Wow, this chapter should have been finished a month ago, but of course real life struck me hard wherever it could. Sorry for the continued delay, but at least we are approaching the grand finale of this Grail War with ever more large steps! Have fun! Or be terrified! Whatever you think is appropriate...
Chapter 9 - The Rains of Castamere
Kariya
By now Kariya had grown so used to pain that it was the absence of it that managed to shock him. He had awoken with a dim, lingering feeling that was not pain, but just a lasting exhaustion that actually reminded him that he was still alive and, given the circumstances, recovering somewhat. The burden of Berserker's corporeal form had been lifted from him and with his Servant returning to stand-bye, he could allow himself to raise up and move again.
How long was I unconscious?
He looked up to the sky and saw the stars fading, the horizon even starting to get swallowed up by the orange tint of dawn. Kariya tried to recollect what happened.
Berserker... I sent him out!
He had waited for an opportunity that took the dangerous priest out of the picture. He waited long for it, starting to feel cornered by his own failing body. When the first opportunity arouse, Kariya in his impatience went for it. But the strain proved too much for him. Allowing the monster to walk was enough of a torment to make him feel dizzy and nauseous. Then something happened that caused his mana consumption to rise even more. Whether it was the passing of Tohsaka's boundary field or the commencement of a fight, he could not tell. All he knew was that it was around this time the agony overwhelmed him and he found himself blacking out.
Berserker only stops when his target is dead or he is defeated... and since I am still a Master, I have to assume that he did it...
Kariya took up pace. Ever since his leg was ruined he tried to move as little as necessary in order to not remind himself of that fact, but even though it still dragged behind him, this morning he felt strangely light. His body was still aching and making the wrong movement still resulted in sharp pain, but for once he wasn't hindered all that much by it. He passed one house, then another, then another. Soon enough the Tohsaka residence arrived in front of him. The western mansion stood tall and proud and arrogantly in front of him, though Kariya suspected that this picture of undisturbed silence was a little too perfect to be true. Not even the traces of Rider's charge, even though that one already felt like ages ago, were visible.
The bounded field is still active...
He hesitated. There was a slight chance that some of Tohsaka's defence measures were still active, even though they appeared to be of the kind that needs to be reloaded, at least when he watched them going off against Rider. He knew that it was dangerous to try to enter by himself. Part of him just wanted to leave, to recover somewhere save and await what happened next. And yet...
I... I can't just blindly trust that Berserker has taken care of everything. I must... I have to see for myself.
"Come...", he whispered.
Kariya felt the presence of Berserker appearing next to him. He must have lurked around somewhere near, though apparently he had left the mansion quite a while ago.
"Go on then", he ordered, before following in the monster's wake.
A strange tickling feeling overcame him when he entered the bounded field. It was less a reaction of his body and more one of the worms inside it. Even they must have felt uneasy intruding the enemy fortress, but their stirring was still subdued enough for the pain to be bearable.
Oh...
There were no murderous spells flung into his direction, instead he found himself confronted with a mansion that surely had seen better times. The entrance and the floor above it were pretty much gone, only scorched debris and a gaping black hole remained. The way the upper floors were covered with soot it looked like a large fire had broken out, a fire that by all means should have razed the whole building to the ground, since there was no way for any fire department to be alarmed thanks to the bounded field. And yet here it stood, badly damaged, but still defying all odds.
I wonder whether there are any spells woven into the walls to reduce damage. Given Tohsaka's sick experiments, I wouldn't put it past him.
Shrugging his strange observations off, Kariya followed the path through the mansion's garden with unsteady steps. It was an odd experience. This house always seemed like doom to him. Of course he was loosely acquainted with Tokiomi, given the close ties of the Matou and Tohsaka houses, but even then the man always seemed to him like your usual cold-blooded Magus. He was only absorbed by the thought of the Grail and his own reputation, barely acknowledging Kariya's existence in the few talks between him and Zouken he was present at. And yet there was a time where Kariya tried to ignore these signals of his lack of humanity. He did put hope onto him when Aoi married him, the Aoi he wanted to save from Zouken's grasp. In those precious years he imagined this house, even though its doors were always closed to him, to be some kind of refuge, to give some normalcy to the woman he cared for. And yet all Tokiomi did was bringing misery to her and her daughters, utterly crushing any thought Kariya had that he would be better than that vampire who raised him.
Kariya entered the ruined halls of the Tohsaka mansion, carefully stepping through the remnants of the ruined floor. He didn't need to search for long. The corpse of Tokiomi Tohsaka lay close to where the burned part started. He was on his back, with his still open eyes staring dimly at the ceiling. With his fancy dress and well-kept hair and beard he looked like he'd rather sit in a western tea party or at a dinner-dance than in this pitiful position. In fact, if not for the pool of blood beneath him and the horrifying cut, which started from his right shoulder and went all the way down to his left hip, it was hard to believe that this man was dead. Kariya sighed.
"Look at you", he said with calm voice, angry and yet somewhat subdued, talking more to himself than to the corpse. "Do you honestly think I wanted it to end like this? You left me no choice! All I wanted was for Aoi and Sakura to stop crying and here we are. Even in death you will cause them nothing but sorrow..."
With whom am I even talking to?
He felt uncomfortably aware of Berserker's presence at his side. The giant was watching him. Waiting for more orders or just observing his reaction to his foe's demise? Kariya couldn't tell and frankly didn't care. It just made him uneasy.
What am I even trying to prove? I am seeing what I have expected to see. It's not like I... I didn't wonder how things would look like if he were gone... it's...
