US- once again, a remarkably quick update. How this happen? Who can say. I'll try and keep it up, but let's see where this goes.
Chapter 26
The sun rises, the sun falls, and time passes. By now, Margaretha spent more and more time as Mata Hari, and less and less time as herself. And why not? Mata Hari was powerful and held control over those that once used her. Mata Hari didn't have the burden of failure. Mata Hari was loved by oh so many (Margaretha... well, less so).
Mata Hari was a spy.
And wasn't that an interesting development? She'd never expected it, but it was almost inevitable. It was the thrill which attracted her. She started with small things, tiny secrets whispered from tired men. Basic information any broker could find out. And then she escalated.
Knowledge is power. Knowledge rules the world. Her beauty was legendary, but she would never be a Helen of Troy – not that beautiful. She had no husband, no child, no real legacy.
A customer asked for a younger escort. That was the moment she understood. Her beauty would fade someday. Her name would be forgotten when the next beautiful courtesan took to the bedchambers. She would return to nothing.
And Margaretha refused that. She got greedy, seeking the secrets strong enough to change the course of war itself.
That... was a mistake.
"We sentence you to death via shooting squad. For selling state secrets. For costing us victory."
Legends tell of her beauty, and of how her killers needed to be blinded in order to strike her down. Whether that was true or not was irrelevant to her, anyway, when facing down her death. Either way, the shooting squad was willing to do the deed.
BANG!
And then, the dream should have ended. Would have ended. But I woke up once more to a temple of decadence and the goddess hosted within.
Well, at least she waited until the last dream sequence was mostly over this time, instead of just tugging me wherever.
"Let it be said that I am a generous goddess."
Still find the literal mind reading a little creepy, mind you.
A laugh. "Privacy is a privilege I grant, not one that is owed. And little boy, I really don't care for you beyond satisfying my curiosity."
Eh. Not like I expected anything else. Goddess does what Goddess wants. Mythology is basically one giant compilation of deities getting their way... or getting in the way. So, how'd I fuck up this time?
"Don't disrespect me. I am still amused with you. For now. Do you still intend to face the King of Heroes?"
Naturally. He's going down! … at some point. At the very least, I like my chances. Just got a shit tonne of other things to take care of first.
"Good. I would enjoy seeing that upstart suffer."
Oh yeah. There is that whole 'grudge match' thing between Gilgamesh and Ishtar, isn't there? Guess we're allies of circumstance against him, right?
"Don't push your luck, mortal." With that, I felt a great pressure upon me. Like a curtain being torn away from before an intense light, opening my eyes to burning saltwater all around me, like a great weight was pressing down from above. Ishtar looked down upon me, and perhaps at that moment I had a decent idea of what a goddamn divinity actually is. This was Ishtar – this was Innana.
Welp... fair enough. So no chance of any intervention?
"Still as reckless as ever, boy. To answer you, I could. But you would be unable to pay the price, and unwilling to pay it too."
Figured. Anything you want me to tell your sister?
I felt a distinct sensation of irritation from her, and felt myself get kicked out of her temple.
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"Urgh..." I rubbed my stomach in pain. I pulled up my shirt to see a faint footmark on my torso – a little red, it would be gone soon. "Yup. I think even without Rin, you probably can't remove the Tsundere from her..."
"Did I hear you call me a Tsundere again?" Oh look, the other Tsundere goddess. "Hey, I might not be able to read your mind, but I can imagine what you're thinking!"
"I plead the fifth." Blink. "Actually, I'm not American. I don't plead that. But I can't be punished for thinking it, right?"
A scowl. "Unfortunately not. Now, get up. Lancer told me to tell you that you have a long day of teaching before you. And Master... I have something I wish to bring up with the Team today."
One of my eyebrows shot up. "Ohoh? Anything important?"
"Today we will attack the Einzbern faction. We get closer to the completion of the Grail. But there is still one question that must be answered."
"Which is?"
