11: The Heroic Spirit of Vengeance
"Too bad I can't… have… my revenge."
"This is really interesting." Arturia seemed captivated by the fight of two powerful magi. They stood still, only flames and liquid silver were moving around them, clashing fiercely, trying to break through and smash the opponent's magical shield. "It's a battle of will. They do not look like warriors, but I can feel the proper air around them."
"Indeed," Kiritsugu replied mechanically. The duel was interesting, but too long in his opinion. He kept nervously peeking at his watch, waiting for something important to happen.
Another five minutes passed. Lord El-Melloi clenched his teeth in silent anger, too focused to say anything. Tohsaka on the other hand looked disturbingly elegant, despite an obvious exertion.
"Master, we have company," Lancer summoned Llamrei to her side. The mare was almost completely healed and more than ready to take her beloved rider to battle.
"Who?"
"Tokiomi's Servant has come. He seems to only observe the fight. I'll keep an eye on him, Master."
"Good." Well, actually it was the worst possible scenario. They must end the show quickly. Emiya again looked at the watch and breathed out a sigh of relief, when Maiya finally contacted him through the phone. "All is set, Maiya?"
"Yes. We have one minute," the woman replied calmly, although she was clearly in a hurry. "Evacuation has already ended, Archer is nowhere to be seen. It's your turn now."
"Understood." Kiritsugu disconnected and looked at the battlefield through the viewfinder of his weapon. "Lancer, I have a task for you."
Arturia listened to his instruction; she was visibly surprised but accepted the order without a word. Emiya took a deep breath and concentrated, waiting for a perfect moment to act.
"So… Here it goes!"
"He's not bad," Kotomine Kirei noticed, watching the magic duel from one of the roofs.
"Oh? It's all you can say about your teacher, Kirei? But yes, Tokiomi is giving me more than enough energy, I must say." Gilgamesh looked less interested, maybe even irritated. "Not that I really need it..." After a few seconds of silence, he suddenly added: "It would be the best for him to die here."
"That was unexpected." The false priest could not hold a smile. "You're so dissatisfied with your Master?"
"He's just boring, that's all. And how about you? You know that your own petty Servant is plotting against you but you let him do as he pleases. Why is that?"
"I'm just curious what Assassin is trying to achieve, nothing more." Kotomine winced, when Kayneth suddenly fell on his knees, overwhelmed by the power of Tohsaka's magical strike. "It's a kind of entertainment you were talking about, I guess. A surprisingly satisfying kind of entertainment."
"I see. A little warm-up before the main event."
"Yes. I suppose that stopping Assassin when he almost reaches his goal will be an interesting experience. That's exactly the same strategy you want to use against Lancer, am I right?"
"Ah, yes, but I have a far more complicated reason to do so."
"Is it the same reason why you keep teasing Saber?" Kirei smiled, realizing something. "So humanity really fascinates you..."
Gilgamesh chuckled, amazed by this last remark, but did not deny it.
"Your mind is sharp, Kirei. You are a very interesting man." The golden Servant made a short but significance pause. "Indeed, there is something that particularly interests me in such entities. When a human desires something so desperately, that he decides to fight or die for it, he can give up everything to make it happen. He may become a monster, a beast or a saint. It's a long way to go for a simply mongrel, don't you think? All I want to check is how far these famous heroes could go, to see how powerful they became through their sacrifices." He stopped talking, when the nearest building suddenly disappeared in a huge explosion. "Oh, that was a fitting end of the spectacle. I wonder who did this."
Kotomine was visibly fascinated, maybe even delighted by this unexpected turn of events. The flames were dancing in his wide open eyes, when he answered Gilgamesh's question:
"It's Emiya's Kiritsugu doing. I'm sure of it."
Tokiomi won.
The duel was fierce and exhausting, but now the red magus was preparing his final attack. Kayneth was already on his knees, breathing heavily, and desperately trying to save himself. Finally he decided to summon Archer for help.
"I see. You refuse to accept your defeat." For Tohsaka such behavior was extremely disgusting and shameful. "So you have no honor of a true magus. What a shame."
He was ready to stop Lord El-Melloi from summoning his Servant, but someone was faster. A bullet pierced through Kayneth's hand - it hit the freshly activated Command Spell and… made it vanish.
