
"Why would you think that?"
"Why not? After having to drag around the King of Conquerors on my adventure, I kind of figured out what a selfish king's mindset is like."
Right after Waver said this, he let out a squeal of shock when Gilgamesh suddenly retorted, "You shouldn't put me in the same class as that yodeling fool, mongrel."
"Wha-!?"
"So you think you've figured me out from hanging around with someone of similar charisma to me? What a tasteless accusation to awaken to. I have half a mind to command you to build me an entire ziggurat by yourself as punishment for your callousness."
"Well, uh…"
"Ah, rise and shine, Goldie," Da Vinci joked in her usual carefree manner. "Place is still under attack, by the way."
"Goodness. What is taking the other Servants so long to clean up this mess?" Gilgamesh complained. "There are nearly 100 Heroic Spirits on standby, and you're telling me this still isn't over yet?"
Ritsuka told him, "We're getting reports from different groups of Servants working together in different sectors of Chaldea. Apparently, the Berserkers are having some trouble fighting the Hedrons, and we're not sure why. Those belonging in other classes are managing though, so I've had the Berserkers fall back and provide support rather than be the main offensive force. It's been difficult for most of them to understand, considering how strong Berserkers tend to be in melee combat. They're simply not used to acting in support roles."
"Has the enemy's class been identified?"
"It's hard to do so without access to Da Vinci's workshop or the command center. I'm having some Servants closest to that location analyze the Hedrons' properties when they get the chance."
"Have them compare the Hedrons to the runt's corroding Spirit Origin. Since they're both connected to the Outer God, it's highly likely that we're dealing with Foreigner-class enemies, which is exactly what the girl is being corrupted into."
The trio blinked in surprise. Waver asked, "How can you be so sure?"
"Feh. Do you think my impromptu siestas are merely for passing the time? I am not so uncouth as to dawdle around while my lands are under attack."
"What do you mean?"
Da Vinci's eyes brightened as she exclaimed, "Ah, so you're using your Sha Naqba Imuru!"
"His what?"
"Basically his god-like clairvoyance. It can discern heavily-cloaked truths and provide a form of 'instructions' for him to issue orders to his subordinates. He can use it while awake, but tends to keep it restrained. While asleep however, it's powerful enough for him to predict what will happen in the future. It's kind of similar to Imbas Forosnai from Celtic folklore, but leagues more potent."
"Fwah hah hah hah," Gilgamesh chuckled. "I'd love to hear more continuous praise for my gifts, but there are more important matters to concern ourselves with. As the inventor claims, I have indeed been using my precognitive skills, but not for the reasons she specified."
"Oh?" Da Vinci murmured. "What have you been doing then?"
"Hm hm hm… Let's just say we'll have to prepare to welcome our special guest very soon."
Ritsuka, Waver and Da Vinci all glanced at each other with confused expressions all over their faces.
Elsewhere in Chaldea, multiple groups of Servants had been dispatched to at least keep the Hedrons away from the royal suite. One such team of four Servants was busy fighting in the cafeteria. Strange shapes kept slipping through the rippling walls, but they were quickly cut down by a gigantic wolf and his headless rider.
"GRWOOO~OOOH!" Lobo furiously howled as he rushed past a rotating flower-type shaped called a quadrifolium, slicing its midsection with the sickle in his mouth and causing it to fall into four pieces on the ground behind him. Hessian's black coat transformed into huge claw-like talons that tore apart group of basic shapes attempting to assemble themselves into a variety of deadly mechanisms.
"Begone, unholy apparitions!" Martha shouted and raised her scepter to conjure a burst of holy light that sent more undulating shapes scattering apart.
"Mmmmgh! What are these things supposed to be!?" Jack the Ripper complained while ducking and weaving between some white lasers. Although she was struck several times, she could always repair her wounds with her Surgery technique, but she couldn't do so as long as she was being harassed like this.
The only one who appeared to be having a good time was Nursery Rhyme. She giggled emphatically and charged her clenched fist with fire magic before punching into a large Hurwitz surface that tried to crush her beneath its weight. The force of her attack blew a hole into the center, causing it to crack into pieces and fall to the ground. Despite her diminutive size compared to the Hedron, she flexed her doll arms and chirped, "Boy, these guests are are strange! If I had known we were going to have company, I would have set up a tea party!"