She looked away, towards the kitchen area where I could see Boudica cooking away. "Who will receive a wish alongside you when you obtain the Grail."
Honestly, I hadn't thought too much on it. But we couldn't put it off forever. Better to hash it out sooner rather than later. "Okay. I'll call a meeting later."
XXXXXXXXXX
It took some time to get everyone on the same page, but once I mentioned the topic everyone was able to find the time to gather around our main table. Upon said table was an assortment of treats purchased the previous day, a pot of coffee and a teapot of tea. Hopefully we won't come to blows over this.
"Okay. I was hoping to delay this, but Archer has a point. We really should hash out what we're actually doing with the Grail once we win it." I sighed. "I'm not pointing fingers here, and I don't think anyone will cause inter-party conflict over this, but I think we need to agree on what we want to do."
"Perhaps you should start with the Master's side of the equation here?" Lily prompted.
As good a start as any. "I can't let the Grail fill 3 times." I admitted. "I primarily want us to win this war without any casualties. Realistically, there are about 24ish Servants worth of mana to fuel the Grail." 3 teams of 7, plus Gilgamesh. Maybe Ruler too, at a push for 25. "But I don't want us to lose any, so we have 17. Just short of a third wish, even with inexpensive shit. Plus, I can't imagine that the Matou Grail won't accidentally nab a few Servants like what happened with Rider of Blue."
Because like hell were we going to be lucky enough for Sakura to not be accidentally around a death or two.
"So at best, there will only be 2 wishes for Servants if we win both Grails." Ereshkigal concluded.
"Wrong." Lancer shook her head. "His wish?"
"I want the Kaleidoscope." I reaffirmed. "I don't know if its worth all the bloodshed to obtain... but I want it. To go home. To explore. For the power. All that good stuff. But its one of the True Magics. And to get Heavens Feel you need all the power of seven sacrifices. Thus, why no Servant was ever expected to get a wish in the first place."
"So realistically, we can't be sure that us winning the Grail will grant both Master and Servant a wish." frowned Ereshkigal. "So we might only have 1 wish for the Servants."
"Worse." Once again, Scathach swoops in to deliver the harsh truth. "I doubt Ruler would allow us to claim the Grail twice."
"So we might get no wishes." Medea shrugged. "Honestly, that doesn't bother me too much. We all accepted the call because we had a wish we wanted granted... but I gave up on my wish some time ago." Yeah, Medea said that all she wanted was for me to survive the war, and to preferably stop whatever screwed me over and put me in this mess in the first place. She was the MVP for the Grey Team for more than her bullshit healing.
"So there are really two questions to ask. Are we willing to fight for the Grail and our Master's wish, even though we may not be rewarded? And if not... which of us have a wish we are willing to fight for?" Boudica cuts right to the point, through all the bullshit.
All my Servants accepted my summon for a reason. Some might have changed their minds, but some likely haven't. Will they be on point for me to get my wish, or would they rather put their own wish first?
"My stance is already known." Medea took point once more. "My wish was rather silly, all things considered. I value James' wish more as a result... and am also willing to give up my chance for a wish amongst the other Servants."
"That... is appreciated." Lancer gave a soft smile. "Anybody else willing to sacrifice their wish completely?"
A quiet pause as everyone considered their words carefully. "I will." my Saber was next to throw in the towel. "My wish is a selfish one. If it was granted, excellent! But I can live without it."
"My wish was to have a loving husband, or be forever young and beautiful." prompted Margaretha. "With hindsight, as a Servant I won't ever age and am already more beautiful than in life, so one could arguably say that my wish is already granted. Mas~ter, would you be willing to pay the mana cost to sustain me after the war?"
"I'm probs one of the few people who could do it. I'll damn well try my best to support everyone... but even I admit that once the war ends and I have to pay the full cost, I'll probably struggle." after all, while I hadn't yet found a limit to the energy intake of my Magic Core, there undeniably was a limit of some kind.
