Chapter 13: Completion

"Emu, are you alright?"

Emu opened his eyes.

He was standing outside the elevator from the beginning again, with Rin, Takeru and Saber looking at him weirdly.

Rin had changed clothes. She was now wearing blue denim shorts and a single red top which exposed her midriff. Emu felt uncomfortable with her showing that much skin, but he knew that he wasn't in a position to complain.

Takeru waved his hand in front of Emu's face. Emu blinked.

"Ah, sorry. I was just a little distracted…"

Saber tilted her head quizzically.

"Are you sure, Maestro? You were just standing there with your eyes open. It was kind of strange…"

Rin shrugged.

"Well, you're back with us now. We should probably move. Let's make this the last time, okay?"

She turned to walk towards the castle again.

The others followed her.

As they walked, Saber ran to Emu's side.

"Your Command Seal use there was splendid. Was that Agility Enhancement?"

Emu's memory was fuzzy, but he recalled being attacked by that creature again.

But didn't it overpower us at that time…?

He looked down at his left hand. Another third of the Command Seal had gone, leaving one third of it remaining on his hands.

"Yeah…" He responded, unsure.

Saber smiled.

"It's thanks to you that we were able to get out of that predicament."

"Um… no… no need to thank me." Emu stammered. "I mean, you're the one who actually landed the blow that let us reset."

"That may be, but it matters not!" Saber exclaimed, bringing her face close to Emu's.

Emu nodded, laughing nervously.

"Anyways, Rin," She continued, turning to her. "There's still the matter of that Noble Phantasm…"

"It'll be fine as long as we don't let them use it, right?" Rin responded. Then she muttered.

"I'd rather not have to use my trump card, though…"

"Searching for the Master seems more reliable…" Emu suggested. He didn't know why, but he had a hunch. Besides, something from that dream he had still stuck with him, but he didn't know what.

What was I… dreaming about?

"True that." Rin agreed. "If we can find them, that is."

"I haven't seen a single soul on this floor." Takeru noted. "All the people we've seen were just memories. I could sense that they weren't real. Just visions. Where would the Master be anyways?"

Then, Emu felt something in his pocket.

Huh? That wasn't there before…

He reached inside it and felt around.

Suddenly, his hand touched something. It was like the other Gashats, but thicker. He pulled it out.

It was a black Double Gashat.

This Gashat-

His eyes suddenly flared purple. In his mind, a single image flashed through his mind.

A book.

One that he had seen before.

One whose story was never allowed to end.

And what he had to do was-

"Emu?"

He blinked. His vision returned to normal.

"What's that?" Saber asked, pointing at the black Gashat in his hand.

Emu looked ahead to the castle.

"I think… I know where to go."

As they continued walking though the path they took previously, Emu mulled over his thoughts. It was as if he was thinking, and yet he wasn't doing the thinking.

Cyberghosts are the dreams of the dead. Just like this floor. Just like us.

We never had a past here. Both us and this place are barely living now.

We don't have a past, and this place is nothing but the past.

Alike in premise, yet fundamental opposites.

Takeru noticed Emu's distressed look and went over to him.

"Hey, Emu. I've noticed that you've been rather down during our time here. What's wrong?"

Emu looked at Takeru. He raised his hand to his chest and gripped it.

"Hatred."

"Huh?" Takeru was taken aback.

"Hatred… it's fundamentally an obsession with the past. Ever since I got here, I felt a growing hatred inside me. I can't comprehend it at all."

Takeru was concerned.

"But.. you're not one to feel hatred, aren't you? Aren't you supposed to be a doctor who loves all life?"

Emu nodded grimly.

"But now… I can feel it. I hate anything and everything. It goes against my being, and yet it feels like my being as well. This place…"

They entered through the doors that they entered before at the foot of the dress-like structure.

"The past is piled up in this place. So much so that it chokes out the present…"

"Just like you, right?" Takeru completed for Emu.

Emu nodded again.

Takeru patted Emu on the shoulder.

"Even if you end up as a hate-filled monster, don't worry. We're here to help. We'll fight together until we complete this game. After all, that's our goal, right?"

Emu didn't respond.

"Right?"

Is that the only reason?

Emu could not be sure anymore.

"I don't know. I've always been able to see how the story would go, but I can't see where we would end up. Even if we reach the top, who knows if that would be the end?"

He sighed.

"I don't know how to finish this…"

"Then allow me to speak of the past." Saber butted in. She had been overhearing their conversation and wanted to add her part to the story.

"Once there was a Master much like you, who knew not of themselves. They possessed nothing but a name. They had no memories, not so much as a wish for the Holy Grail. It wasn't you, but another person entirely."

They reached the mushroom-filled area on the other side of the hallway, with the lake of water.

"They were a frail person, aiming to ascend out of nothing but a fervent desire to survive. Struggling against their own frailty, they fought their way to the seventh floor. Then, at the Angelica Cage, they were defeated by Twice H. Pieceman."

Twice?

Emu vaguely recalled that name.

"It's said that if you reach the Angelica Cage, you will find the Holy Grail and have your wish granted. But even assuming you defeat Twice, who's to say whether the Moon Cell will even grant your wish?"

"Well, there isn't any guarantee, certainly." Rin added.

"I ask of thee, then, Maestro." Saber concluded. "Do you still wish to ascend? Despite the uncertainty of your wish?

Do you wish to complete this story?"

Emu blinked.

He found himself in the forest again.

Is this… another vision…?

He looked around.

I was talking to Saber, when…

Her last words resonated in his mind.

Do you wish to complete this story?

Suddenly, he noticed a glow below him. He looked down.

It was Takeru's Eyecon.

Huh? How did it get there…?

He reached down to pick it up.

Suddenly, memories flooded into his mind.