"Nursery, please stay focused! These things bear naught but ill-will toward us!" Martha chided. "If only they had the courtesy to assault us in the simulator, then I would have been able to unleash Tarasque's full might upon them!"
"Really? I'd say Lobo's doing more than his fair share of work."
"Well yeah, but…" the violet-haired saint muttered as she stared at the gouged out walls and destroyed chairs strewn everywhere. "Da Vinci's going to have an aneurysm once she sees the bill for fixing this mess."
"Never mind that! If you want to enjoy life, then live in the present! Come on, let's play with our new friends!"
"Yah!" Jack shouted as she leapt in from behind some shapes before they knew she was there, then sliced them apart with her knife. For as many Hedrons that she slew, more just kept replacing them. "Geez! No matter how many I dismember, they just keep popping up! Just when I was in the mood for some leftover pumpkin pie too!"
"Hrgh? Hmph!" Lobo snorted.
Martha raised an eyebrow and asked Nursery, "What is he saying?"
"He he he," Nursery chuckled. "He says he wants to have some more of the tiny Lancer's pie after this fight is done."
"Really? I thought Connla was being manipulated so that Lobo would kill her for intruding in his space."
"Hrrrrrrrgh…" the huge wolf snarled angrily, looking more pissed off than usual. Martha gulped and stepped back, worried that she would be the Avenger's next target.
Nursery suddenly sounded curt as she warned, "I wouldn't say that if I were you. Now that he knows the situation, he doesn't appreciate being treated like such a simple fool."
"WAHOOO~OOOOOH!" Lobo let out his loudest howl and charged straight toward a mechanical monstrosity comprised almost entirely of gears. He and Hessian worked together to unleash their Noble Phantasm, Frieren Scharfrichter. Blue flames surrounded the hulking canine, while sharp tendrils shot out from Hessian's body to ensnare the alien monster. Lobo pounced upon the trapped creature and concentrated the blue fire upon his sickle, carving through numerous layers of thick steel with frightening ease.
With the gear-like Hedron down, many of the smaller shapes were starting to understand their opponents' might and retreated back into the portals. As Jack and Nursery ooh'ed and ahh'ed at Lobo's tremendous display of raw might, Martha could only gaze in both disappointment and annoyance at the further destruction his attack caused to the cafeteria. As much as she wanted to worry about how everyone else would react, all she could utter were some simple words of advice to herself:
"Eh heh heh heh… Live in the present… live in the present…"
In front of the door to Connla's room, another fierce battle waged on. Since Cuchulainn Alter and Medb had arrived, the team of hodgepodge Servants were defeating their opponents a lot more efficiently than usual. Unfortunately, there were some problems that at least one certain Berserker had to contend with.
"AAAH!" Fran screamed and smashed her war hammer upon the top of a sphere. She expected it to crush the living shape into the ground like an egg, but her weapon only seemed to produce a useless clanking sound before bouncing off and throwing the surprised maiden back from the reverberations. The sphere gathered energy to shoot another laser, then fired a thin green beam at her head. Before she could do anything, Cuchulainn Alter had pushed her aside and deflected the attack with Gae Bolg.
"HAH!" he grunted and stabbed the lance right through the sphere with no effort at all. He removed the kebabbed Hedron from his blade and ate its innards without hesitation.
Cuchulainn Lancer cringed in revulsion at what his counterpart was doing. Medb did explain what Alter's plan was before, but he still couldn't digest how horrific it looked for Alter to be chowing down on aliens like they were freshly hunted game. Despite his disgust, he faced Fran and remarked, "This might just be me, but I don't think your attacks are doing much to hurt them."
"Uh, uuuh…" she whimpered in disappointment.
"It's not your fault," Alter told her. "I was having a lot of trouble killing these things as well. They must have some sort of innate resistance to our Madness Enhancement."
"Uh!" she chirped, relieved that no one was getting mad at her for being weak.
"Luckily, I seem to be having an easier time now that I've been consuming them."
"Uh?"
Fran seemed to grow curious with Alter's idea, and she picked up some alien carcass. He immediately snatched it out of her hand and started eating it, grumbling between bites, "Don't even think about it. You leave that sort of crazy shit to me, kid."
