FATE/CATBOX FICTION

Chapter 33: What Must Be Done

Connla knew she was falling into the dream world again. She was getting better at comprehending what was happening to her while in this state, and knew that she would land within the familiar Reality Marble located deep within the Kaleidoscope. As expected, her feet planted on the soft grass and dirt within the small apple orchard. She looked around, but couldn't find her counterpart anywhere nearby. Without a word, she hurried out of the forest toward the log cabin. As she emerged into the clearing, she finally found the lavender-cloaked girl sitting on the tree stump just outside the cottage.

"Cliste!" Connla exclaimed and ran up to her.

The tired-looking girl glanced at her approaching counterpart. Her skin appeared pale and clammy, and her torso teetered as she struggled to stay awake. Connla sat down next to her and made her look into her eyes as she said, "I'm here, just as you asked. What happened, anyway? One moment we were talking in the physical world, and now you wanted me to come here."

"Geal…" Cliste moaned. "I was… slipping away. Something powerful was taking hold of my mind. I wonder if it's that 'Alter' of me you were talking about…"

"Could be."

"I'm sorry… I'm so sorry… I can't apologize to everyone at Chaldea enough. But… I'm just so confused. How did I not notice something like this? I thought for sure that I would be the one who would do something dangerous. How could my own subconsciousness gain sentience of its own? I just don't understand anymore…"

"It's not your fault. I'm sure the Akakor Holy Grail had something to do with it. In my dream of the Fuyuki Grail War, I found out that Holy Grails can be corrupted by many things, like malevolent Servants or even the twisted desires of humanity. I bet that's what happened with the Terminal as well."

"The twisted desires… of humanity…" Cliste murmured as she thought about the countless Mages who plotted against her.

"Don't blame yourself for this. Even if your Alter tries to do something, my Master and fellow Servants are here to fight her now. We've defeated powerful opponents before, and this won't be any different."

"Mm…"

Connla stared at Cliste for a short while. It was sort of funny in a bizarre way. When she landed in this hidden place for the very first time, Cliste helped her when she was confused and lost. Now the roles had been totally reversed. Cliste looked so pathetic and helpless that Connla was compelled to try and get her back to normal.

However, there was a much more pressing concern that needed to be addressed. Connla held Cliste's shoulders and firmly told her, "I… No, we need to know what happened with Marquis de Sade, and by extension Aisling."

Cliste stared into her counterpart's eyes, growing increasingly wistful as she murmured, "I suppose so. It's all because of them that everything went so horribly wrong in the first place."

"Exactly. Why is Aisling involved in any of this? Why did they send Sade to be a Denialist and ruin your world's future?"

Cliste held her hands tightly. She shivered, bit her lip, grabbed her hair, and started to weep. Soon, she whimpered, "It's all my fault…"

"Why do you say that?"

"Because I… I experienced a certain Imbas Forosnai dream…"

"Did you see Aisling in it somewhere?"

Cliste shook her head. "I didn't 'see' Aisling… I was Aisling."

The world practically vanished beneath Connla. She wanted to fall onto her side in horror, but she needed to maintain her composure. In a shaky voice, she asked, "Are you saying Aisling is… another version of us?"

"Yes…" was the feeble reply.

"B-But Aisling's been trying to kill me! You can't seriously be suggesting that a counterpart wants me dead!"

"It's not just you, Geal. She and her Denialists are eliminating any of us who find out too much about her."

"Really? Does that include you?"

"Yes," Cliste nodded. "I witnessed what her life was in that particular dream, and she doesn't want me to reveal it to anyone. To that end, she sent Sade to this world in order to silence me."

"I see… So that's why Sade knew to summon Leonidas, Spartacus and Sanson with their memories of the Nevada Singularity intact. Aisling must have either told him about it, or showed it to him. But I've never dreamed of any counterpart going by the nickname Aisling. Why did she cause the Denmark incident and send Denialists there to kill me, even though we never made contact with each other?"

"It's true that you've never seen what her life was. Normally, she'd have no reason to hunt you down. But it's your connection with Chaldea that she's afraid of."

