Artoria had long since stopped caring about the screams, in battle you could hear it all around you. Roars of hate, pleas for mercy, calls for loved ones, it all just blends together. The screams of a village in its death throes were no different to her, just white noise.
"Your majesty we've cornered the bulk of the rebel force right before the tower" She nodded her acknowledgement and kicked her horse into action. Those who saw her got out of the way, those who didn't got crushed.
She knew Kay and knew that he'd be at the center of the fight, contemptuous of it; he may be, his honor wouldn't allow him to be anywhere else.
'Honor'
She hissed under her helm, where was the honor in abandoning your oaths, abandoning your duties, abandoning her! With a roar she leapt from her horse and called on an old image, a half giant carrying a massive sword, his strength bent the mountains and his will damn near broke her. Near.
'Galehaut'
An image of him appeared and stomped in sync with her leveling the nearby buildings and shattering the bones of her foes. She looked at the carnage remembering an old military maxim Ector taught her, there were two ways to win in battle, break their bodies or break their spirits.
"Run it's a monster!" She found it was depressingly easy to break the spirit. A couple of shows of force and they almost always started running, almost. A knight with two swords meeting her charge with no fear, she shoved down the feeling of horror coming from the blade and pulled.
'Balin'
With the rage of the savage knight propelling her she cut through the guards with ease, her blade coming from strange angles and making a mockery of any defense they tried to put up. Part of her wanted to hum with nostalgia, for Balin's strange fighting style reminded her of kinder times, the rest of her ruthlessly buried that idea.
'No nostalgia for traitors'
She hunted down the rebel groups with precision yet could not find her brother, was he really hiding in that tower, was there some plan? She swung her sword sending the impaled body flying.
'No matter, Morgan had a plan, it failed, his will as well.'
While she remembered the Homunculus that Morgan had placed her hopes upon, Artoria reflexively raised her greatsword up and blocked a lance from behind that was aiming right for her throat. With the strength of but one arm she shoved it and the knight back. Gareth rolled back to her feet with a snarl. Twirling her sword about she circled her opponent like a wolf on the prowl looking for a moment of weakness.
"So, you think you can succeed where all your brothers failed?" Her foe circled opposite to her refusing to leave her back open for a strike. In her hands she carried a simple lance meant for jousting and no shield to guard her, but for this woman that was enough.
"Guess we'll have to see" She swung out the lance in a wide arc kicking up dirt and wind.
"As long as I live you shall not draw a single step towards my lord!" Gareth charged forth and Artoria charged out to meet her.
Gareth had faced the likes of Galehaut and Belgagog with the same dead expression on her face but today? Today she seemed alive, a slumbering wolf finally opening its eyes and starting to howl.
Her lance did not strike with honor, it did not emulate the styles of Artoria's foes or the style of Artoria herself. She had seen what had become of those who tried to face her like that, seen their burned-out eyes as well. She had not planned for a moment like this for years just to die a pathetic death.
She swung for the eyes and jumped as the retaliatory strike swung beneath her feet, heedless she unleashed a barrage of stabs by holding the front of her lance in her hands but none of them could even touch the plated figure. She growled as she leapt back and turned to swing the lance like a club, finally striking Artoria and sending her back a few meters, her feet digging into the earth.
With a roar she slammed her spear in the ground sending a wave of dirt that Artoria merely cut through only to immediately dodge to the right, as Gareth's lance tried to recreate Balin and the Fisher King. Stab for the heart, Blocked. Strike at the toes. Turned aside. Hit the fingers. Harmlessly hitting the hilt. She didn't stop despite the constant failure, she continued on like a raging wolf and she made that lance dance. Up and down the sword did it begin to strike turning aside fatal blows and inching ever closer to her heart. Then-
"Impressive" The tyrant caught the lance in one hand thrusting it behind her sending Gareth's face flying into a backhand that shattered her helm and sent her sprawling on the ground.
"But not nearly enough" Rough Hands tried to lunge for a fallen sword but a stomp that both pulped and pinned her wrist ended that attempt, a grudging respect did form considering that all that she gave was a rattled exhale of pain. Still, it had barely been a fight in the tyrants' eyes. She kicked Gareth onto her back causing her to cry out.
The knight held her side in pain, the kick shattering her rib cage and sending steel into her lungs. She was going to die.
"Do you really feel nothing?" The lights in her helm slits glowed with slight confusion.
"This was your home, the town you grew up in and now you're burning it to the ground" She looked to her surroundings, time had changed things greatly yet there was a familiarity here reminiscent of her youth.