He remembered arriving at the Floor. He remembered fighting the monster that haunted the Castle. He remembered the days rewinding, and the second encounter. He remembered meeting Nursery Rhyme and seeing Alice's true body.

In addition, he remembered his times with Alice. Meeting her. Playing with her. Having tea. Hearing her story. Despite them being only visions, they felt very real to Emu, and his heart warmed.

However, he noticed that the memories with Alice were incomplete.

He recalled Nursery Rhyme's words.

If you can let your feelings reach her... you can be her Onii-chan once more.

He realised what he had to do.

If I am to complete her story, I will need to play out those memoires. That way, I can return them to her, and allow her to remember.

If I can be her Onii-chan to her, then she won't have to rewind time anymore.

Then…

He didn't need to finish his thought.

He looked down at the Eyecon.

"Thank you, Takeru. I guess you figured something like this would happen, huh?"

Ahead, he saw Alice waiting for him. She turned around, noticing his presence.

Emu let the vision play out naturally, saying the words that came to his head. He knew that these words weren't his, but they were of the previous Master. It was his memory, after all.

"The third battle is over. Looks like I was able to pick up another win somehow."

Alice nodded, bowing her head slightly. They set off to the edge of the forest.

"I'm glad you're okay. Well, I guess that's all thanks to you. Because you chose to concede by absence."

Alice nodded again.

"The loser in a Holy Grail War loses their life. But you…"

Alice raised her head, staring into Emu's eyes.

"Because I was dead all along, Moon Cell couldn't kill me." She said.

They reached the edge. In front of them was the bridge to the Elevator.

Emu stopped and turned around.

"I'm going to ascend."

He spoke those words with a heavy heart, knowing what would become of the girl. However, he couldn't let those emotions get in the way of his goal.

As Alice grasped her dress, a tear fell from her eyes.

"Don't go…"

Then, the tears cascaded down.

"Don't go! Please don't go! Don't leave me!" she cried.

The sight of her crying brought Emu to tears as well.

I can't leave her like this.

He couldn't help himself.

He took control of the memory, kneeling down to Alice's height.

"It's okay. When I get the grail, I will come back to you. Remember all those games we played together?"

Alice wiped away a tear and nodded.

"When I get back, we can play all those games again. I know how much you suffered in life. I know what those adults did to you. I know the pain you went through. Therefore…"

He stood up again.

"I will save you. I promise."

He reached out his hands and patted her on the head. Under his hands, her hair felt soft and warm. Emu smiled, and Alice did so too through her tears.

He then turned around and walked away into the elevator.

As the elevator doors closed behind him, his vision began to fade into black. However, he could hear Alice's voice in his mind.

Okay. I'll be waiting. Make sure you find me, okay?

I want to see you again. I want to see you!

If I can, it'll make everything up to now worth it!

As the last lights of the memory faded, Emu nodded his head.

I will find you, Alice. I will find you.

And then…

You can finally rest in peace.

"Maestro, you seem to lose yourself in thought here often. Surely it has some relation to your past?"

The four were walking down the labyrinth of thorns where Emu had first seen Alice.

After Emu had woken up, he had set off into the labyrinth with the other three trailing behind. He knew he had to explain himself at some point, but now, he had more important things to do.

They reached the centre, and Emu's eyes widened.

There was nothing left.

No white sheets covering the walls. No pictures. No roses. All that was left of the table and chairs were wire frames.

"No. There's nothing left." Emu mumbled.

On the chair where Alice sat was a single book. It was Alice's story book; the one that she was reading in his visions.

This is the one.

He reached down.

"Why are you trying to ascend, Onii-chan?" Alice asked.

In an instant, he was back in the vision. The tables and chairs were restored to their previous condition. He was sitting in the one he sat in previously, and Alice sat in the other one, her head resting on her folded arms.

One final test.

He remembered the first time he was there, he couldn't answer the question properly. However, Alice had responded as if he had answered. Therefore, he could not lie to himself anymore.

He sighed. Then he opened his mouth to speak.

"When I first came here, I didn't care for the war. All I wanted to do was to leave. I made it my objective to reach the top, because I thought it was the only way out."

Alice tilted her head.

"Then, during the climb, I did things that I… can't forgive myself for doing. There was another part of me that harboured a desire to reach the Moon Cell. At first, I was wary of their intentions. However…"

He paused.

"I cannot deny that what they wanted made sense."

He had realised this a while ago, but he didn't want to admit it.

"In the first floor, I killed a traitor. Someone who I thought was my friend. He was driven to the point of madness, and he tried to use me as a tool to ascend. In the second floor, the former Knight was reduced to a psychopath, killing endless in a futile attempt to ascend. I had to kill him too. The Moon Cell… drove both of them to that point. And now you…"

He teared up.

"You're… the only innocent one here. You did nothing wrong. And now… this War is forcing me to kill you as well. I can't justify it anymore. As a doctor… I need to preserve life, but I need to betray myself to ascend, what's the point? I hate this Moon Cell for making me do this. Therefore… I'll put a stop to this, even if… even if…"

He paused, taking a breath.

Then he finally managed to say what he truly felt.

"Even if I have to destroy everything."

Emu took out the Blank Double Gashat and placed it on the book.

"I am you. You are me." He chanted, just as Nursery Rhyme did

The Gashat and the book glowed, fusing into one. When the light subsided, what was left was the Double Gashat, now cyan and orange. On it was a label, which said "Mighty Brothers XX".

"Are you satisfied?" Rin asked.

Emu turned around.

"There's nothing left here. There's no one to save. No one to speak of." Rin continued.

Emu turned back towards the castle, ignoring her question.

"Let's go." He said coldly.

Emu's heart still weighed in his chest. He looked up at the castle.

"I will end this…"

He clenched his fist.

"…with my own hands."