"Uh…"
While they were talking, Izo, Lucius and Van Gogh surrounded a particularly large portal that was rippling on the wall, and they watched as an assortment of spheres, cones and rods slipped through and assembled themselves piece by piece into a hulking bipedal monstrosity. The metallic behemoth stomped toward them, and the irritated ronin shouted, "Tch! This is fuckin' endless!"
Van Gogh smiled nervously and said, "I guess it won't be as simple as asking it to… to… Gogh away. J-J-J-Just kidding! A Gogh joke!"
"Sorry, sweetheart, but no one's laughing," Lucius retorted as he pointed Florent at their new enemy.
"Don't worry. I wasn't expecting anyone to."
"Hey, Van Gogh," Alter said to her. "You're a Foreigner too, aren't you? What would happen if one Foreigner fought against another?"
"Well…" the artist mumbled. "I'm kind of a pacifist, so I don't really know much about combat. But since the Outer Gods generally don't like each other, it means they're always fighting each other for control of different parts of the cosmos."
"So you're saying it could be potentially effective?"
"Maybe… S-So if you're turning yourself into a pseudo Entity of the Outer Realm, then… it might just work…"
"What will?"
"My… Noble Phantasm…"
"What does it do?"
"It can… warp and deify the Spirit Origin of other Foreigners… turning them into Outer Gods themselves. T-The thing is… it's incredibly dangerous and forbidden. If a non-Foreigner looks at it, they might wind up falling into the same madness that claimed Vincent Van Gogh. On the bright side, it can also strike the same kind of fear into the enemy."
Medb raised an eyebrow and wondered, "Why on Earth would you have such a bizarre Noble Phantasm like that? You make it sound like Foreigner Servants are a common occurrence, but we've never seen one until you showed up."
"Well… I don't have any memories of any other potential summonings… but… well… I just kind of have an inkling…"
Alter snarled and exclaimed, "I'm not interested in any of that! Listen to me - while the others are distracting those things, use your Noble Phantasm to enhance my Spirit Origin's corruption into a Foreigner."
Van Gogh looked shocked as she asked, "Are you sure?"
"I don't have time to argue! Just do it already!"
"O-Okay then… Everyone, keep your eyes focused on the battle! No matter what it takes, do not look back!"
"Shit, looks like things're gettin' serious 'ere," Izo grumbled. "Well, if yer talkin' 'bout protectin' my eyes, I got jus' the solution fer that."
He closed his eyes and focused on forcing his Spirit Origin to change from his First Ascension outfit into his Second Ascension. Before, he was wearing a simple set of kimono and hakama beneath a black coat. Now he wore a tattered and blooded black cape over a grey kimono and hakama set, a wide sandogasa hat, and a black mask that covered his entire face save for his glowing red eyes. His hair also grew much longer and changed from black to red.
"Oh ho!" Lucius smirked. "I may not be particularly into the whole serial murderer schtick, but damned if I don't recognize a fellow tyrant when I see one!"
"Not sure if that's s'pposed t'be a compliment or not, but considerin' the mess we're in, I'll let it slide."
"My, my, my," Medb crooned and approached the confused Izo with a seductive smile. "Imagine if I had someone like you in my Clan Calatin. I can only the imagine the frightful headway my Connacht would have made in its conquest of Ulster if a fiend of your caliber was at my beck and call."
"Fer the love of… Would ya get off me already, woman!? I ain't int'rested in ya or yer stupid backwater country!"
"Aww, what a shame. Here I was, thinking I could make you my backup mate in case my pursuit of Cu's affection falls through."
"Gh…" Izo cringed, then glared at Lancer and asked, "Is she always this much of a slut even durin' inappropriate times like this?"
He nodded and replied with a sincere and simple, "Yes."
"Yikes… Remind me t'pit Oryou 'gainst this floozy if she ever shows up. The fireworks b'tween 'em would be legendary."
Alter slammed Gae Bolg on the ground to get them to shut up, then said, "If you're quite finished, get your heads out of your asses and focus on the fight. Van Gogh and I need to get our little… collaboration underway."