"Chaldea?"

"The ability to Rayshift, and to jump to affected timelines and alternate worlds. Simply put, that organization's advanced technology frightens her."

"…"

Cliste turned away in shame and murmured, "I hoped to do something about her during the Akakor Grail War. I wanted to capture and interrogate Sade about where Aisling was. However, he had already manipulated my second Master, Luise Brugger. I was never given the opportunity to challenge him as a Denialist. The result was… well, what would happen if the Denialists you fought managed to trigger Ragnarök in the Denmark Singularity."

"So Sade was a successful Denialist. By using your cranial Runes to create a technology based on the Second Magic, he destroyed the concept of 'morals' in this world and plunged the Mages into the same madness and depravity he enjoys."

"Yes. It's only due to my Enforcers, plus Machiavelli's feud with Sade that he wasn't able to do much more damage than that. But those were just stopgap measures. I was turned into the Grail Terminal, and while Atlas' original prophecy of world destruction was thwarted, it had not been stopped."

"Huh?" Connla tilted her head in confusion. "Aren't 'thwarted' and 'stopped' the same thing?"

"Not necessarily," Cliste shook her head forlornly. "By 'thwarted', I mean that the nature of the prophecy simply changed. Instead of the World's mana being dried up on its own, I would transform into a monster capable of ravaging this weakened planet. The Mages never realized that their efforts did absolutely nothing to prevent the apocalypse. Not even Sade figured out that Aisling had tricked him by using that prophecy to her advantage."

"That's what Ms. Da Vinci said – that Sade was the reason the prophecy even existed in the first place. His actions resulted in this world's future being directed towards a 'bad ending' when that normally shouldn't have happened."

"Mm. Sade wanted the world to be changed to fit his vision. That didn't mean he actually wanted the world to be destroyed."

"Hmm… Now that you mention it, I never did hear him say he wanted everyone to die. In fact, he's the type to keep his victims alive for as long as possible. But then, how does this world's destruction benefit Aisling? Is it because you weren't dead yet, so she decided to burn the entire tree just to get rid of one bad apple?"

"I'm not sure if she was or wasn't satisfied with my lingering state as the Grail Terminal. However, there is another objective she has in mind; to force alternate worlds to be Pruned from the Greater History of Man, even if they had not been destined to be eliminated."

Connla was utterly bewildered, feeling like she was way out of her depth at this point.

Cliste noticed her friend's puzzlement and moaned, "I'm sorry. Maybe I should be a little clearer. You remember Mr. Babbage's lesson about Schrodinger's Cat, right?"

"I do. Were you watching that lesson through my eyes?"

"Yes, I was. All of those 'possibilities inside the catbox' can become real parallel worlds, thanks to the existence of the Kaleidoscope. From there, all of those parallel worlds become part of the Greater History of Man. Although multiple timelines may split from each other and become radically different, all of them have their own 'merit' and are allowed to exist. However, certain timelines that stray too far off the course of history need to be cut off, much like a tree needs to have excess branches trimmed off once in a while to stay healthy. That process is called Pruning, and is a natural function of Akasha, the Root of the World."

"Okay… So Aisling sends Denialists to various worlds in order to force their history to go way out of line, tempting them with the prospect of changing history to suit their whims. While Agravain and the other Denialists I fought failed in their goal, Sade was successful in his. So how do these altered timelines serve Aisling's own goals if the World's going to Prune them anyway?"

Cliste became serious as she narrowed her eyes. "What do you think happens to those worlds after they disappear?"

"Um… I'm not sure. I can at least guess that all of that world's inhabitants disappear, along with the planet itself."

"That's right. And what are all living organisms, from the smallest of molecules to the largest of planets, comprised of?"

"Mana… Ah!"

Connla couldn't believe what Cliste was trying to insinuate. The Lancer uttered, "Y-You're saying Aisling's after the mana generated by those destroyed worlds!?"