"So yes... I am out. I never realistically had any chance of winning anyway." So Assassin, Saber and Caster would give up their chance of a wish, while Berserker was away and so unable to cast in her obvious vote for her own no doubt marriage obsessed wish.
This left Lancer, Archer... and Rider.
"This isn't an easy choice." Boudica was hesitant here, and I couldn't blame her for not immediately giving it up. As far as wishes go, hers was a pretty good one. She wanted to bring her family back. To apologise to her husband, and give her children the chance to live once more. That... I couldn't fault a wish like that. "It is a selfish wish... but it isn't a wrong one. I want to save them. My children... they didn't deserve to die. To be slaughtered like animals. How could I call myself a mother if I didn't at least try to save them. So I want my wish. Even if its selfish. I'll fight for my right to wish it, but I also put the needs of the living and James first. His family is still alive. If him getting his wish means I don't get mine... I am fine with that."
"Thank you." I whispered, but Rider heard it all the same. The look on her face – it wasn't happy, but it was accepting. I appreciated it, anyway. "Archer... what is your wish?"
"I have always done my duty." began Ereshkigal, the goddess of the nether world. "I never complained when Ishtar was given the heavens and I was left with the deeps. I did my given task and protected the dead, working hard for their sake. I have a duty to them... but is it wrong to have a selfish wish? After all those thousands of years, is it wrong to want something more?"
"Wishes are inherently selfish." pointed out Boudica. "It means wanting something more from the world than what there presently is. Even a selfless wish like healing the sick or feeding the hungry is still selfish on a certain level. I would be a hypocrite to call you out for wanting to make a wish, when I too accepted the summons to this Grail War."
She nodded firmly, then. "In that case, my wish would be to put down my burdens. For another to take on my duties overseeing the dead. I won't see them neglected... but this time in this body is the first time I have felt the sunshine upon my skin, experienced the wind through my hair, tasted the foods of the living."
"I don't blame you for that." Now, Lancer entered the fray. "After all, my own wish is to have my own burdens ended as well. I seek for 'someone who can kill me, to appear'. I have fought long enough, and I have waited for a warriors death for long enough, I think."
"I might be able to kill you." Pointed out Ereshkigal. "I am a goddess of the dead. My Noble Phantasm is Ina Kurs Pusma- Seven Curses upon Seven Gates. I can strip you of your Divinity, can I not?"
She laughed. "I am alive, and I am human. I am a God Slayer, not a God. It wouldn't hurt to try, but I have faced death gods before and killed them all the same. You may be able to strip an individual of their divinity, and you may have authority over the dead... but you cannot touch me. So I cannot accept such a compromise. I seek the Grail to either find someone along the way that may kill me... or call upon the Grail to bring them before me. The only compromise I can accept is that I have waited a very long time, and may need to wait longer still. If my student earns the Grail but obtaining their wishes means I cannot obtain my own, then I will step aside."
"That is the only compromise you accept?" clarified the goddess. Scathach nodded.
"In that case, I shall accept the same compromise myself." she accepted such a burden like it was nothing. "I won't cause dissent in this case by being the only one willing to disregard our Master's wish in the worst case scenario. Either way... his wish will occur."
I shouldn't have felt relief at that... but I was glad. Glad that wouldn't be a problem. I was very lucky in many ways to have summoned all my Servants (save Ereshkigal) without a catalyst, because that maximised affinity and smoothed out so many potential problems. Regardless of outcome, everyone was on the same page with my own right to a wish, even if invalidated their own.
"So there are three of us then." concluded Boudica. "Might I suggest we settle things in a manner that won't impact the team? No duels to the death, in other words. Medea might be able to heal us from the brink of it... but with Servants of your calibre, there is no guarantee that any fight won't be immediately fatal."
"So you accept that you are out of your depths?" Ereshkigal looked a little amused – I could see some Rin-isms slipping through, while on Divine side, I could see how she and Ishtar were sisters.
The Queen of Victory shrugged, not backing down an inch. "I am intimately familiar with fighting a losing battle. I probably can't win against the two of you... but I owe it to try."