The others grumbled in consternation, but agreed that they needed to pay attention to the next wave of incoming Hedrons. As the others charged further down the hall, Alter faced Van Gogh and said, "I'm ready."
"O-Okay… here we go…" the artist stammered nervously. She closed her eyes and raised her sunflower-shaped paintbrush. A blank canvas materialized before them, and she touched the brush upon it. Ripples of blue and white ebbed until Vincent Van Gogh's magnum opus The Starry Night was fully depicted.
"I must paint… the cypress that overcomes life and death, under the starry sky," the Foreigner whispered. "Beyond the faith, romance, and Trompe-l'oeil."
She raised her hand as if gesturing for Alter to take it. However, they both suddenly sunk like stones beneath a mysterious dark ocean out in the middle of space, surrounded by millions of tiny stars. A bright crimson planet loomed over them, presumably of Mars where her influencing Outer God resided. Colored rain drenched their clothes, and Van Gogh appeared unusually calm as she let the droplets delicately roll down her face.
"With a vortex of stars from perpetuity, I present you a handshake… De Sterrenacht."
Alter stared at the painting, mesmerized by its simplistic premise yet confusing array of jagged lines binding together to create this tapestry of a starlit night in Arles, France. Although Vincent Van Gogh called the painting a failure in his lifetime, it came to symbolize his total mental breakdown and subsequent admission to the Saint Paul-de-Mausole lunatic asylum. Yet, as the Noble Phantasm's effects wormed their way into his Spirit Origin, he could sense an invisible and terrifying dread lurking within the numerous distinct brush strokes. This wasn't just an ordinary work of art… It was a portal into the mind of a madman.
So that's what it is. This is a gap in reality made to look like a painting. It actually connected Vincent Van Gogh with an Outer God.
Once Alter realized this, he reached out for the painting and let his hand pass through it. He made his way through the other side and bore witness to an incomprehensible insanity. Unlike many others who would be terrified of this abstract cosmic horror hiding within such an innocuous painting, he accepted the consequences of letting himself see such untold horrors with unclouded eyes. He always kept Connla's story in his heart – of how she saw Daoloth's true form and did not lose her mind from it, since humanity had already rendered her insane. Alter wanted to understand what this new level of despair was like. He wanted to share the same pain as her, so that she wouldn't be so lonely in her suffering anymore. But in order to do that, he had to expose himself to it first.
"Heh… heh heh heh…"
For whatever reason, he thought it was humorous.
"What a joke. This is supposed to be an eldritch horror?"
Although his chuckling was brief, it was a powerful moment. His curiosity morphed into outright disdain for these indescribable creatures that roamed across the universe.
"Don't make me laugh," he taunted whatever was threatening to tear his Spirit Origin apart. "Connla was right about one thing - you bastards are nothing compared to the horrors that human beings are capable of. You're gonna have to try a hell of a lot harder if you want to make me go mad with despair, you useless sacks of flesh and depravity."
Whatever was warping his soul seemed to shiver at his incredible display of mental fortitude.
"Now, you're going to show me everything I want to see. Part the veils clouding my senses, and lead me the way to the young lamb stranded in a world far from my own. P'hnglui… p'hnglui… Ymg' mgahnnn nwngluii l' ehyeahog shuggog r'luh llll shuggoth…"
De Sterrenacht finished warping Alter's Spirit Origin, transforming him from a Berserker into another Foreigner. He didn't look any different than usual, but the usual boredom and apathy present in his Berserker self seemed to be absent in this new form. He seemed more lively and somewhat… sinister in a way. Now that his eyes were adjusted to see way more than anyone else could perceive, he could finally make out the actual dimensional gaps disguising themselves in the walls. With a newfound lust for combat he thought he had lost, he poked his spear through each hole to pierce whatever Hedrons were hiding in wait.
"Hmph. Pieces of shit," Alter grinned as he chucked the skewered aliens aside like so much trash.
Once the surviving enemies saw that Alter transformed into a monster capable of seeing their every move, they opted to hurry back through the portals and seal them shut. Each hole rapidly closed up, as if fearing that Alter would jump through and chase them back to their master, Daoloth. The other Servants watched in surprise as the battle immediately turned in their favor. One minute, they were being swarmed. The next, they were perfectly safe. The change was so fast that they needed a moment to process it all.