"So, it is" She breathed deeply "They have made their choice. Dissent must be cut out at its roots" Gareth hissed, part in pain, part in rage.
"Gawain spoke of you, you know. A king with a good heart, someone who'd always try to do the right thing, might for right. Hope and honor" The last word was almost a curse as blood dribbled out of her mouth her eyes doing there best to glare holes into the silent king.
"You-you don't even try to be good; you don't try to hold to any ideals at all! All you do is take the easy way out, blind to your own failings!" The light in Artoria's helm went out as she closed her eyes.
"How much more suffering before you're satisfied? How much more death before you learn? Who else has to die before you realize exactly what you've- ACKCGH!" Requiem the impaled the knight into the soil, blood filling her lungs she reached out for her killer and spoke one last time.
"You'll continue on this path... and find no one you care about by your side…. and…. and…. A rope at its end." Her hand fell and her spirit flowed up the sword. Artoria lifted the blade without a word before splitting the knight in two with a single swing.
The men around her flinched back at this display before cautiously approaching.
"My king, the rebel Kay has not been seen anywhere on the battlefield" She turned to the tower and glared, somehow, she knew he was staring down at her. Her grip on the sword tightened and she swished it out.
"I'm going alone. He awaits" The men stayed silent even after the door slammed shut.
(Linebreak)
This wasn't the first time Marie had seen a servant summoned but it was the first time she has seen a servant of such… age for the lack of a better word. There was a certain presence to it she supposed, a weight to her words that belied an otherworldliness that Da Vinci never had.
"Are you alright master?" Marie cursed briefly in her mind; the arrival of the servant made her completely forget about Harker who… who was not looking well at all. His brown skin was pallid, and his muddy eyes were strained, and red. Blood dribbled out of his mouth and he looked like he was one step from falling asleep, a sleep from which he would never awake.
"No, I'm not" Her eyes widened as he tried to slam his broken fist into the ground again only for it to be caught by Rider. She exhaled her relief, Mash's expression of horror when she heard that wet crack of bones breaking was not something she ever wanted to see again. Or even acknowledge that hers was worse.
"Might I ask why you are trying to hurt yourself?" He looked rather surprised that she stopped him, which was disturbing in its own right. Pulling away the hand he placed it on her shoulder to force himself into standing position, his hiss of pain was light, but she could still hear it. Cessair could as well and she sighed when she saw her attempt nullified but still caught him before he fell backwards, evidently, he was still unsteady.
"Need to stay awake, need to keep moving" he plopped his head on her shoulder, voice weak and exhausted, he seemed like he had long since passed adrenaline and fumes moving onto sheer willpower but with no apparent threat his body must have been begging him to let it rest.
"Agreed but there are better ways" A small spark of humor came back into his frail voice.
"Any… Available?" She quietly nodded and flexed out her hand, she could feel the pull on the world the tale tell sign of a skill and then-
"Survivalist's ingenuity" a small potion appeared in her hand and she poured it down his throat. She expected light to crackle over his form and see him stand with renewed strength but instead all that occurred was his eyes opening with clarity and nothing more.
"Awake… yet everything still hurts" It wasn't a complaint; it was an affirmation of a fact. He walked a tiny bit away from Cessair still weary and looked her in the eye "It'll do"
"Ehh Harker? I'm not really sure what she did-?" Roman appeared right before him looking at a tablet in hands growing more disturbed as he read on
"Activated a skill of mine" Her voice was soothing but it didn't help Marie's growing sense of unease especially when-
"Okay then but it really hasn't fixed your situation-" Harker just waved it off, apparently the expensive magitech built to read people's conditions in other realities to a damn decimal statistic didn't matter to him.
"I know Roman, my hand's shattered, my body isn't even running on fumes anymore and I won't be able to cast another spell without doing irreparable damage" Her face curled in disbelief as she finally understood his tone, it wasn't that he didn't believe them it was that he just didn't care.
"I- Yes but-" Harker rolled his eyes as the doctor and she could see Mash snarl a bit at that. She wasn't quite sure what her problem with him was, though it wasn't too hard to come up with a guess; he didn't exactly make himself easy to like.
"Damage surrounding the circuits resembling hemorrhaging, aneurysms, severe vasculitis and necrosis of the bone and tissue as if they had been overloaded with something, by all standards I should be screaming in agony on the floor briefly and then die" And there was the kicker, those… those were not good in anyway and he was listing them off like they were a rather boring grocery list
"Harker?" She barely noticed the words spilling out of her mouth as she looked at his bitter bloody smile.