The European mage started to scream hysterically, facing a horrible pain of his circuits being devoured by the power of the bullet. At the same moment the nearest building exploded, but Tokiomi was caught by a black hurricane and transported to a safe place.
"Lancer? I see, so Emiya did not betray me… yet. He shouldn't have interfere, though..."
Maybe it was not fair to snipe Kayneth from shadows, but Lord El-Melloi was first to break the rules of their duel. It was a fitting end for someone, who betrayed the way of magi, so Tokiomi Tohsaka had no compassion for his fallen enemy.
His plan was a success and the red magus found himself one step closer to the Grail.
She was dying alone under a mountain of rubble. Every single magical barrier, which Kayneth raised to protect their hideout, failed. Because of his spells she was still alive, but now it meant only that she had to suffer longer, and experience the agony to the fullest.
"How… stupid of you, Kayneth."
All she could feel in her last moments, except a horrible pain, was anger.
No, it was something more. A pure, honest hatred.
Someone was talking to her, the man in green. She needed a moment to understand his words.
"…I'm not a warrior type or a very strong guy, you know? I had no chance to save you anyway, Miss Sola-Ui."
She did not understand why Archer feels the need to explain himself. He's just stupid? Sentimental? Who cares anyway?
Not that it mattered. He left soon, realizing that it's too late. She was dying in the pool of her own blood. What a pathetic end for someone with her potential, with her hunger for life!
"Curse you, curse you all!"
She thought about all the people who dared to decide, how her life should look like. They never asked permission to do so, her opinion did not matter even once. She cursed her family, who preferred to give the crest to her brother. She could easily win this war by herself! She could have summoned a better Servant than this weak, unfaithful Archer!
"Too bad I can't… have… my revenge."
"You may have it!" Something materialized nearby. Sola-Ui could feel an aura of a Servant, but… It was much darker, much scarier than any Servant she has ever met. "Don't worry, I'll save you, Master."
"Who… are you?"
"Your Servant, of course." The woman in a strange black dress kneeled near the dying magus and grasped her hand. Indeed, the three Command Seals appeared on it, and they were burning like fire. "I know how it feels to be used by your own family for political matters and then betrayed. I was robbed from everything… my husband, my status, my gold, home and future. They were so afraid of me and my vengeance, you know? But I found a way. I killed them all and took back what was rightfully mine." Saying this, she gently caressed the hilt of a ridiculously big two-handed sword. "I avenged my beloved one, but it's still not enough. It will never be enough." She smiled and this faint expression looked particularly scary on her pale face, contrasting with a dangerous light in her red eyes. "And then you called me, your desire is so pure that I could not ignore it. Could I, Master?"
Sola-Ui blinked, trying to understand what's happening. This giant sword looked somehow familiar, but it was hard to guess its origin because of the thin layer of dark energy covering the blade. Yet she was strangely sure, that she had seen this weapon before.
"I see. Avenger, huh?"
The woman nodded with enthusiasm.
"So… Are you brave and determined enough to become my Master?"
The wounded woman confirmed with a weak nod. After that she could feel a fresh energy coming through her magic circuits, healing her almost completely destroyed body. She tensed, trying to understand what's going on. It seems that her new Avenger class Servant was healing her, using energy sucked from the surroundings. This scary black widow was like a parasite, probably self-sufficient, at least to some extent.
What's even more important, she was powerful. A very reliable ally, no doubt.
Sola-Ui smiled widely, knowing that for her the game has just begun.
"If only Kiritsugu knew this sooner…"
Irisviel was not sure what to do with her new knowledge about Saber and his hidden Noble Phantasm. It was indeed a powerful weapon. Not as scary as Lancer's ultimate attack, and probably not able to destroy worlds, but still too dangerous to be recklessly summoned.
Should she share this secret with Kiritsugu? What if he decides to unleash this power? And what if Saber loses control over his own weapon? What could possibly happen and how much energy would it consume?
Iri shivered at the thought. With so many Heroic Spirits around it would not be such a huge problem, but later, near the end of the War… Who knows?
"What's wrong, Mommy?" Illya grasped Irisviel's hand with all her might, visibly nervous. "Don't worry, I'll do as you told me. It will be fine."