"Well now," Lucius remarked, wiping some alien blood off of Florent's blade. "This little catastrophe turned out to be rather underwhelming for my liking."
"Fuck that. I say good riddance t'these metallic bastards," Izo grumbled.
"Uhhh… haaaah… too… hot…" Fran leaned her back against the wall and slumped onto her buttocks in exhaustion.
"I second that," Medb said as she brushed some dust off her skirt. "Perhaps you and I should relax in the baths once we've got everything sorted out."
"Uh, uh, uh!"
Van Gogh and Cuchulainn Lancer stood before the corrupted Cuchulainn Alter, wondering if he was okay. The artist meekly asked him, "Did it… work?"
"Like a charm. Now I can see exactly where the kid's run off to."
"Is she inside her room?" Lancer asked.
As Alter approached the door to Connla's room, he suddenly snarled, "Listen to me. No matter what happens, no matter what the circumstances may be, absolutely, positively, do NOT enter this room! I don't care what your excuses are! Never, EVER step foot in here until I say otherwise!"
Lancer scrunched his face and asked worriedly, "What's in there?"
Alter glanced at his counterpart and declared, "Let's just say that if both of our Masters get caught in it, we can kiss humanity's chances of survival good-bye."
"Shit…"
"What're you going to do?" Lucius asked. "You don't plan on going inside, do you?"
"Damn straight I am," the irate Berserker retorted. "Now that I've allowed Van Gogh and those Hedrons to change my Spirit Origin, I can perceive a lot more than any of you are able to. Right now, every single one of my senses are screaming at me to stay out of this room, but I need to go. If I don't, there's no way in hell any of us can save Connla."
"Was she taken somewhere against her will?"
"More like she was forced to surrender, or else Chaldea would have been overrun with Hedrons. If Daoloth couldn't kill her through conventional means, then he would resort to threatening her friends to get her to cooperate. It means he's using desperate tactics to try and cover his trail."
"Looks like subtlety ain't our enemy's strong suit," Izo remarked. "The way it's attackin' us, it might as well be declarin' war on us."
"No kidding."
"Cu…" Medb moaned and approached him with an uncharacteristically worried expression. "You just have to come back to me, and with Connie by your side. Promise?"
"Hmph," Alter scoffed. "I have no obligations to fulfill any sort of vows with you, woman. However, if you're that worried about the kid, then I'll have her back here before you know it."
"Oh… I just have a really, really bad feeling about this… Can I at least get a kiss from you before you go?"
He narrowed his eyes. He wasn't used to seeing her be so tense and uncomfortable. It just didn't fit the image he had of her always being confident and self-absorbed to the point of defying common sense. After a moment of thinking, he relented and said, "Fine. You should know better than to believe something like this will slow me down though."
"Oh, Cu…"
With that, the pair leaned in close to each other and locked lips for several long seconds. No one else present dared to interrupt this sentimental scene with any unnecessary noise, so it really did feel like they were just by themselves. Eventually, Cuchulainn told Medb, "Don't misunderstand me. I'm not doing it because I have any affections for you. It's just so you snap out of this little funk of yours and focus on your job as a Servant of Chaldea. Being an annoying bimbo is one thing, but to see you be so moody and depressing gets on my nerves even more than usual."
"Even with that wonderfully thorny exterior of yours, you're still such a gentleman. Don't worry about me. If I get lonely, I have Fergus and the other Cus to keep me company. But there's just something about you and Connie that's just that extra bit special… Kind of reminds me that I shouldn't just be a woman, but also a mother."
"Is that so? Guess there is some semblance of humanity beneath that wicked exterior of yours."
"Be careful, okay? I'll make sure to have some yummy food ready for you two when you get back."
"You know how I like my Demon Boar steak, right?"
"Medium rare on the edges, with that nice hint of pink in the middle."
"And the kid?"
"Completely medium rare."
"Good."
Medb finally let Alter go, and he approached the door to Connla's room. Before entering, he glared at Lancer and said, "If things go south, you and the other Cus handle the rest for me."
"Got it," Lancer said. "Whatever happens with you and Connla, we'll carry on as usual."