"Besides the obvious harm and lethality of the situation, the side effects include nausea, weariness, fever, extreme pain, vomiting blood, and awkward erections lasting a day or so" He shouldn't have been chuckling but then none of them should be here to begin with, a crippled doll, a warped vessel and a laughing shaman. It was like a bad joke where she knew the punchline was going to be so much worse.
"I- you knew all that just from clearing your head?"
"No, I'm just used to it"
"That's- That's- you have to know that's not better right?" He shrugged lackadaisy even rolling his eyes as Roman made his concern clear.
"Harker you shouldn't be awake or even capable of moving, something like this should kill you!"
"Body heals pretty damn fast, bout time I got some benefits…" His voice trailed off more focused on his own little world than the rest of them.
"And the blood flooding your system?!" Mash got their attention with a stomp of her shield.
"He's standing doctor, that's enough for now" The humans turned to her all a little shocked with the exception of Harker who was still somewhat out of it. The servants on the other hand stood to side with a quiet amusement.
"But Mash!" It felt wrong Marie had to admit that but evidently Harker knew his body well and wasn't concerned in the least, so was it wrong to move on when they desperately needed too? Yes, it did, in her very core it felt wrong, but she was her father's heir, no matter what people would say about Wodime, she was her father's heir and morality could not come between her and her duties
"She's right Roman we've wasted enough time, still I must admit I'm at a loss of how to continue. The mud continues to fall and the mountain we must reach is an ocean away" She resisted the urge to put pressure on her burns, no matter how much it would cool her down in the moment it would just make things much worse.
"You realize I have a boat, yes?" Cessair's voice lilted with humor and Marie felt like slapping herself, the granddaughter of Noah and the first settler of Ireland, of course she had a boat.
"Will it be able to sail through the mud?" Harker turned to a mock offended Cessair
"It'll sail upon the surface of the sun" Harker chuckled a bit and turned to Caster.
"Right then Chulainn, take rear guard"
"Ah right then" The blue hound had largely stood to the side forgotten with the onset of the new servant, but surprisingly he didn't seem to notice, too preoccupied with staring at Cessair in awe. She supposed it made sense, Cessair was apparently the first invader of Ireland after all, even if it ended in failure, she laid the groundwork… and she could be considered the first Irish hero if you think of it. The servant in question walked to the edge of the roof where the mud awaited below, the rain had finally stopped but the city below was gone, drowned beneath the evil. All that was left was a stray few skyscrapers that barely peaked out of the ocean of mud and the shattered mountain in the distance looming like a devil on a bald mountain. They could see the demons swimming beneath waiting for them to fall with bated breath. She watched Rider kneel at the edge and softly pray.
"As the waves slowly rise and the world quickly drowns you shall be our steady home floating above the hell that awaits below, be our land Endeavor" A large ancient ship appeared crushing the mud beasts beneath its weight, she turned to them with a light smile. Was this her phantasm? This battered and simple boat?
"All aboard?"
Yet as with everything since she had come here, there wasn't even a choice to be made. Get on the boat or die. Sink or sail.
Damn this moonlit world.
(Linebreak)
Movement was slower than any of them had really wanted but considering they were sailing through evil mud and the beasts had only stopped trying to get on board the fiftieth time a wave burned away when the touched it they were willing to let it slide, besides something about this ship simply felt safe and after the day Harker had, a simple feeling of safety was more than enough.
"Going through those like candy" Caster motioned to the bottle whose contents were just emptied down Harker's throat.
"If I fall asleep, I don't know when I'll wake up, don't know if I'll wake up" Staring through the hole he tosses it off the ship nailing a mud beast in the skull making the two smile.
'And here Goredolf said I was absolutely worthless at throwing. Hah! (sigh) he's still right'
"Still isn't chugging those things just going to make it worse" Harker mused on it a moment before nodding his head, pumping foreign shit into your body rarely turned out well but thankfully these were rather disgusting, so he wasn't exactly eager to keep on asking for them. Honestly, he really wanted to just sleep and get away from all this, leave it to those who actually worked to get qualified, but no one was coming and the thought of passing out and being killed in his sleep terrified him more than he'd care to admit. So, in the end the only answer he could give was...
"Probably" Cu waited for him to continue only to watch him tap arrhythmicity on the deck of the ship. The servant sighed.
"So...?" Harker opened his eyes and smiled.