"Exactly. She waits for the moment the World Prunes a stray timeline, then robs all of that free mana for herself before the World can forge a new timeline with it. It's the same process the Mages use for converting mana from a dying world and transporting it to Akakor with the Gates. Aisling simply modified that technique and suggested it to Sade as his way of gaining sway over the Mages."

"Why!? Why would she do something so ridiculous!? Where in the world did she get such a dreadful ability anyway!? Neither of us can do that, and I don't think any other counterpart of us can as well! What makes Aisling so different from us!?"

Cliste stared up at the multicolored sky wistfully. After a long pause, she murmured, "She certainly is different…"

"In what way?"

The hooded girl stared at her bewildered friend, then said, "It would take too long for me to explain. Not when there is a Beast running loose that needs to be stopped. It would be much faster for me to show you, but…"

Just then, they heard a third child's voice echo around them, "I won't let you do that."

Cliste seized up with fright and cowered behind Connla, who was already in her fighting stance with spear in hand. They watched as a black void shaped itself into a humanoid figure, then materialized as Nagual. She gently floated down to the ground, then glared at Connla and declared, "This is none of your business, Geal."

Connla frowned hard, then retorted, "It most certainly is. Even if you're the same person as Cliste, I can't just let you do as you please."

"How unfortunate. I had hoped to scare you off by showing you the most frightening nightmare I could think of."

"As if that was going to work on me? You must be perfectly aware of one of the geasa we possess – to never turn back from our journey."

The black-garbed Beast shrugged nonchalantly. "Well, it was worth a try."

"You've done more than enough. There's no need to seek vengeance against the Mages when this timeline is going to be Pruned anyway."

"No. I still have much to do. I refuse to vanish along with this tainted timeline. Not when I still have to hunt Aisling down and make her pay for what she did to me."

"How do you plan on doing that?"

Nagual looked perplexed for a moment. A flash of realization came to her as she said, "Oh, yes. You passed out before I woke up the Artificial Beast from its slumber within Akakor."

Connla glanced back at Cliste, obviously clueless about what was going on. The lavender-hooded girl looked just as confused as she was.

Nagual sighed in annoyance and said, "Over the last 50 years, I extended the Grail Terminal's influence all throughout Akakor so that I could turn the entire city into my new physical vessel, using Nekomata's Spirit Origin as its base data. The Mages never noticed because the network served to create their precious Gates anyway. Akakor has now become the Artificial Beast – a hulking monstrosity of gears and wires, capable of jumping through parallel worlds at will to escape the Counter Force. At this moment, my kittens are butchering the Mages in the Clock Tower, while the Beast ravages the rest of London."

The Lancer was stunned to hear this, and she uttered, "By the gods…"

"This is what I have sought for so long. Once my business is done, I will escape this world's Pruning and hunt Aisling down. But my original personality is still too much of a coward to act on those impulses."

Cliste looked away in shame, then murmured, "I couldn't simply up and leave the few people who still cared about me. If I just took off, I feared I would make them extremely worried about me."

"Pathetic. Your resolve is so fragile, it disgusts me. You still want to hold on to those connections, even after hearing the cries of joy from that huge crowd as our head lay in that basket? Even the Caretakers were the ones who forced us onto that guillotine and dropped the blade. That was the moment when the entire world well and truly abandoned us. You have no obligation to anyone in this rotten excuse for a timeline."

"I… I know that, but… I still couldn't do it…"

Connla said, "Regardless of how much you tried to repress those thoughts, they were still there. Eventually, they grew so large that, combined with a bunch of other factors, they split and manifested as Nagual."

Cliste shivered and covered her eyes as she panicked, "Oh… What have I done? I'm destroying the world all over again… and now I can do it to other worlds as well… I'm so tired of this. When is this nightmare going to end? When can I enjoy some semblance of peace and quiet?"

Connla's glare became fierce as she declared, "Right now."

"Huh?"

"This must be the reason why you wanted me to come to Akakor. When you said you would be the source of a new Singularity, this must be what you meant – you actually needed my help to suppress your malicious urges before they went out of control. You just had no idea that they had actually gone berserk in the deepest reaches of your subconscious."