Kariya shook his head. These were dangerous thoughts. All he did was participating in this Grail War. A Grail War Tokiomi joined knowing fully well that it could very easily lead to his death. Kariya proved stronger, even if only because Berserker proved stronger. This was victory. His victory. So why felt all of this somehow wrong? He looked towards where Berserker was hovering.
"I ordered you to finish him and you did... maybe I am just surprised how easy it went. I can't expect every fight to work out like this, or to survive if I keep seeking a fight in the first place. But you've proven your mettle, you-", Kariya stopped, something had caught his eye, something that caused him to frown.
There were large bloody footprints leading into the next room. The sheer size of them seemed to fit Berserker's heavy boots. He must have stepped into the pool of blood when it was still fresh, which seemed not that unlikely given how large it was, but it struck him as odd for why a mindless brute like him would go exploring the mansion after getting rid of Tokiomi and his Archer.
Something was wrong here. A faint voice whispered into his ear that he had seen what he came for, that there was no reason linger, that he should just escape and focus on the Grail War with all of his concentration. And yet... Kariya ignored that voice and found himself drawn to the door. He passed the corpse of Tohsaka and stepped closer, dragging his dead leg through the ashes. Peeking through the door, he saw a near untouched room that looked like a fancy parlour or a living room. The entire furniture looked antique, just the kind of lavish luxury he expected from a man like Tohsaka. But all he cared for were the bloody footsteps, each one somewhat fainter than the one before. They lead to another door, one that was ripped out of its ankles, leaving the view open to a stone staircase into the ground, illuminated by a sickly bluish light of magic origin. The walls seemed roughly hewn and out of place, but given the layout of the Matou residence as a reference Kariya had a good idea where it was leading to.
His workshop...
Kariya gulped. The voice was still there. Something dreadful must have been below, something that would swallow him whole. The voice whispered that if he went down there, there would never be a turning back. That the path of Kariya Matou would end down there. And yet he couldn't avert his gaze, he couldn't just flee and pretend to not have seen anything. Something was down there, something he just had to see...
Before he knew it, he was already descending the winding, narrow steps. Walking in a straight line was hard enough, but this was just absurd. Without a second leg to stand firmly, Kariya was forced to lean against the walls in order to keep his balance, in order to find the next step without falling. It took him minutes, minutes in which his mind was racing about what he was about to find, minutes in which the foul stench of blood came to his nose and startled him.
The workshop of a magus, huh?
Berserker thoroughly honoured his name, his godforsaken nature. The Tohsaka workshop was a single long room with a low, semicircular ceiling. It seemed like the tables with magic instruments had been in the centre and numerous bookshelves used to be lined up at the walls, but Berserker must have made short work of all of it. The shelves were splintered, the books ripped and the instruments smashed, leaving the floor covered with shards and loose pages, torn scrolls and the odd jewel here or there.
What were you thinking?
The beast was still standing at his side, towering above the chaos as if it didn't concern him. Kariya's wobbly steps continued, inch for inch he went further into the workshop. Manoeuvring around the shelves that had been flung into the middle of the room was no easy task, especially with all these obstacles and his ruined leg hindering him at every opportunity. He only stopped when he approached a figure that seemed out of place. Half covered in torn pages it was lying in front of one of the shelves that been mauled by Berserker. It seemed like a statue of white marble, an angel in peaceful slumber with a single red rose grasped in the hands holding her chest. But that rose was only painted on, with a dirty crimson that was about to turn into rust. Kariya shivered, a burning fire was bursting his heart aflame, threatening to consume the last bit of reason left to him as he crouched down next to the sleeping figure.
It can't be! It can't be! It can't... You are not supposed to be here! I... I saw you leaving, you and Rin... you went hiding somewhere else, you weren't... you should not... not... here... not...
It was Aoi. Or so it seemed. He carefully touched her face, it was cold and hard, more like a doll than a living human. She seemed like fragile porcelain to him.
A trick! Yes! Yes, that's what it is! It has to be... some kind of foul sorcery, to mess with me. It can't... it can't be...
He knew he was fooling himself. He was clinging to the only shred of hope remaining to him, the one sliver that could put this harsh reality into question. But while that reality slowly crept into his mind, the indifferent gaze of the monster next to him started to get to him. Kariya met this gaze with his own stare, one filled with utter hatred.
"What have you done?", he demanded, his voice overturning itself. "What have you done?"
There came no answer. All the monster did was staring him down, silent and damning. Rage overcame Kariya. He couldn't stand this, he couldn't stand getting accused by a mindless brute. All he wished was for him to just disappear and die. To suffer the same fate he brought upon Aoi. Kariya threw his arm at the beast's direction, letting his fury speak:
"Go away!"
A red shockwave was let loose, banishing the towering demon the moment it hit him. He had disappeared. Kariya could not say where to, but he did not care anyway. He was only glad that the damning gaze had ended, leaving him to sob softly at the side of the woman he wanted to save.
"I'm sorry... I'm sorry... I... I didn't..."
The voice that tried to warn him was right. This was the end for Kariya Matou. There was no reason for him to continue this battle. He threw it all away, just because he wanted the war to end more swiftly.
"This is my fault, I... I brought this upon you... I didn't... I..."
He wanted to cradle her body in his arms, in the vain hope that his embrace would somehow wake her up, but Kariya also knew that he didn't deserve to even touch her. So he was just kneeling there amidst the carnage, overwhelmed by helplessness. Minutes passed. Slowly, he came to accept that she would never return to him. The smell of blood was suffocating him. And so was the picture of senseless destruction, the malice with which this workshop was hacked to pieces only to kill one person. Even though it did struck him as odd, given how Aoi's wound wasn't nearly as gruesome as the one of Tokiomi. Only then he realized the bloodstains elsewhere. Especially right in front of him, where a large shelf had been split in two, opening the view onto a small crevice in which a smashed chest was hidden, a chest where something looking like a withered fossil had been inside. At the edge above this crevice a large stain of blood, hair and flesh had painted the stone red. A dreadful thought crossed his mind. A thought that caused him to look over his devastaed surroundings once more.