"Problem for future me" The two lightly laughed and let the air fall silent. Olga was sleeping on Mash's shoulder, the shielder tired herself but still watchful for an errant claw from below. Harker turned his eyes to the bow of the ship where the one servant he summoned sat atop, the lantern at the edge of her staff guiding the ship along its path.
He wasn't sure what to make of her, never even heard of Cessair before this day, an Irish hero from the way Cu Chulainn looked in shock but beyond that…
He nudged caster and nodded toward the softly humming rider.
"What do you know about Cessair?" Cu Chulainn squinted at him.
"What?"
"Just thought an Irish servant might have some insight on her" His face flushed awkwardly as that sentence came out of his mouth.
"What, you think we all hang out on the throne and shit?" Aye that was probably insensitive of him. Moral support, battle or just to say you're sorry, many a hero's wish could come true if they were able to visit the others. He looked down at his battered shoes and tried to apologize.
"Sor-" But he was cut off by the blue hound's exasperated complaints and confirmation.
"Well, you wouldn't be too far off base, a lot of us go together during Servantfes but she never comes at all" He slowly turned his head to the blueberry.
"...What?" Did he hear that correctly?
'Servantfes?'
"She's a pretty isolated servant even among the more reclusive servants" The Druid just ambled on
"Just back up there, Servantfes?" Caster cocked his head quizzically a small twinkle in his eye.
"Hmm? What was that you said?" Sensing what was coming, Harker's face fell flat.
"Servantfes"
"Huh, Weird name" He slapped his face groaning in exasperation making the druid laugh.
'Oh, for fucks sake'
"(Sigh) Still is there anything you can tell me about her, I pretty much know nothing."
"Not much to tell even in our time, the first invasion wasn't exactly at the forefront of people's thoughts back then" He traced his finger along Amergin's staff caught in memories of the past.
"It was just one of those things we knew happened but had no real detail on"
"There was nothing?" There had to be something or else her myth wouldn't have even survived.
"Only that she led a group of survivors fleeing the flood" This was why he disliked oral tradition, things get lost or just never recorded in the first place, annoyed the hell out of him during investigations (His "Assessment's'') into some stray monster or whatever.
"If that was the case, how did Ireland find out she even existed"
"I remember something Fand once told me-"
"Weren't you supposed to have forgotten her?"
"Throne"
"Fair enough"
"Anyways she said something about the Tuatha De Danann being told by the Fomorians, I don't know my memories of her are still kind of fuzzy and I get the impression I wasn't really listening" The hound took out his pipe and puffed out a ring obviously done talking.
Harker rested his head against the mast, ash was still falling even if the mud wasn't. He didn't want to die here, not in this hell, but the odds were still not in their favor. He had a feeling that if Ahriman wished he could reach up and destroy them, Cessair's strange ship be damned.
"Tell me about the remaining servants Caster"
"(Sigh) Just can't enjoy the moment, can you?"
"You really think we have the time?" He grumbled.
"I see your point, just-"
"Not eager" Understandable but right now it wasn't exactly acceptable.
"Yeah" Cu Chulainn held the bridge of his nose and grumbled.
"We've got three left to deal with besides Angra Mainyu, I can tell you about the first two but the last one… I only saw it once and I was more concerned with getting out alive"
"Anything could help" He nodded, caster sighed and pulled out a bottle of alcohol.
"The Saber of the grail war was King Arthur herself" He took a deep swig.
"Herself?"
"Yep, best just to roll with it. Anyways she was a really strong servant, and her phantasm was a doozy"
"I bet; Excalibur is one of the most famous blades in the world even without whatever hidden truth is behind it"
"Your family knew about it?"
"We have theories and cryptic allusions by the fey or at least what we thought were the fay, they are… confusing to say the least but honestly it's just an assumption because damn near every myth has some hidden truth behind that makes thing horrifying" Caster frowned at him and continued
"Right then, the Phantasm alone could kill any one of us here if it hits us head on, so we need to be on a watch for that. Beyond that she was also a fantastic swordsman capable of matching Herakles in a fight, or at least better than the rest of us. From what I could tell she had mana burst, instinct and charisma no idea if that's still intact though" He didn't know what that meant exactly but could extrapolate the general gist and of course none of it was good.
'God damn you Murphy'
"And the Archer?"
"No idea about his identity but could be a much greater threat than Saber in all honesty" the back of his head slammed against the mast again.
"Oh boy" His voice was barely more than a semi audible hiss but it still made caster chuckle.