"… You think so?"

"You aren't able to fight yourself. That's why you should stand back and let me take your place."

Nagual summoned her obsidian spear next to her and gripped it with one hand. Despite her hollow gaze, she looked a little bemused as she grumbled, "Interesting. So you plan on killing me here?"

"No. I won't be fooled," Connla replied. "This is a dream. We can't die while we are dreaming."

"Tch. Here I was expecting to raise your hopes so I could crush them in the end. What do you expect to accomplish by fighting me here then? I have the Holy Grail to supply me with the limitless amounts of mana the Mages collected over the last five decades. It won't be long before I banish you from this realm and crush both you and your friends beneath my foot. Can you make such a similar boast, pawn of Chaldea?"

Connla didn't reply. She didn't want to give away what her strategy was. The two counterparts readied their spears in identical combat stances. The atmosphere between them was incredible. They waited for the other to make their move first. However, both responded at the exact same time by running at each other and clashing their spear blades with all their might and agility. Miniature fireworks burst around them as sparks flew everywhere. Cliste hid behind a tree and watched the fight unfold before her, growing more worried about Connla's safety.

After a minute of intense back-and-forth dueling, Connla managed to sweep beneath one of Nagual's overhead strikes and perform a series of rising kicks to her abdomen, finishing with a drop kick that smashed the Alter against the ground. As Connla rose in the air, Nagual turned onto her back and conjured an Ansuz Rune. Connla responded with the same spell, and they hurtled single fireballs at each other which exploded between them. Connla was thrown back by the force, allowing Nagual to deftly vault back onto her feet and rush at her stunned counterpart. As Connla landed, Nagual bashed the butt of her spear against her opponent's face several times. Connla spun on her toes to regain her balance, then countered with her own spear's non-business end.

Nagual performed some gymnastics flips to recover, then did a spinning jump kick that smashed against Connla's shoulder. She stumbled back, then tried to do a roundhouse kick to Nagual's chin. She caught the Lancer's heel and tossed her aside with a sweeping kick. Connla generated a platform Rune and hopped out of the way before Nagual's spear could carve into her back. Connla quickly realized that Nagual possessed a greater advantage when fighting on the ground, so she decided to stay in the air as much as possible. She reversed her momentum and landed on Nagual's upper back, then launched off of her like a leaping frog. As Nagual staggered on her feet, she cast a concentrated Hagalaz Rune and created a wave of ice that rushed along the ground like miniature spikes at Connla. She twisted her body to avoid being skewered, launched off of a spike, and bashed her spear against Nagual's weapon.

Connla then grabbed Nagual's shoulders, vaulted over her so she landed on her back, then cast a Ken Rune on the Alter's chest to violently blow her sky high. She tumbled uncontrollably during her ascent, allowing Connla to use a series of platform Runes to chase after her as a streak of whirling wind. Connla rammed against Nagual multiple times, tossing her into a vicious spiral that she couldn't escape for those few seconds. Connla finally rose over her opponent and launched the biggest fireball she could cast in that short time straight down at Nagual. The projectile exploded on the ground, engulfing her in a terrible burst of flames that destroyed her mantle and some of her black bodysuit.

As Connla fell, she noticed the small figure rising within the smoke. However, Nagual was not in her usual human guise. The same dark aura that Cuchulainn and the others saw now surrounded her, and she emerged in her horrific Tepeyollotl form, complete with the black void where her face was supposed to be.

"Ah!?" Cliste gasped, appalled that her darker self could look so ugly.

Connla was likewise surprised, but she kept her cool and analyzed what Nagual had become.

Those claws look like the same as Father's when he uses his Noble Phantasm. That must mean she is doing a parody of it.

Although she had a good idea of what to expect, Connla didn't want to be complacent either. Who knew what sort of twists Nagual would introduce into her own versions of familiar attacks?