Now that he was satisfied, Alter jammed Gae Bolg against the locked door and easily pried it open with his brute strength. He brusquely pushed it aside and stepped through into the bedroom, then looked around to see if Connla was hiding anywhere.
"Well?" Van Gogh called out from the entrance. "Is she in there?"
"Not a trace. But she definitely was here."
"She hasn't left, so… eh he he…"
"What are you laughing about, woman?"
"No… I had thought of a Gogh joke, but… this probably isn't the time."
Alter became annoyed with the Foreigner's behavior and ignored her. He investigated the small kitchen, finding nothing suspicious. Of course, he was ruling out all other locations before checking the most obvious area of them all – the bathroom. It didn't mean he was delaying the inevitable… Of course he wasn't scared – it was more of the obligation to succeed that weighed him down, rather than the prospect of being fully cut off from Chaldea. If there was one thing he hated, it was failure, especially when he wielded enough power to destroy entire armies.
Unfortunately, this wasn't going to be as simple as fighting hordes of enemies. He needed to stay calm and look for the abnormality that kept bothering him. Being so close to what was potentially a gap to another dimension made him lose his breath, and he fell to one knee to help cope with the shock. He was seeing and hearing things that no human should ever have to.
"Cu!" Medb called out. She wanted to run in and see if he was okay, but Lancer pinned her arms behind her back and made her stay put. Lucius and Izo also acted as human barriers to keep the frantic queen out.
Alter pressed his hand against his forehead and thought, Damn it all… I feel like I'm going to puke up all of my insides. Is this what Connla's had to put up with this entire time?
He couldn't imagine the stress and terror she had to endure, being directly connected to an Outer God who could wield such immense power. Even with so much raw physical strength at his command, he still felt like a mud puppy in the presence of a starving shark. He assumed the only reason he could keep himself in check was due to absorbing the Hedrons into himself. That didn't mean he was going to run away. He always had the choice to do so… but Connla never did. That alone compelled him to go as far as needed to save her from a despair that no one ever deserved to go through. Whatever she endured, he would as well. It was as simple as that.
As Alter inched his way closer to the bathroom, all the while resisting the urge to vomit, he focused his eyes on where the distortions were at their most concentrated – inside the shower. Remnants of Connla's blood were splattered over the lower walls and floor. He could tell there was some sort of tear in the very fabric of reality that cleverly disguised itself as part of the shower floor, evident by the unexpected pure white space perfectly interrupting the mess of blood. A trap like this would have caught an ordinary person unawares, but it wasn't going to catch the Mad King by surprise. He kneeled in front of the shower and stuck his hand into the portal to make sure it was there. Just in case anyone was stupid enough to follow him inside, he planted some powerful warding Runes around the portal that would light up with a blinding flash, indicating that it should not be approached for any reason.
Now that he was set, Alter took a deep breath and began to step over the hidden gap.
Hang on, Connla. I'm coming to get you.
He unceremoniously dropped through, leaving his home dimension behind to be taken to wherever his daughter was. The fall felt like it took an unusually long time, but his feet hit ground sooner than he anticipated. He didn't want to bother worrying about some weird contradiction like why it took a long time to fall just a couple of feet. Instead, he opened his eyes… and nearly lost all of the air in his lungs.
Canary yellow walls, humming fluorescent lights, and smelly brown carpet met his eyes as far as he could see. It looked manmade on the surface, yet there was something distinctly wretched about this abandoned dimension that made him think this was some alien's attempt at recreating something a human would build. The 'craftsman' obviously took it way too far and made it to be 600 million square kilometers, complete with additional floors to make this hellhole stretch as long as possible.
"Shit…" he cursed under his breath.
However much this place disturbed him, there was one silver lining in all of this – he could sense Connla's Spirit Origin somewhere nearby. There were no visual indicators he could rely on, but his sense of smell was heightened so that he could pick up her scent. Even with the awful mildew stench wafting from the old carpet, he could easily block that out and concentrate on the scent trail she left behind during her aimless stumbling.
"Connla!" he shouted at the top of his lungs. "Connla, where are you!? Answer me!"
Of course he was met with silence. She had to have wandered off to some other part of the maze long before he arrived. He was just going to have to pick up the pace and catch her before she well and truly escaped his presence.