"Smug bastard could spam the phantasm of other heroes before this, now with unlimited mana he could be a walking nuke" A sense of bitter nostalgia filled the Casters voice as smoke curled through the air, or at least that he could see. Without the fires of the city the only light left other than Cessair's lantern was the mountain before them, it was an unsettling reminder of some of his more... interesting nightmares.
'Inky black waters and monsters below- Stop, just stop, don't even think about it'
"What about the last servant?"
"She's a Saber I think"
"You think?"
"I only met her once and she was wielding a sword Harker, this is pretty much all I got"
"Is there anything that stood out?"
"Her sword terrified me for some reason, and it felt oddly familiar in a way but the thing that stood out the most was whenever she did some kind of powerful attack a translucent outline of someone else would appear around her"
"So, we really got no idea, do we?"
"Nope"
"(Sigh) Well shit, we'll need to come up with something soon" He rubbed his face, groaning in trepidation. Dancing on the razors edge, again.
"Indeed Master" Cessair appeared right beside the two causing them both to jump a little.
"Shouldn't you be steering the ship?" She leaned on her staff with a soft laugh, it was soothing, he hated it, he didn't want to feel calm or soothed, both would mean sleep and sleep would mean death.
"It knows where to go"
'How would it- right phantasm and magic stop asking stupid questions'
"O-Kay then, anything to bring to the table?"
"While I am not the most talented physical combatant I have more than my share in terms of elemental power and should push come to shove than my phantasm should be able to deal with them"
"It likely will"
"Have faith master" Her tone was teasing but it wasn't enough to calm any doubts, death loomed over him and he didn't want to go. What use was believing in things turning out alright when the only thing you could count on is your own blood and sweat. He paused a little, was he always like this? He may have never prayed before but was there a time where he believed in the idea of universe being good?
'…Yes, there was and yet I can't pinpoint when it died, it's distressing'
"Faith is... hard Rider"
"If it wasn't would it still be faith?"
"That's…" He slumped back and sighed, he never did like conversations about one's convictions, always messy and always understandable for him, much to his discomfort. He always hated feeling sympathy for murderers and mad magi, he hated understanding the reason why they did what they did. He never wanted to understand them, yet so long as they dreamed, he wouldn't even have a choice in that
"Attention you are halfway to the mountain, please keep all limbs inside the boat or they'll be torn off and eaten. We thank you for this tour of the ninth circle of hell!" He turned to the cheery hologram and glared at the source of joy in his hand, he never wanted to punch a doctor so much.
'That chocolate bar will be mine'
"We're not in a frozen hellhole you incompetent baboon" Marie's voice reached across the boat, though yawning and still tinged with pain it seemed like rest had done her some good.
'Lucky her'
"Just trying to raise the mood Director" He chuckled rather weakly.
"Anyways I see you all are doing your best to prep for the upcoming battle. Any plans?"
"Nope"
"Nah"
"Afraid not"
"As of this moment not yet"
"Any on your end doctor?"
Roman laughed awkwardly again and slowly slinked off screen. Silence filled the air until Harker monotonically sighed.
"Welp we're all going to die" Marie rolled her eyes and threw a stray wrapper at him.
"Shut up Harker" The mage and shaman snickered together before she clamped up.
"Seriously though we need an actual plan this time instead of your endless improvising" He looked at her with a half-lidded eye.
"You realize Angra Mainyu can probably hear us, right? Any plan which an enemy knows is rather defunct don't you think?" His way of detecting magic had become… iffy after he finally managed to contract an elemental, but it was pretty hard to miss the obvious presence the god was projecting and with no physical form in sight that left the infinitely more terrifying option of the sea.
"I- Roman is the mud sea radiating the same energy as Ahriman?" The hologram reappeared with a grimace.
"Yes, it is, I'd say it's his body right now, very strong but also vulnerable since going by the scans to control this mud sea he had to put all of himself into it. If you guys can destroy it then Ahriman should fall as well!" His voice was so cheerful that Harker was almost a little sad seeing him jump as the entire group gave him a deadpan glare. Almost.
"Roman it's a fucking ocean. How exactly do we destroy an ocean? How're we supposed to destroy an evil god ocean?!" Harker looked at Marie with amusement, the burns across her body, and more importantly at the moment, her face gave her an intense look that made Roman's holographic knees buckle.
"I- um- I-"
"I am going to throw so many things at you when I get back"
"Please be merciful…" Cessair tapped her staff against the deck getting their attention, with her lantern she pointed to two outcroppings in the mud.