Connla descended upon Nagual like a missile, and the Alter responded by leaping straight up at her while readying one of her claws to strike. The scene almost resembled the visage of an hourglass, with their windy vortexes mirroring each other perfectly. They fought each other in mid-air for several intense seconds, neither gaining the advantage over the other. With one last powerful counterattack, they pushed off of each other and landed 50 feet apart. As Connla skidded backwards on her feet, Nagual suddenly burrowed her talons into the earth and slashed in an X formation. Huge chunks were sundered clean off of the island in a violent crash, causing Connla to lose her balance and fall into the Kaleidoscope.

"Geal!" Cliste shrieked.

Her cry attracted Nagual's attention, and she glared at her original self with that void-like face.

"Letting you dream your life away was my favor to you. But you had to go and squander it, didn't you?" Nagual glowered. "I should have destroyed you the moment I gained sentience."

Before the Alter could take even a single step, small cracks that glowed orange opened up on the ground around her. She couldn't react in time to avoid being caught in a blast caused by a fireball exploding underneath where she was standing. She too lost her footing and fell into the empty space around the Reality Marble. Now thoroughly enraged, Nagual looked around for Connla – she was certain the Lancer had caused that explosion when she wasn't looking. She eventually found her foe in the most unexpected manner. Somehow, Connla managed to grab onto some loose tree roots and hold on for dear life.

"Irritating little bitch!" Nagual raged and spread her arms out. Connla noticed a peculiar glow shine bright behind her, and she looked to see what was going on. Underneath the island was a massive Ken Rune keeping the Reality Marble afloat inside the Kaleidoscope. Nagual activated that Rune to generate a gigantic tornado that surrounded the entire island. The wind picked Nagual up, saving her from falling into the colorful yet endless pit of alternate realities. She streamlined her body, thrust her talons forth, and sailed straight for Connla as she struggled to hang on to the tree roots.

Unable to think of any way to retaliate, Connla let go of the roots and allowed herself to be swept up into the storm. Literally milliseconds later, Nagual tore through the trees and earth like a torpedo, decimating everything around her. The blow tossed Connla high up, and her body somersaulted multiple times within the massive hurricane. She eventually managed to get her bearings, but had lost sight of Nagual in the meantime. She looked around frantically, hoping to spot the Alter before she could be blindsided.

Amidst the trees, boulders and rocks that had been scooped up with her, she noticed a black figure bounding along the obstacles. Faster than Connla could react, Nagual was suddenly upon her with one talon thrust forth. Connla nudged her face aside to avoid being skewered, but the blow managed to carve into her cheek. It was such a close call that she actually feared her teeth and gums were exposed. It wasn't as severe as she imagined, but it certainly disoriented her. Connla tumbled backwards onto a nearby boulder and crouched while keeping her eyes focused on Nagual. The Alter raised both claws high, then swung down in a criss-cross motion. Connla jumped over the attack, leaving the boulder to be cut into multiple discs.

Connla and Nagual glared at each other. As the tornado continued tossing them around the island, they instinctively prepared to face each other in another mighty dervish of carnage and death.


Back in the Preservatorium, the Chaldeans continued to struggle against the monster cats that threatened to overwhelm them. Of everyone present, only Cuchulainn, Kiritsugu and Izo were missing in action due to them being caught in Nagual's Reality Marble. They still had some heavy hitters on their side like Iskandar, Lexy, Spartacus, Sanson, Maupin and Quintrala. Even so, losing those three Servants was going to be troublesome. Earp was still out of commission, while Mash, Leonidas, Irisviel and Machiavelli functioned better in support roles than as attackers. The situation was even harder for the Chaldeans because most of them couldn't use their best Noble Phantasms without causing too much damage to the chamber.

As Iskandar stabbed his sword into a cat's mouth to slay it, he grit his teeth and muttered, "Damn it. We're gonna have to step this up a notch. We can't show these kitties that we mean business if we continue constraining ourselves like this."

"What should we do, Rider?" Waver wondered. As Iskandar and Lexy protected him from the Enforcers, he held the sleeping Connla against him and occasionally tried to rouse her awake.