Please... please don't... please...
His heart plummeted when he saw something sparkling red behind one half of the torn shelf to the left of him. He nearly mistook it for more blood, but it turned out to be a blood red pendant with a silver chain. This silver chain however was clasped by a small white hand...
Please, no more! No more...
Without heed for his surroundings, Kariya crawled through the debris towards it. And with every inch he moved closer, the more his fear turned reality. A bloodstained skirt, a soaked red jacket. But the worst of all was the face. At first his view was blocked by a part of the shattered shelf, so he moved closer and closer, even if it meant to prolong this mad nightmare. But even when kneeling right in front of the girl's corpse, he was unable to see it, unable to recognize it. Because there was no face. Not anymore. It was a ruin of torn flesh and shattered bone. Kariya Matou collapsed with a wailing scream as his last bits of reason were swept away by the madness he found himself in.
"Uaaargh...Uaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrgh!"
Kirei
A long silence set in after the priest ended his recounting of what he and Assassin had found at the Tohsaka residence. Kirei was listening to the idle noise of the phone, waiting for his father's reaction. It seemed like the old man didn't take the news well.
"Truly regrettable", was Risei Kotomine's final verdict, though he said so with a heavy voice. "Tokiomi was a good friend and a man of high aspirations. It is doubly troubling that his line ends this way... and he was your mentor, Kirei. I don't want to imagine how you feel after finding him like this."
Well, how do I feel?
Kirei was grimacing on the other end of the line. Due to Assassin's insistence, the two of them had hurried to the Tohsaka residence, but they were on the wrong side of town to reach it in time. When they finally arrived, Berserker had already disappeared and all they found were mangled corpses. Kirei still vividly remembered how he found Tokiomi upon entering, how he looked down into the man's lifeless blue eyes. He did indeed feel something. Regret. But not the regret about a life cut too short. More the regret of an opportunity he had missed. What kind of opportunity he dreaded to think too much about.
"His worth as an instructor was without a doubt", Kirei finally admitted. "He will be missed."
Risei gave a weary sigh.
"Leave the necessary arrangements to me. I will take care of the authorities' perception of this... unfortunate accident... and arrange for the Magic Association to take his Crest. Maybe they can find some branch of the Tohsaka family that can claim it, but even if not... well I suppose the Church won't be mourning about one Magus less around. Now to you, son... Since your alliance has come to an end, I have to ask you how you want to proceed."
Kirei looked over to the chair Arya sat in. It was her who had been affected the most by what they had found. It was not like she was overcome by grief, in fact she acknowledged it in a way that made Kirei assume that she was used to seeing death, even messy ones like these. It was rather that she proved unable to suppress the deep anger within her. Arya had been fuming and cursing furiously during their entire return trip, swearing bloody vengeance with every breath. Even now when she decided to listen to Kirei's conversation with his father, she was doing so sitting there with downcast eyes and clenched fists, barely able to restrain herself. Kirei acknowledged that even if he were to give up now, the girl would drag him back into battle no matter what.
"I may not share Tohsaka's aspirations, but it seems I have no choice but to finish what is started... even if only to ensure the Grail to get an owner who would not misuse it."
"Words wisely chosen, my son", the weary priest on the other end replied. "I just hope you know what you are doing."
A frown formed on Kirei's brow. He certainly didn't mishear these words of doubt from his father. He was clearly worrying about this lonesome path Kirei was taking, maybe even fearing that it would lead to self-destruction.
He always had that strange assumption that I lost my way due to Claudia's death...
"Be assured that I will not take any unnecessary risks. I will act in a way not to disappoint your faith or Tohsaka's..."
An acknowledging grunt came from the other end.
"I see, I see... Well then, I wish you good luck. Don't hesitate to call me if you need some counsel, Kirei. Till then, please take care of yourself."
"Goodbye."
Kirei put the receiver down, returning his attention towards Assassin now that they were alone once again. The girl herself raised her head and met his look with a hateful stare of her own.
"I told you it was a mistake", she stated, her fists still clenched.
"To allow Matou to live?", it was barely a question, he already knew the answer.
"To allow the Mountain to live...", Arya corrected. "This is what I meant, this is what he does... even to... even to..."
Her anger turned into bitter regret. Something Kirei observed with a strange fascination of his own.
"I promised her...", Arya went on. "I promised her to protect her father, to make him live through this war. But in the end I couldn't even protect her..."
Kirei knew that this was the moment he was supposed to console the grief-stricken girl. He knew he should seat himself next to her, maybe even put a hand on her shoulder while speaking hollow words of encouragement. But he was unable to do so. He remained a spectator, like he always was, watching how the girl dealt with her emotions on her own. And he regretted deeply that he saw himself unable to reach out to her like he was supposed to do.
Assassin took a deep breath, managing to somewhat calm herself down. At least enough to focus back on the future instead of the past.
"So is this true what you have told your father? You continue the fight, even if only to stop the Mountain?"
"I said so, didn't I?", he asked back, slightly confused about her doubts.
The girl frowned, leaning forward with hostility in her eyes.
"You lie!"
"What makes you think that?", Kirei gave a dark smile.
"I have seen your face when you saw your mentor and his family. You didn't care for either of their deaths! Actually, I'm starting to think you don't care about anything at all!"
Kirei grimaced, uncomfortable about the implications.
She is more perceptive than I thought...