"Master we are approaching a twin outcropping, this would be a good place for an ambush, we best be in guard" He looked out in the darkness and did his best to focus, sure enough two outcroppings appeared on opposing sides of the ship like the clashing rocks.
"I agree, the miasma makes it hard to detect anything, but it be a good place to hit us. Movement is slow and we can't exactly run or escape plus they got serious bombardment abilities" Harker's broken fingers tapped rhythmically on the deck as he thought on Caster's words.
'Once more things are shit and we need a way out, okay there's a chance we're just being paranoid and there's nothing there, but we can't exactly risk it, while those outcroppings are there, they can just hit us like an artillery piece so in this case the best move would be to… flush them out, destroy the outcroppings'
He hummed absentmindedly as they talked softly.
Even so I doubt it would destroy the servant, there's a good chance they'll still be able to attack us, though it would be without the blessing of cover, hell it might even be on deck. It's going to be dangerous and stupid, with a good chance of being consumed in the crossfire with plenty of death and eternal agony for all. (Sigh) Let's get started'
He opened his eyes to Marie asking Mash if she could extend the protection of the shield over the ship and what she was getting wasn't exactly helpful.
"I don't know Director"
"What do you mean?"
"The demi-servant within me faded away without ever telling me his name or any of his abilities, maybe I can do the snowflake wall, but it wouldn't help all that much"
"But-"
"It's fine Marie" His voice croaked out drawing their attention.
"How is it fine?"
"Because defending right now is an unfeasible proposition, we need to go on the attack." He turned to Rider who's glimmer in her eye confirmed what he assumed, still he felt the need to say it out of a sense of cliche gravitas that made him feel just a teensy bit better and right now he'd take what he could get.
"Cessair, can you destroy those outcroppings" She grinned widely, her look tinged with a faint darkness.
"Yes"
Linebreak
How did everything get this screwed up, that one question had been ringing through Archer's head ever since he got submerged beneath the mud. A million variations, a million failures and a million victories, never had things degraded to this point and never in a million years would he have expected the knight that damned them all to be Artoria.
Obviously, it was a different version of her from some far-off timeline but part of him didn't want to accept that somehow somewhere no matter how far off, that the woman he once loved fell so very far. Yet this was reality and here he was lying in wait for a group of people trying to fix this, all to satisfy that broken bastard's sick sense of amusement.
'Remember fire an arrow right through that burn victim first'
He scowled at the cheery voice, like he had a choice. Unlike the others he was not a twisted version of himself controlled by uncontrollable impulses, no his mind was completely his own, his body however...
Well let's just say he has a mouth, and he still can't scream.
He raised his bow and loaded the overcharged sword, a bit of liberty of what exact arrow was fired. One last mercy, nothing left to corrupt.
He drew the string back and then- lunged off the platform as a massive bolt lightning came screaming down and obliterating the outcropping. From the corner of his eye, he could see the same thing happen to Saber's position before his body dived beneath the sickening sludge. Even now he wanted to vomit feeling that file substance coursing through his flesh, it was almost a relief when he leapt aboard well until his flesh started burning.
It wasn't like he suddenly burst into flames more that he started smoking, with embers starting to float up from his skin. Apparently, there was enough servant in him to prevent whatever protection spell that lay across the ship from killing him outright. Saber Alter had leapt into combat but was knocked back into the mud by the rider who foolishly jumped onto the surface only to miraculously not be affected at all, strange. What was stranger was the swordsman was barely able to keep up with her chaotic assault, her staff cracked against limbs, weak points and her sword, parrying with a strange deftness. Floods of water disrupted her, a burning lantern acted as flaming flail and lightning made sure Salter couldn't just recover as their desperate dash continued across the mud. Honorless, crude and very effective, the techniques of a survivor.
Kanshou and Bakyua came up in a block as a white staff wreathed with flame came screaming for his head. He looked at the caster, so often lancer and nothing more. A bit ironic that he was the last one left out of all of them.
"Usually, I'd be up for a few rounds of banter but I'm in no mood today" He wished he could smirk, roll his eyes, vocalize his agreement, freeze his limbs, do anything that might make this just a little easier for them. He couldn't, he was never strong enough, never good enough, he was never a hero no matter how hard he tried.
And his body hadn't been his for a long, long time. He spun about switching to a nameless great sword that threatened to cut the mast in two, and it was stopped by a girl with a massive shield and bone white hair leaving him open. He expected a fireball, a spear, a fist. He wasn't expecting a rock to hit him in the jaw, it didn't hurt in the slightest (it kinda just bounced right off) but he had to admit he was more than a little confused. The three looked at the thrower's direction with similar expressions of almost exasperation.