Lexy pierced her spear into a cat's belly, then glanced back at both men and declared, "Lord Iskandar's Noble Phantasm is our only hope."

"Hm," the king nodded in agreement. "You think so too, missy?"

"If Mother is trapping Cuchulainn and the others inside her Reality Marble, then we can do the same to my sisters. Of any Servant here, you're the only one who possesses such a Noble Phantasm."

"But that's going to take a lot of magical energy, won't it?" Waver asked.

Lexy glanced at his hand with the Command Spells on it. "You haven't actually issued any commands to Lord Iskandar yet, right? Then it should work out just fine."

"What do you mean?"

"Ahh, I see where you're getting at," Zhuge Liang spoke from the Runes on Waver. "The lad was smart enough to not waste his commands for frivolous reasons. That means they can be spent to give Iskandar three boosts of mana."

"Mm," Lexy nodded. That was when she noticed something unusually dark on the teenager's shirt. She yelped a little and blurted, "Are you hurt, Mr. Velvet!?"

"Huh? No, not at all. Why do you ask?" Waver asked confusedly.

"I saw some blood on your shirt!"

"Really?" he glanced down at his clothes and noticed the blood. However, he also saw that Connla's cheek suddenly had an open wound that hadn't been there when he checked a few seconds ago.

"Looks like it's the little one that's actually hurt," Zhuge said. "But that's odd. None of the Enforcers' attacks managed to breach your defenses."

Lexy rushed up and kneeled before Connla to inspect her. Then the child Lancer twitched and spasmed randomly, as if she was taking numerous hits to her body. The Enforcer cried out, "That's it! Geal's fighting Nagual in the dream world!"

"Huh!? But aren't Cuchulainn and the others fighting her as well!?" Waver yelled.

"In the physical realm, yes. However, Geal's battle is actually happening in the spiritual realm."

"And her body's feeling the effects from the outside?"

"Exactly. Every time she sustains any injuries while in her dreaming state, her Spirit Origin will be damaged as well. If this keeps up, she might actually die."

"Oh ho!" Iskandar bellowed with admiration. "Even in her dreams, the kid continues to fight with us! Splendid! Those are the kind of brave warriors I always hope to meet in my many conquests! Then I better assert my dominion over Akakor with just as much fervor! Lad, it's time you used your Command Spells!"

"Are you sure?" Waver asked worriedly. "If I use them all up in one go, then…"

"Don't hesitate! If we truly are up against one of the Evils of Humanity, then it is appropriate that we must respond with the utmost valor and commitment to face our sins! We must show Nagual that we understand her pain, and wish for her eternal rest! We cannot demonstrate our conviction if we go at this with a half-assed attitude! Now do it! Issue me your orders, my Master!"

The teenaged Master closed his eyes, uncertain if he wanted to act so recklessly. If they screwed up here, Iskandar would consume all of his magical energy and return to the Throne of Heroes before the Chaldeans could find a way to defeat Nagual. Yet, he refused to let Connla fight her battle alone. It was much too unfair for such a young Servant to shoulder an insurmountable burden like this.

"… My Servant, Rider."

Waver finally raised his hand, and the Command Spells shone bright red.

"By his first Command Spell, Waver Velvet orders you. Fight until you gain victory."

The right 'wing' of his symbol faded.

"By my second Command Spell, I order you to conquer Lancer of Akakor's darkness and bring peace to her broken heart."

The left 'wing' of the sigil became dull.

"And by my final Command Spell, I command you to conquer Akakor. I will not accept anything but total success."

The 'sword' icon in the center dulled, and the Command Spells all faded once their energy was used up. Iskandar grinned and nodded, then declared, "It is decided. Being ordered around is not my usual style, but for a friend who stood with me during our march to this sacred place, I'll obey with pride and fervor!"

"Rider…" Waver choked up and wiped up some brimming tears. He knew… He knew that even if they won this fight, Iskandar was going to perish anyway. Waver was no longer his Master, and it appeared as though the king had no intention of forging a new contract with Ritsuka. If he wanted to show Akakor Connla that he was serious about saving her mind from total insanity, then the best way to demonstrate his feelings was to sacrifice himself for Chaldea's efforts.