"My... my feelings about their deaths are unrelated to the action that needs to be taken", he tried to set up a meagre defence. "I am certainly not driven by vengeance, if that is what you expect me to be."
Arya gave a sneer.
"Don't worry, I never assumed as much. And it's not like I am only out for revenge, either... I just know the Mountain better than you do. I have seen what he and his band of criminals did and how nobody ever saw justice for it."
"So justice it is when you go out and slit Matou's throat, huh?", he gave a weak chuckle. "Well, it is not like I have any intention to stop you."
"Good", she acknowledged. "But you still haven't answered my question: What is your intention then? Why do you fight when you have such a hard time caring for anything?"
Kirei averted his eyes, staring at the ceiling instead. It was interesting how the tables had turned. He used to be the one poking her with questions about her past and her motivations after all...
Why do I, huh?
He had to admit that she was right. It made no sense for him to take action when the loss of Tokiomi felt like it didn't concern him. The man was dead. Killing the murderer wouldn't change that. There was no gain at all, at least to him.
"Maybe because I think it would be the right thing", Kirei mused. "Like you said, it would be justice."
"You still make it sound like it stands to question", Arya replied with a deep frown, at least before breaking the tension with a sigh. "I don't understand you and I am not sure I want to understand you. But as long as you won't stop me from doing the right thing, I have no problem with assisting you in whatever you are fighting for."
She went for the door, but hesitated while reaching for the knob, turning back to Kirei mid-movement.
"You know... I found you odd from the moment you've summoned me. This feeling never got away the more I learn about you. And yet... for all your weirdness, for all your weird way of phrasing things... I have never seen a man grown before who is still this clueless about what he actually expects of life. There is something unsettling about you! But there is also something genuine in there, something that knows what justice is and that sometimes you need to go out of your way to correct the wrongs in the world. I just hope that the next time we talk like this you have become aware of this part of yours."
And with this she left. Kirei remained behind in the half-darkness of the hotel room, alone except for his own thoughts. He leaned back in his chair and stared at the ceiling, his brow forming a deep frown.
Perceptive, but still wrong...
He agreed that there was something in him that knew justice, that knew... morals... But every live moment he feared that this was no part of him, not of the true him for that matter. Just a hollow and meaningless addition that was made afterwards, long after the sinful him was created.
Lord, what is it what you want me to do?
There was no reply. Something he took as a reassurance that he was supposed to find out himself. Whatever that meant anyway...
Jaime
With the shutters closed and the room essentially outfitted like a small fortress it was hard to believe that the sun had already risen outside. Jaime Lannister stood there in the half-darkness, staring at a closed window, watching his shadow dance while a sickly blue glow illuminated the room from behind him. Turning around he saw how Irisviel completed her healing magic applied to Kiritsugu's leg before slumping down on her bed.
"Iri?", for a moment a worried expression appeared on her husband's face. "I thought you have recovered, what's wrong?"
She gave back a forced smile.
"Nothing is wrong. You came back to me when I already feared the worst...", she answered, cocking her head as she looked at his face.
"Doubt? Something has happened elsewhere..."
"A Servant died... I felt it", the way she announced it, a sliver of sadness tinged her words. "There is no turning back now."
Kiritsugu nodded in understanding, at least until he shot Jaime a dark look.
"It should have been two enemies down then...", he sneered.
Jaime could not help but laugh:
"I told you he jumped into a crowd of people! You don't expect me to barge in and kill every single witness afterwards, do you?"
Kiritsugu looked down, apparently thinking about that option, though that was hard to tell given his usual expression of moody disconnect. A bout of anger flared up in the knight's chest.
"You can't be serious!"
"No...", the Magus Killer then conceded in a low voice. "For once you were in the right. The chance was too high to cause unwanted attention, especially in regards to the Church. That might have complicated things later on."
Jaime couldn't help but stare back in disbelief. The murder of innocents meant nothing to him, only whether it would have caused a backlash. He never took his Master for a moral man, but now he was just being unnecessarily callous. The only reason Jaime's retort was stuck on his tongue was that he was well aware of the hypocrisy if he acted on it. Instead he just watched Kiritsugu stand up, fetch his coat and go for the door.
"Wait, where are you going?", Jaime asked.
Kiritsugu stopped mid-movement.
"The situation has changed, but there is no way Iri can tell who the one killed is. I have to find out immediately and gather what kind of advantage we gain from it."
"Has your skewered leg not tought you how dangerous it is to head out alone?", Jaime shot back. "Let me accompany you at least."
The Magus Killer gave a dry laugh.
"Battle advice from a knight who can't go for the kill? No need to humor me. I work better alone anyway. Just keep Iri safe."
And just like that he left. Jaime couldn't believe it, he sat down on the bed opposing Irisviel's and tried to calm himself down.
"In the name of the Seven, I am a knight of the Kingsguard...", he muttered.
"I can understand how you must feel, Ser Jaime", Iri said with a sad smile. "Kiritsugu can be... inconsiderate when he thinks that the stakes make it necessary. If you care for my opinion, I find it not a flaw that you show restraint when asked to kill children."
"You are too kind, your Grace, but... while it may be right that such an act wouldn't be very chivalric no matter how you look at it, it is not that this stopped me before... I am not the white knight you think me to be. I am the Kingslayer, remember? That is no honorific..."
The things you do for love...
He watched Irisviel's reaction, but saw only confusion.
"I don't know what sins you committed in your past life, but whoever this Kingslayer is you speak of, it is not the Jaime Lannister I got to know over the past few weeks."
"You only say this because I kept bugging you about this whole sacrifice nonsense...no... I... I actually don't know why I can't harm Arya. I don't think it is because her mother made me take an oath to get her home... maybe it is just because I believe I have done her enough harm already even without driving the sword of her father through her."