"Yes. It will be fine. You're my wise and strong girl, after all."
"Umm! And my Saber is the strongest!"
Irisviel smiled, not able to share her doubts with Illya. She thought that Saber's Noble Phantasms are more problematic than they seem to be. That must have been a reason why he decided to rely in battle mostly on his skills.
"No, I should not tell anyone about this weapon, even Kiritsugu," she decided at last. "It should remain hidden as long as possible."
Three strange figures were sitting on the rooftop of the Einzbern Castle in Fuyuki – a warrior, a masked woman and a child.
The warrior was actually lying there comfortably, watching the sky, which was slowly changing its color from blue to red. The child looked equally relaxed, enjoying her meal – a sweet dango she has never tasted before. Only the woman seemed tensed and focused on guarding the place.
"He's come," she said suddenly and Saber nodded, welcoming their guest.
"So you're still alive?" – he said to a man hidden almost completely under the green cloak.
"Yup. Unlike other Servants, we Archers don't need our Masters to babysit us." Robin sat down next to Saber and sighed heavily. "But my remaining time here is limited. 'Operation Sakura' can't wait any longer."
"I agree. And it's seems that you have a plan?"
"Kind of. But first we muss discuss something important with other Servants. I guess that they will come tonight, even that golden weirdo."
Both Robin and Asako stared at Siegfried, probably expecting some kind of emotional reaction after his last fight with the mysterious Servant. Unfortunately, they were left disappointed.
"What? I don't care about the guy as long as he stays away from my Master." Siegfried shrugged, but it was only partially true. Something was bothering him, but he did not intent to share his thoughts with anyone. "By the way," he started, mostly to change the topic. "May I know what's your wish, Assassin? Don't look at me like that, we're in this mess together, what's the point in hiding your motives any longer?"
The masked woman lowered her head, thinking. The girl poked her older companion in the arm to encourage her.
"We are one split into many. But we want to be one again. Only one. We want to have a perfect personality."
For a few seconds there was a strange silence between the Servants on the roof. Saber was first to burst out laughing, making Assassin mad and ready to attack him with a knife.
"What's so funny about it? Explain!"
"Sorry, I didn't want to offend you, but… Haven't you realized yet that it's an impossible wish? And, what's more important, it's a waste of time and effort."
"What? Why?!"
"He wants to say, that it's not wise to ask for something that you already have." Robin decided to explain Saber's words. "Something like 'a perfect personality' just doesn't exist, you know?"
"I'm afraid I don't understand your babbling…" Asako was confused, but the girl was listening carefully.
"Please explain," she said calmly, really curious.
"Well, every single human has a complicated personality," Siegfried said, still smiling to himself. "There are many different persons inside us. In me, for example, there's a warrior, a stupid unlucky guy, a reckless adventurer…" He laughed, thinking of even more personalities hidden within him. "Archer too. Deep inside he's like a knight in shining armor. Also he's an animal lover. And a crybaby."
"Hey!" Robin wanted to protest, but surprisingly failed and only blushed. It was hilarious. "Shut up, I know your weak spot, you know?"
Siegfried chuckled, but both Assassins looked serious and focused, so he continued calmly:
"Anyway, it's like with the light. It's white, but when you look through the prism, you'll see a rainbow. Every color is important and together they make you who you really are."
"So you say that it's normal, but what makes you a complete entity?"
"Our ideals," Saber said softly.
"Our hearts," Archer added without hesitation and the girl smiled, realizing that they mean the same thing.
"So what should we do?"
Archer smiled, and it was a really warm, kind expression.
"If there's something that all of you want, just work together and make it happen. That's all." He blinked, looking at something far away on the sky, a single moving point. "And here comes our dear Rider."
"The eyesight of the Archer class is really terrifying." Siegfried stood up. "Let's welcome the guests. I hope Lancer won't get mad at us for organizing the meeting here."
"Wait…" Robin's reaction was priceless. "You didn't tell her?"
"You think I should? Ooops." Saber left the roof in a great hurry.
"Wha… What an idiot!" It took Robin a while to discover, that Siegfried was only making fun of him. "That wasn't funny! Not at all!"
But he, too, was laughing.
Thank You for reading! So the promised new character has finally appeared. I would be happy to know Your opinions.