As Iskandar turned to head toward the center of the Preservatorium, he suddenly shouted, "Lexy!"

"Y-Yes!?" the Enforcer blurted.

"I'd say 'protect the lad in my place'… but my gut instinct tells me that you have something important you want to do yourself."

She blinked in surprise. Then she became wistful as she lightly nodded.

"That is fine," the red-haired warrior said as he raised his sword before him. "We have been summoned as Servants to this world in order to stop Lancer's cycle of suffering. We should accept those roles with pride and raise our weapons to face this challenge. But perhaps in some other world, in some other time, the three of us will meet again. When that day comes, you two will be inducted into my army. How does that sound, young Enforcer christened with my name?"

"Yeah. I bet that will be one interesting march across the globe."

"Right!? Heh heh heh! I'm practically itching with anticipation for when it happens! Well then, let's clean up this messy little kitty house and be on our merry way! Whatever it is you have to do, give it everything you've got, Lexy! Or should I say, my friend and Child of Cuchulainn, Connla!"

He sliced into the air to generate a burst of lightning that scared some oncoming cats away. Iskandar's black steed Bucephalus emerged from the sparks and galloped next to his owner with a resounding neigh. He commanded the horse to rush toward the Chaldeans as they struggled to fend off the Enforcers. As both man and beast charged at the battle zone, the bluish aura surrounded him until it spread as a bubble that engulfed both enemies and allies alike.

"IONIOI HETAROOO~OOOI!"

With that last shout, Iskandar, Bucephalus, the Enforcers, and all of the Chaldeans were whisked away into the temporary dimension that was the Macedonian king's Reality Marble. Now, the only ones left in the Preservatorium were Lexy, Waver and Connla. Compared to the cacophony that echoed as background noise just moments ago, the silence felt unusually heavy and deafening. Neither the former Master nor the Alter Ego Servant wanted to say anything to disrupt this grim atmosphere. However, Lexy knew she had to talk with Waver. She narrowed her eyes as she gazed upon Connla's bleeding face. To Waver, it looked as though she was making a decision and steeling her resolve to go through with it.

"Mr. Velvet," the Enforcer finally spoke. "I know it's a little late to say this, but I wanted to thank you for bringing me all this way."

"What are you talking about? You're the one who-"

"Just let me finish."

"Uh…"

"I'm sure you think I was responsible for guiding you and Lord Iskandar to Akakor. Well, in reality… I wanted to come here for such a long time, but didn't have the courage to do so. The influence that the Mages and all of my sisters possessed always frightened me. I knew I wasn't programmed to behave the same way as them, so I never felt like I had a voice worth listening to. All I could do was pretend to be the same as my sisters while keeping my real feelings locked deep inside. I spent so many years being trapped in such a miserable state, fearing that I would never be able to trust anyone or change anything.

"Yet you took on that same powerful influence and practically laughed at it. You were ready to turn away from the Mages' oppressive rules with erasing Mother's legend, just for the simple fact that you wanted to know the truth. I was genuinely moved by such an earnest attitude. The reason I showed you that rare poem containing Mother's story was because I felt it would be my own first step toward making a real difference.

"I was so scared when 22-Q found us reading that poem. I wasn't worried if I was executed for breaking the rules, but if you were killed, I would have completely lost my zeal for living. I'm glad that never came to pass, especially when Lord Iskandar joined us. His boldness certainly helped me come to terms with my own cowardice. Him giving me a name of my own also helped bolster my sense of identity – that I wasn't the same as my sisters."

Waver was surprised to hear Lexy demean herself so much. From all of the shenanigans and battles they went through together, he never imagined that she thought of herself as some terrified weakling. He always relied on her for advice and knowledge, so to hear that she was looking to him for courage was truly unexpected.

Lexy murmured, "Our time together may have been short, but it was certainly fulfilling. Not though, it's time for me to perform my assigned task."

Waver narrowed his eyes, then asked, "Now that you mention it, what were you programmed to do anyway?"