"The sword of her father?", Irisviel repeated the words, swallowing their meaning.
Jaime sighed and averted her eyes. At this point he could as well just tell her the whole story.
"Trust me, I've hurt her and her family more than even she knows: I crippled her younger brother, intending to kill him to protect the spawns of my shame. I attacked and wounded her father in a blind fit of rage. I was sieging her uncle and fighting her elder brother while her father was killed, her sister kept hostage and she herself was raped and killed somewhere in the gutters of King's Landing. And now here I am, holding half of her father's sword that my father kept as a trophy and see myself forced to fight her with it! This is why... why I can't bloody do it..."
He looked up again and while he had been staring at the ground before, he realized that these imploring red eyes never left him out of focus. He found himself suddenly reminded of how unusual Irisviel was in pretty much every aspect.
"I can accept that this is what you did...", she replied defiantly. "But something happened afterwards, didn't it?"
Jaime grimaced. He couldn't keep a secret from her. And before he could deny it, the face of a woman flashed up before his eyes. A woman with pure blue eyes, clear and innocent and yet so very strong. Despite himself he felt a smile creeping up on his face.
"A true knight happened", he admitted. "A knight who shamed me just by existing. By proving again and again how much I strayed from my path..."
"... and this is why you 'kept bugging me about that whole sacrifice nonsense'", Iri threw this back at him with a sly smile.
He gave an embarrassed grunt.
"In part... but mostly because it truly is nonsense!"
Irisviel sighed and leaned back on the bed. Or rather slumping down on it as Jaime soon realized. And not just out of exasperation.
"Everything alright with you?", he asked, slightly worried.
"No need to trouble yourself, Ser Jaime", she replied absentmindedly. "I'm just... very tired..."
Her pained expression made the lie obvious. At once Jaime found himself overcome by a bad premonition. He jumped up, but did not dare approach her as she lay in front of him.
"Damn it, I'm babbling here about my sorry past while you've become ever more pale by the minute. And for you that's saying something!"
"I just need some rest... nothing more... it is just... the Heroic Spirit that died this night... I can... keep on after just a little bit of sleep... it is just one, after all... it shouldn't manifest until far later..."
"What do you mean?", he was just standing there, utterly baffled at her words.
"The Grail... you already know what I am about to become... and... as I said to Kiritsugu before... no matter how much you complain...", her lips formed a weak smile. "... there is no turning back now..."
Sola-ui
Sola-ui was still listening to her own ragged breathing as she snuck closer to him. Resting on his chest she could feel the shape of his muscles, the heat he was emitting and the slow heaving of his body with every breath. When his body was in so much synchronicity to her own, it was hard to believe that it was just an artificial construct made of magical energy. She had to chuckle at that train of thought, he felt real enough just a moment ago. He felt real enough the night before as well... She looked up and drank up the sight of his features. Though she was a little disappointed that he was not returning her gaze, she still wondered why her Prince was looking so thoughtful for a change.
"Why the serious face? Anything worrying you?"
Oberyn seemed startled for a moment, as if interrupted in his thoughts. He only then seemed to take note of her.
"Anything wrong with the contract?", she continued to ask.
He broke out a smile, though for a change it was an unsteady one.
"The contract?", he blinked in confusion.
Sola-ui punched his chest. Not hard, not that it would have hurt in any case, but the message was clear.
"Don't play games with me, I'm talking about the contract we have sealed!"
"Ah... of course", he admitted, chuckling. "To be frank, I wasn't quite sure all of its steps were entirely necessary. Not that I am complaining."
"Tch... for what kind of woman do you think me, trying to trick you into bed with a flimsy sounding excuse like this?"
"I take you for a woman who knows exactly what she wants and doesn't hesitate to take it", he laughed. "So you were serious? Ha! I never gave their religion much heed, but the Summer Islanders seem to have been on to something after all!"
She had that slightly irritating feeling that he was making fun of her, but his laughter and smile were payment enough for that slight dent to her ego.
"I was already supplying you with magical energy and that complicated things when making a contract with me", Sola-ui explained matter-of-factly. "It's not that it came with the Command Spell... so... going for the more intimate way to establish it seemed like a sensible choice to ensure success... To be sure, I would have tried another way if you would not have enjoyed it."
"Do not worry, my dear. I wouldn't have agreed if I hadn't found pleasure in your company either."
"Then tell me, Prince Oberyn: Your distrust in my honesty aside, what is it that troubles you?"
His expression grew serious again. Sola-ui felt the cold of the chilly hotel room getting to her as the warmth of his love and the ache of her pleasure subsided. Instinctively she pulled the blanket closer up to her chest.
"I don't mean to spoil the atmosphere...", Oberyn apologized. "I was just thinking how we should proceed from now on... and most importantly, for what purpose. I suppose your aim is not to reach the Root like it was Kayneth's?"
Sola-ui found her teeth clenching. She wanted to forget her bothersome fiancee, just hearing his name was enough to sour her mood.
"You are right and wrong", she answered slowly. "You are wrong in that Kayneth cared for the Root. If there was one thing in life he truly cared about, then it was his precious reputation and for that the Root was just a means to an end. But you are right when you say that I am not like him."
His black eyes were piercing hers like the viper he got his nickname from, a slight frown throwing a shadow upon his lined features.
"Then what is your goal, Sola-ui?"
You?