"Holy shit I actually hit him" The teen looked half dead and sounded genuinely surprised. He formed a dagger and threw at him who ducked with a squawk.
"Alright that ruined the mood" The shielder mumbled that out as she sought to crush his legs, he leapt upon her broad shield and kicked her in the face jerking her head back. Eye of the mind coming into effect, he flipped over Caster's rune salvo sending the married blades to cut off his head, yet the blades fell at the hands of the shielder, her cloak flitting in the wind as she smashed the metal beneath her shield. Angra Mainyu took notice and he groaned internally.
He didn't want to, he avoided it so far, but the pitiful bastard noticed and his eyes focused on the shield. A table that gathered a group of heroes from all walks of life, a symbol of unity and hope wielded by the purest soul of them all. Galahad the forcibly summoned, Galahad the faded, Galahad the absent. She didn't have his memories, or his skills, only pure luck carried her this far. And while her heart was innocent there was bitterness creeping in, a bitterness that repelled the full strength of the shield. A good Caladbolg could do her in, wouldn't even need to alt-
"Aim for his balls, it's the universal weak point!" The young raspy voice sounded about the ship once more as he threw another rock which missed by a full four meters. He really wanted to laugh; this kid was doing everything in his power to ruin his solemn mood.
"He's got a defense built entirely on knowing where his enemies will strike Harker!"
'Usually, it's the vital points instead of- never mind that's still a vital point'
"Then aim just below the balls!" He stared at the teenager in the slight pauses between clashes, he looked like shit and wasn't even bothering to get up and fight him, he wasn't rushing in or doing something ridiculously stupid like taking a blow for a damn servant. He inwardly grinned.
'Couldn't be more different if you tried could you'
"You're not helping!" He took advantage of her distraction and knocked the two back giving him space to create the coiled greatsword. Harker's eyes widened and he revved back his arm to throw another useless rock.
"Shit, Caster!" He didn't throw it at Archer though instead tossing it underhanded to Caster who got his plan immediately and threw it with far greater force straight at his hand. The rock shattered and so did his hand, it seemingly failed as the sword didn't stop at all. Just raised it ever so slightly. It continued its arc to the center mass of the girl who was trying to plant her shield, a futile endeavor.
"TILT!" The bone white Demi-servant leaned back with her shield at her master's order, that and the slight raising of the blade caused by the rock was just enough that it slid along the surface of her cross shield sending most of the deadly force into the sky he could hear Ahriman sigh at this failure until the dark god noticed she was skidding across the deck and in fact off the deck.
"Caster hold him off!" While Cu Chulainn clashed against him with a greater amount of fury the half dead teen lunged for the demi-servant barely grabbing her wrists in time
"Got you!" She screamed as Ahriman's proxies looked upon the fresh soul with hunger and cruel need to Devour. And started to climb atop each other to reach her.
"Hold on Bones!" The raven-haired teen yelled out as he tried to drag her back onto the deck, but Ahriman was having none of that, rocking the ship back and forth wildly. Even Caster was having a hard time keeping his balance.
"Damn you and your smug face!" Cu roared and tried to trap him in a cage of lightning, but a simple application of Rule Breaker stopped that, he tried to force his arm to stab him, but Ahriman refused for such a mercy to be granted and the icon of sin refused to let the servant back off to save the two.
"Help me!" He could sense the shielder flailing about, her kicks barely fighting back the horde, the master was now concerned with holding on for dear life as Ahriman seemed to do his very best to overturn the ship. He could hear the screams of a girl below (likely the burn victim Angra Mainyu wanted him to kill) as she was being tossed about.
This was it; this was when the last remaining hope died. And once more he'd just be a simple instrument that destroyed the lives of innocents, it was nothing new he knew that this would be far from the worst thing he's ever done but still… some part of him still wishes…
'Do something'
He remembered Tohsaka's critiques and aid, a good friend even when he wasn't. Mash continued to kick and scream as they began to claw at her flesh.
'Do something'
Saber the woman he fell in love with, Saber the one he gave up in his heart, mind and soul for the idea of justice, a concept which he never really knew the meaning of. A storm danced in the sky as the rider dueled the corrupted form of the one he once loved
'Do something!'
Taiga, his constant confidante. How long had it been since he last saw her smile at him, how long since she called him a friend, how long since he saw the tears of someone who knew a person's end. He kicked caster's leg back forcing him to kneel, the perfect position to slice off his head in one swing.