She lightly smiled as she replied, "To wake the 'right' side up."

"What does that mean?"

"Mother's 'right' side was so devastated by what happened during the Grail War that she completely shut herself off from the world and delved into an endless loop of dreaming about her counterparts. She wanted to forget all of the cruelty that she endured and find happiness in different worlds. However, this made her completely ignorant of what the 'left' side was doing in her absence. If the 'right' side knew what the 'left' side was up to, I'm sure things would have turned out much differently. Alas, the 'right' side was running away from her responsibility to this world."

"…"

"In order to wake the 'right' side up and have her assert her dominance over the Terminal once more, I need to meld myself into the device and perform a deep dive into Mother's mind. For that to happen though, I needed to reach the Preservatorium, and you know how well-protected it was."

"Yeah. There's no way you could have done it by yourself."

"Exactly. Well, it looks like Geal beat me to the punch with making Cliste aware of Nagual's existence," Lexy shrugged and chuckled. "So I'm going to change my prerogative a little bit. Sure, I'll have a word with Cliste, but I think my main duty is to help Geal fight Nagual."

Waver stared into her eyes with concern. "How are you going to do that?"

She rested a hand on his shoulder, then replied, "I'm going to loan my Spirit Origin to Geal in order to boost her combat capabilities."

"I see. But are you going to… come back?"

Her cheery attitude turned dark as she shook her head. "Once the process is finished, I cannot return. We Enforcers already have unstable enough Spirit Origins as it is. Transferring all of our data into one of our counterparts winds up erasing ourselves as well."

"Lexy…"

"Please don't try to stop me, Mr. Velvet. This is something I need to do – not just for Cliste or Geal, but also for myself. Besides, it's not like I'm going to die."

"You won't?"

"He he. Once Geal wakes up, you'll understand."

With that, Lexy passed Connla over to Waver, then pressed her hand on the girl's chest. Before she did anything, she suddenly said, "Oh, by the way. There's something very important that you should consider regarding your future."

"What is it?" he asked.

"Remember how I said that if this world would be destroyed, I would find a parallel world for you to take residence in? Well I think it would be a great idea if you found refuge in Geal's world."

He was slightly taken aback. "You mean with that 'Chaldea' thing, or whatever it is?"

"Yeah. Sure, Geal's world is dealing with a crisis of its own, but at least it has a chance of overcoming it thanks to her Master and all of the Servants summoned there. Not like this world, which is currently being subjected to the Pruning as we speak. If you remain here, then there will be no future for you."

"Me… being part of Chaldea…"

"I think it would suit you. It might be a harrowing experience since Chaldea deals with calamities like this all the time. But at the same time, at least you'll have Geal to help you out."

"Me and Connla?" he murmured as he stared at the Lancer's sleeping face.

"Not only that, they have a system that allows them to summon Servants so long as they have the resources. Who knows? Maybe you will be able to meet Lord Iskandar once again."

"Guh… W-Who said I was going to miss Rider!? He was way too much for me to handle!" Waver retorted, but obviously quivered as he said this.

"Ah ha ha ha! I guess some things don't change," Lexy laughed. "Well, don't think about it too hard. Go with whatever your gut tells you. No matter what you decide, I'll support you."

"I will. So then, I guess this isn't 'good-bye', but 'see you later'?"

"Precisely. See, you're getting the hang of being optimistic. Keep that up and you'll go very far."

"I keep it in mind. Thanks for everything, Lexy."

"Same to you, Mr. Velvet."

"Um…" he blushed. "Just Waver is fine. We're friends, after all."

"Of course. Take care of yourself, Waver."

With that, she closed her eyes and concentrated on connecting with Connla's Spirit Origin. As the bond between them strengthened, her body transformed into a mass of glittering white particles that lost their form and scattered everywhere around Waver and Connla. Once she was gone, it was just the two of them remaining. Although he was sad to see her go, he wasn't going to cry. He felt it would be a disservice to her after she went out of her way to say a proper farewell to him.