She had to chuckle at her childish thought. If she had said that, he would have truly taken her for a fool. But when forced to think about the future, she had to admit that the picture in her head remained blank. Right now she lived only for the moment... the nights and mornings and the mindful conversations in between. They rarely if ever left this low-class motel at the edge of town they had sought refuge in after the destruction of the Hyatt. What the place lacked in comfort they had made up in company so far, but of course the Grail War was still raging outside and the one responsible for the death of her useless fiancee was still somewhere out there, waiting for them to reappear. Staying here meant staying dead in this one's eyes. It meant safety. It meant one more day of just the two of them.
"I don't know", she admitted. "I guess I was just trying not to think about it."
Oberyn nodded in understanding, though his grave expression made Sola-ui feel incredibly foolish.
"What I do know, however, is that I want to fight alongside you. For you... for whatever it is you have need for the Grai", she thought for a moment, studying his unsurprised reaction. "Kayneth never asked you what it is, didn't he?"
"He seemed not to care, no...", Oberyn replied evasively, pondering on the question himself.
"Then I'll have to ask you myself: What is my prince fighting for?"
He laughed upon hearing this, but there was no joy in it. He seemed sad and regretful as his eyes trailed away from her.
"I fight for vengeance, justice... but most of all... for House Martell..."
"Your family?"
She couldn't say why the idea struck her as so odd, but for some reason it did. Maybe because she had come to imagine him as some kind of lone wolf wandering foreign worlds. She braced herself to revise that picture.
"Of course. Why the surprised face? Don't you believe that I love my family? My wise and bookish elder brother, my fierce young niece who will rule just as greatly after him, my nephew who was so proud when he earned his knighthood, his younger brother, a bright and unrelentingly curious child last time I saw him and then of course my own daughters, every single one as spirited as our house motto suggests. But most of all, there was Elia..."
"Elia?"
His lips formed a sad smile.
"You must think me an obsessed fool... that after all these years I am still haunted by the death of my sister...", he sighed and continued when Sola-ui showed no intention to speak up. "We were inseperable as children. She may have always had a weak constitution, but in her veins flew the same blood of our mother that flows in me. She was sweet and gentle and yet quick-witted and sharp when it came to it. She deserved to be queen. She definitely deserved not to be discarded by that fool Rhaegar... and definitely not to be used as a hostage by the mad king to ensure House Martell's loyalty... and most of all, she did not deserve to die by the orders of a spiteful old lion."
Lion?
"Are you talking about Saber?"
"About his father... when Tywin Lannister sacked the capital and sent his minions to kill my sister and her children, his son killed the king and let it happen inspite of his vow to protect the royal family. He is just as guilty as the rest of them..."
"So you wish for the end of House Lannister?" Sola-ui asked.
He seemed taken aback by that notion, shifting uncomfortably on his pillow.
"No... though that would satisfy me very much, I do not intend to waste my wish on petty revenge... Believe me, Sola-ui, I only wish for a world... in which my sister lives..."
It seemed wrong to spoil his honesty by thoughtless words of her own. Therefore Sola-ui decided to remain silent, thinking about the bonds between Oberyn at his sister. Bonds strong enough that he overcame death itself for a gamble to change fate. Unwittingly, Sola-ui's thoughts went to her own brother. An image of his slick smile flashed up before her eyes and she wondered whether he would ever do the same for her. The immediate answer coming to her mind was disheartening. Even though Oberyn was from a medieval society, apparently the bonds between them were far greater than between those who were born with the curse of magic in this oh so modern world.
"Even after all that happened to her", she finally said. "I cannot help but envy her. To have you. To have all of her family behind her, no matter how the circumstances."
Oberyn pondered at her words and his smile became a little softer.
"Unbowed, unbent, unbroken. Whatever happens, the sun of Dorne will rise again, as bright as it is deadly...", he cocked his head. "But enough about me. I will fight and win for this wish regardless of what may happen. But the same goes not for you... you have gone as far as taking up the burden of being a Master to yourself and even though the loss of your fiancé seems to affect you little, it still means that you are free to return to your home country."
"Is it so easy, though?", Sola-ui asked back, stroking his cheek with a bitter smile. "As you say, I got myself rid of Kayneth... but what will await me back in London? Is it not just another self-centered Magus who thinks he owns the world my parents will marry me off to? I am afraid that in this world of Magi my only worth as a second child lies in those precious magic circuits a child of mine would inherit..."
He returned her gaze with a worried expression of his own as he was taking her hand. Like always they were warm and gentle, but for once there was a firmness he hadn't shown before.
"Sola-ui, dear, I am afraid I am unable to understand your resignation in this matter. You make it sound like you are a highborn maiden who doesn't have the privilege of being born in Dorne and yet this world of yours is in many respects even greater than my home ever was when it comes to opportunities. If you don't want to return, you have the freedom to do so! I may not be able to understand the circumstances under which you grew up, but I see the woman who is right in front of me! A woman who has become my Master out of her own volition and would certainly never allow herself to be bound to imagined shackles!"
Sola-ui winced under the weight of his words.
"You have a very flattering picture of me...", she averted his gaze. "Though it is not a picture without a certain attraction..."
"Surely it must have a certain attraction, why else have I become so enthralled with my new Master", he squeezed her hand softly and Sola-ui's heart fluttered at his words, even though his face turned immediately serious again. "But make no mistake, my dear! I am a child of my world, a son of Loreza Martell and a brother to Elia Martell. I will fulfill my wish for Elia's happiness and then I will return to that grave of mine. And when I do, you have to return to this world of yours, to find your place in it, to find a future that is yet unwritten."
She nodded, but found not the strength to meet his eyes. Sola-ui knew that he was right, but she also knew that she desired for this future to include her foreign prince. She wanted him. That was the only truth that mattered in this moment. And she knew that this Grail surely must have been powerful enough to grant this wish, whether Oberyn desired it or not.