"Then in that case, I suggest we settle this separately." suggested Scathach. "We are on the same page of not causing any casualties, but I imagine it will take time to find a fair way of resolving this."
"That is acceptable." the smug Rin-face returns. "Be warned that while a Goddess, I am also a queen. Naturally, my negotiation skills are on point."
"Ah, isn't that a coincidence, but I too am a queen." Boudica smiled.
"Ladies, you're both Queens." Scathach pointed out. "... on that note, I am a queen as well. But I think that I have the reputation of the greatest wisdom out of us all."
Saber slammed their hands onto the table. "Enough. We have an agreement. No point in arguing about it now. Don't we have preparations to make for tonight?"
"You aren't wrong." admitted Scathach. "Very well then. Student, we should continue our lessons."
"I will get back to my own work then." Medea sighed. I anticipated that she had a very long day ahead of her. She still had several magic items she wanted to finish, after all.
"Anybody else have anything to raise?" I asked. Nobody had any complaints. All there was left to do was prepare for tonight's attack.
XXXXXXXXXX
"Alright. I get why that combination failed. But Berkano's shtick is tracking! So surely, aiming should apply too, right?" Or at least, that's the interpretation I had.
"Decent idea, but no." again, my idea is squashed under the greater experience of the witch. "In that context, it would be more prudent to remember to-"
SLAM! My eyes immediately locked onto the disturbance. Margaretha was back from whatever errand she'd gone off to run, and I'd be damned if that wasn't the most dramatic door opening I'd ever seen.
"Welcome back." greeted Boudica. "Everything went well?"
All she did was reach into a fashionable book bag she'd been wearing and pull out what looked like a set of photos. Boudica frowned.
"Hey, everything okay over there?" I called out.
"We found Kotomine Kirei." Assassin's answer immediately drew all my attention. Unfortunately, runes would need to work. I was off my chair in seconds and storming over. "Let me see."
There. Some pictures, a few of them shakier than others. But it was clear: Kotomine Kirei, in civilian clothing. And based upon the shots, one of his sleeves hung empty. His arm was gone. "Where was this taken?"
"In South Miyama." answered the spy. "One of my old contacts I set up at the start of the war called me up with some news. I went over to personally check his findings. Looks like he's staying at a small house bought under a pseudonym."
"Checks out. Ereshkigal, didn't Kirei handle Tohsaka finances?"
"I believe so." Archer put the newspaper she was reading to one side. "And handled it badly at that. You assume he smuggled funds away for a hideout?"
"Would make sense." Saber suggested. They had their own experience in spying, so I'd trust their word. "Any sign of the golden Archer?"
"Absolutely none." Margaretha confirmed. "Only spotted alone. No sign of Gilgamesh. He only left the house to purchase medical goods."
"If his arm is gone... then maybe we're lucky and he doesn't have his Command Seals." Boudica sounded hopeful, and I was too, but even so...
"You already know what you want to do." Lancer seemed resigned. "We can return to runes later."
I clapped my hands together. "In that case... everyone but Assassin and Saber, get your shit. We're going on a field trip. Maybe this a trap to lure us away from the base, but if it isn't, then its our best shot to kill that fucking priest here and now before he can fuck anything up for us."
Because only a fool leaves Kotomine Kirei alone, expecting him to not do anything to fuck with you.
"I assume I'm to remain with Assassin in case this is a trap to attack the base while we're gone?"
I gave them the thumbs up. "Keep yourself and Assassin alive. But figure out who attacked, if possible."
"In that case, return home safely." commanded Margaretha.
"Don't you worry about that." I said, slipping on my coat. "We'll shank that asshole and be back in time for dinner."
XXXXXXXXXX
The attack on Kotomine Kirei's hideaway was so easy it was almost anticlimactic.