Can't the Grail make both true? To give him his sister and me him? Who is the foolish one here? After all, what kind of man throws away the chance of a new life in a new world only to return to cold and unchanging death?
These were dark thoughts however, thoughts Sola-ui knew she should be ashamed of. He spoke of her freedom and yet her first instinct was to put shackles around him. And yet she was not ashamed of them. For she knew that he would be thankful afterwards, when both of them were able to achieve happiness in a new future. Sola-ui was only driven out of her thoughts when Oberyn stirred and began to disentangle himself from their embrace.
"So you are going out now?", she asked, dreading the coming parting.
"Indeed", he replied as he sat up, his naked figure contrasting against the dark of the room. "By now there must have been many battles the Red Viper has missed. And I wouldn't want them to think that a son of Dorne is so craven as to pretend to be dead. For better or worse, it is still my duty to avenge the fallen Lord Kayneth."
She punched him again, this time with a vicious smile.
"Don't be silly!"
He returned the smile and gave a small chuckle as a he stood up:
"I am just saying that I am a knight after all. And who am I to miss an opportunity to rub this under the nose of the Kingslayer?"
The local Girl
The sun stood high and she sighed as a look onto her watch confirmed her suspicions. It was already way past noon. It was the time of the day when the local shopping district in Miyama came more and more alive, but it was still by far not bustling with customers. Therefore a girl of middle-school age strolling through the streets at this hour was indeed drawing some attention, even though she wasn't skipping school in the strictest sense of the word. She had something to do out here and something had drawn her to this district after she failed to find it anywhere else.
Her fists clenched. She was close to finding it, but couldn't pinpoint where exactly it was. She remained standing in front of a small flower shop, looking around with a slight sense of dread. Something was wrong. The people around her went down their paths without anything looking amiss, she saw an old couple talking and smiling, a young man hauling grocery bags, a woman chatting on her phone, only the lonesome girl knew that something horrible was about to happen.
Am I found out?
She felt the hair on her neck rising as she whirled around. There was only a group of young men in business suits approaching and they were too focused on their conversation to take note of her.
"Is there a Renaissance Fair in town?", one asked the other.
"Not that I know of, maybe it's in Shinto?", the second one replied.
"Maybe he just wants to brag with his costume. Though it really puts any cosplayer to shame", the third one chimed in.
"I'm certain it's not just a cosplay. Did you see how real it looked?"
"Real or not, nobody is this huge. That one must be cosplaying some fictional character."
"Yeah, but not one I know of. Did you recognize the heraldry?"
The girl watched them pass with both blank eyes and blank mind.
No... no, no, no!
They had entered the street from the crossing behind her, so the girl made a short dash for it, trying not to run over some of the confused passer-bys. When approaching the crossing, chatter about the mysterious cosplayer became more and more prevalent. Some were rising their eyebrows and shook their heads, others laughed it off. Not so the girl. She turned around the corner, scanning the unfamiliar street in front of her with desperate eyes. She saw him immediately. A restless giant prowling the sidewalk in plain view of everyone. Even uneducated eyes must have been realizing that he could not have been an ordinary human being. Encased in layers upon layers of heavy steel, outfitted so thick that any other man would hardly be able to move with it, this one was towering a good head above every other person in the street. The only visible part not made of steel was the yellow surcout with their black heraldry...
Her heart skipped several beats as she was processing what that meant. He seemed to look for something, or maybe even someone as he was restlessly marching from shop to shop, gathering quite a number of startled onlookers. Luckily, most people kept their distance to him. His aura of aimless hostility was too obvious for that. His right hand was twitching over his sheated sword after all. Before she could act upon her instincts, the girl realized that she had become surrounded by several other gawking spectators who had followed her from the crossing, some were murmuring behind her.
"What's up with this guy?"
"Look at it! This armor is the real thing! How cool is that?"
"Should I go take a photo with him."
The girl gulped, whirling around.
"Don't get any closer than this! Better just run away or something!", she advised.
Half a dozen pairs of startled eyes looked back at her.
"What are you saying?", the girl in question asked back.
"I am saying he is dangerous and everybody should get away from this district", the girl insisted with growing impatience.
But the looks remained the same. Some were confused by her visible fear, others just irritated for why she felt the need to warn them so cryptically. However everyone had trouble believing what she was saying.
"Aren't you a little old to be afraid of an Anime character?", another young man interjected with a mocking voice, causing some snickering in the crowd.
The girl cocked her head, grasping for the meaning of the joke until it dawned upon her that he regarded him as a villain from some story. While arguably fitting from his point of view, the girl saw herself loosing the crowd.
"That's not what I mean!", she doubled down tersely. "I am speaking of the man beneath the armor, the real monster that is walking down this street!"
The snickering died down and some looked to her as if astonished, but before any questions regarding her connection to the knight could be asked, the angry bellowing of a horn interrupted the conversation. Following the widening eyes of the crowd, the girl whirled around once again and saw that the giant had stepped onto the road, apparently just as one of the few cars in this small district was trying to get through. The honking went on as the lumbering giant just stared down the car as he was standing in the middle of the street. The eyes of the girl wandered to the other side where she recognized a liqeur shop and for some reason the thought that this must have been his destination crossed her mind.
"Are you blind? Just move your costumed ass and get out of the way!", the driver, a young man whose radio music came blaring out of his car, was leaning out of the opened window, yelling at the knight.
The girl's heart was racing as she was overcome by panic.
What are you doing, you idiot?
"Just run...", she said slowly to the crowd before dashing off, towards the monster.
Long before she came even close to the scene, the dimmed metallic grumble of the knight was audible.
"Noisy...", he grunted. "Too... noisy..."
"Back off!", the girl yelled, but it was too late by then.
A giant sword was suddenly raised into the air and came crashing down onto the car. With a worrying shreak the vehicle collapsed with its entire motor block bent inwards and sliced in half. The girl was still jogging towards the scene, but everything seemed to happen in slow motion. After a few seconds of blank shock, the driver threw open the door and jumped out, staring at the damage with plain incredulousness on his face. And yet, despite or maybe because of the otherworldly scene, the young man didn't seem to get the danger he himself was in.
"My... my car...", he just screached. "What the... what the hell did you do to my car?"
"Run away, stupid!", the girl called out once again.
He didn't seem to hear her at all.
"My car... what's wrong with you?", he kept stuttering.
The monster now switched his gaze towards him. As the eyeholes of the roughly furnished helmet focused on him, the man finally realized his fate and winced under the hateful stare. But before he could heed the girl's advice, the massive sword swung through the air once again, soundlessly and barely visible. The man continued to stare back in disbelieve, even as his upper body slid to the ground accompanied by a rush of blood.
Screams echoed through the street. This whole scene had attracted a lot of attention after all and even though some were faster when it came to grasping what had happened, others were still watching with widened eyes.
"Noisy...", the giant grumbled once again, turning around and looking for the source of the screams.
His eyes upon a group of women gathered at the edge of the sidewalk.
"Run, damn it!", the girl called out.
To her horror she realized that not even running would have been enough to save them. In spite of his cumbersome appearance, the monstrosity moved with barely visible, beastlike agility, jumping into the group, crushing one woman's face with his gauntlet fist and scattering the others as they ran for their lives screaming in panic.
"Noisy! Be quiet!", the knight yelled, reeling slightly as he put his blood-stained hand against his helmet.
It seemed even to the untrained eye that he was a bit disorientated. This time was used by many to escape his wrath, but not by everyone. A few people were still too shocked to move. The girl approached one of these groups.
"What are you waiting for, run!", she cried out, her arms flailing.
Now they listened for a change, as the girl was noting dryly after they stumbled to safety with uneasy steps. It was then when another shout echoed over the street:
"Drop the weapon and stand down!"
When the girl turned around she saw that a police offer who must have stumbled upon the scene with his motorbike had jumped off it and drawn his pistol to threaten the knight into submission. Pure futility of course.
"Don't even try it, just get away!", the girl yelled.
The monster however turned his attention to the newcomer and raised his blood-stained sword once again.
"This is my last warning, you hear me!", the officer shouted.
The knight disappeared in a blur, but the officer still must have seen it. Gunshots fell, two of them, with loud and echoing bangs.
"You... make... my head hurt...", the monster grunted as its sword found another victim in the valiant officer.
The girl grimaced as she ground her teeth so hard she feared they might shatter. She turned away and ran towards the next group of bystanders.
"Move, move, move! Hurry!"
She watched them leave, their faces pale from horror. Behind her the monster was thrashing around, kicking at a nearby car trying to reach the people who had been trying to hide behind it. The girl's fists clenched. She could not allow more people to suffer. She had to stop it, even when everything seemed hopeless.
"Don't even think about fighting that one, faceless girl", a smug voice sounded from aside her.
The girl darted to the side, away from the voice as she was turning around, her entire body going into a defensive posture. She watched him materialize. A golden knight whose armor shone in the sunlight, his spear tucked lightly beneath his armpit as he was taking in the scene in front of him.
"You...", the girl whispered.
"No need to thank me", he gave a cruel smirk. "Just focus on getting the smallfolk out of here. I'll handle the big guy and his rampage."
And with these words the dashing foreigner charged. The girl's eyes followed him towards the monster. That one was just standing above the rubble, going for a lethal stab with his sword. Luckily, before he could execute it, a shining spear was rammed into his side, causing him to tumble and miss his target in a way that his sword only stabbed into the pavement. But it was far from a killing strike, it seemed to only enrage him. With a howling roar the monster whirled around and lashed out at his attacker with a force so strong, the air itself seemed to explode around them. Even though the spearman had blocked it with his sun-crested shield, he was flung away into the side of a nearby car in which he half disappeared as it cushioned his tumble.
Any mortal man would have been killed by such a strike, but for this one it was just a minor nuisance. He reemerged from the wreckage, flexed his head to both sides and took on his fighting stance again the same moment he donned his mischievous smile.
"You seek a fight, Clegane? Come fight someone who can sting back!"
The rampaging monster kicked in frustration at the destroyed car on which he was standing, but he was leaving the man cowering beneath it alone, now only focusing on this new attacker.
"You!", it roared.
"I seem to invoke that reaction in people", the foreigner laughed, circling his way towards the street to get more space. "Just for your interest: I was hoping that you have thought of me and my sister in your last agonizing moments. And apparently you did, so bless me!"
"Still... talking... too much!", with these grunts this beast of man charged himself.
The clash was over in an instant. It appeared as if he would just crush his foe with pure strength, but the spearman sidestepped the attack in the very last moment, accompanied by a series of metallic bangs and flying sparks. Who hit whom was difficult to tell, but the beast was reeling slightly as he adjusted his stance towards his agile enemy.
"Don't worry, Clegane. Last time I only fought you to hear you confess", the knight put a bit more distance between himself and the beast. "This time I am just here to finish you!"
With another roar the monster's sword went for the kill once again. But this time the girl averted her gaze. It was true that there was little she could do right here. What she could do however, was getting all bystanders to safety just in case the battlefield expanded ever more. She spotted just another group of people standing at the edge of a nearby alley, watching the spectacle with wide eyes. She ran towards them, giving out stern warnings, all the while ignoring the carnage behind her as steel clashed and concrete cracked under the stress of the supernatural battle.