We approached from the garden side and opened up with Archer blowing her way through the outer walls and defences, with Rider sweeping in atop her chariot and Lancer riding with her to throw in some immediate firepower. Meanwhile, Caster and me hung back in case Gilgamesh did poke his head out and we needed a Command Seal infused retreat order.
A brief sound of clashing metal, and a loud detonation of something that caused smoke to flood through the open wall.
Boudica poked her head out and gestured us in. "All clear."
I gave Medea a look, then we quickly raced in. No need to leave ourselves exposed outside for much longer. Inside was a fairly normal house save for the devastation of a quick and brutal fight. I noticed several Black Keys riddling the nearby wall and shattered glass everywhere. And there, pinned to the wall by a spear, was the former moderator of the Holy Grail War.
"Hi." I greeted him, almost casually. Boudica deliberately stepped closer to me and I understood her gesture. I wanted some final words with him, but I new better than to get in range of him. Just in case.
"Good afternoon, Master of Grey." the priest called out, smile on his face. "I do wish that you'd called ahead. I would have provided you some proper hospitality. Perhaps tea and ricecakes?"
I scoffed. "You'd sooner poison it." or worse, offer me mapo tofu.
He laughed. "That would be boring. To me at least, that is a grave sin."
"I suppose it would be." I bent down to pick up a toppled chair and position it, then sat down across from him. "Onto business."
"Business. Why am I not dead?"
"You'll be in a few minutes." I assured him. "I just thought you'd like a chat, and perhaps a chance to provide any last minute information you have lying around, ready to screw everyone over with."
He shrugged in a 'what can you do' manner. "I appreciate the gesture. Unfortunately, in this case, I think it will be more interesting to keep my peace."
"A shame. Archer?" she nodded, drawing back the arcane energy serving as the string for her bow. "What was the plan anyway? Why'd you ditch the Blue Team to hang out here?"
"I do like to cause chaos when I can. First and foremost I needed a Servant other than Gilgamesh in order to be able to influence matters. Not like I could turn traitor to the Red Team without something to bring to the table. Which leads to that." he gestured with his head to the missing limb.
"Yeah, how the fuck did that happen anyway? You're pretty much the most competent combatant out of any of the Master's in this war. So who was able to do it?"
He gave me a dry look. "A Servant." Duh. "It was Archer of Blue. I really should have known better than to try and recruit him with my own Lancer out of the picture. I assumed he was pragmatic enough to work with me, but didn't account for him attempting to avenge my former student." Yeah, that was a mistake. EMIYA is an asshole to basically anyone who isn't Tohsaka Rin, not even accounting for his general loathing of the priest. And avenging?
"So. Just to clarify, you were the one who killed Rin, right?"
His eyes flickered over to the cold gaze of Ereshkigal. "Not like it's a shock to any of us. I did. I only wished that I'd been able to do the deed with the weapon I used to murder her father. Alas, she is competent enough that I would have been unable to take the blade from her and then kill her with it. As for why? I thought it would be interesting, and frankly, she was just too honest and honourable to be of use to me any longer."
"On behalf of the host you murdered, I am glad to be in this position. Any last words, you false priest?" asked Ereshkigal, about as murderously as could be expected.
"Only my best wishes." and the sad thing was that Kotomine Kirei sounded honest about it. That distorted man had no ill feelings concerning my actions. "My aims are out of my reach now that the curses within the Grail are gone, so my only hope was to find entertainment from this war. And you have been the most amusing player to join this game of all. So while it is a shame that I won't be able to see the ending of this story... I am content knowing that you are a person that will never be able to claim the Grail upon your own terms."
"Archer, shoot the fucker."
No reply was needed. The bowstring was released, a crimson bolt of energy was fired, then the priest's torso was gone. His blackened heart was completely destroyed. Even in death though, the man mocked me with his wide smile. I could almost hear him whispering 'Yorokobe shounen'.
And with that, he was was dead. I couldn't help but feel like this should be a bigger deal, but...
"Come on." I turned my back on the body, gesturing for everyone to follow me. "We've got bigger fish to fry."