'Do something!'
His arm raised up to cut the hero down, a flash of lightning filled the air and for just a moment he caught a glimpse of a man who could have been his father if either of them knew how a family really worked. Kiritsugu.
'You can't save everyone Shirou'
'I- I know'
'So why are you still trying? For my dream? You know my failure, you know my end'
'I- I- I don't know'
'You can't let go, can you? No matter how badly you try to convince yourself that you have… Why?'
'Because… If- If I let that go… If let go of the last thing I have left then I'll have nothing, I'll break'
'You already have'
'...'
'You won't find peace you know, you'll never be able to save everyone'
'I know, yet still…'
'That hollow dream remains'
'Please…'
'…'
'... Please… let me save someone… let me save anyone…'
'Shirou…'
'For once in my life please just let me save someone!'
'No one can give the permission to save another Shirou, you just have to understand what it means in the first place'
Shirou Emiya closed his eyes and opened them in reality. His sword still hung overhead like the judgement of Damocles, soon it would fall and the long-lived servant would fall with it. Ahriman crooned and purred in his ear, fully enjoying the role of the big bad evil god and his command was absolute.
'Go ahead executioner, do your duty and slay the humans that stand before you'
His sword began to fall and yet…
'I hope you remember one day that somewhere out there, there are people who care about you. People who'd want you to be happy'
He could feel something snap within him and the blade… missed Caster's neck.
Pain blossomed in his gut and he looked down, for the first time in a long while his voice was his own and it softly, faintly laughed almost like a baby's sigh. The wild seas paused for a moment as Angra Mainyu realized exactly what he had done.
He had defied a god who permeated every inch of his body and planted Kanshou straight in his gut.
He could feel Ahriman's roar of rage within him as the dark god tried to overcome his will and at least turn the blade into a bomb that could take the whole ship. He refused, he may be forever damned to take the lives of the innocent but here and now the blood of the weak shall not be shed and even Taiga need not cry for what he's become even if it was only for a small moment.
With a silent howl he twisted the blade within his flesh, altering its properties and giving it a new purpose, his body was greater than any forge after all. He tore it from his body further damaging his core and threw it into the air where it turned into a flaming wheel. A wheel spun about hull of the ship burning away the beasts and beating back the waves, it would only last a short while, barely a minute in fact but it would have to be enough.
He heard Ahriman's howl of denied fury and smiled. His body began to crack and fray as the strain of both defying the god who created his body and pushing his alteration skills to the limit all the while proved to be too much for this shell to take.
Yet his job wasn't done, Cu Chulainn needed to be told of the way he found, that scant chance of victory that had only been available to the caster. If he told him outright Angra Mainyu just might flip the table and shoot the other players. But a metaphor? Irritating and vague enough that he'd let them live to suffer more, he just hoped they'd understand.
"He is... a being of a thousand accumulated sins Setanta… Sometimes… sometimes the only way to move forward from sin is to let them go" he collapsed to the deck as his body started to crumble away, his last glimpse before his eyes turned to dust was Caster look of confusion. He tried to say something more, something to help explain without giving the game away but his tongue disappeared, as did his mouth, and soon after the rest of him. EMIYA's long battle was over at last, as he returned the endless blade works he called home one last lingering thought remained with him all the way
'I finally did something right, ay Tiger?'
(Linebreak)
There had been no guards and no traps as she climbed the tower, hell there had been no servants either. Instead, this old stone tower lay nigh empty like a solemn gravestone that awaited the one who'd rest beneath it. The question was who'd be the one who carve the stone.
Frost began to creep over her armor, not the unnatural all-consuming hunger of the crypt where she had claimed Requiem but a harsh front of cold like the herald of a bitter winter. She walked onwards towards the growing chill, somehow, she knew her brother would lay at the heart of this.
Clacking of ice like steel stopped, she had made it to the top. A pair of heavy doors blocked her passage, a trap most assuredly had to await on the other side, some horrific magic to try and obliterate her, perhaps summoning a demon? It didn't matter
She pushed open the twin doors and raised her blade ready to cut apart any trap and yet… nothing.
The room was open to the outside, only having two walls both with doors, one which she came through and the other to some last room, perhaps Kay's own. Looking out into the setting sun and sitting in a simple chair sat Kay, he bore no armor and or fancy robes, instead he wore a peasant's attire with a sheathed greatsword to his side. His back was turned against her his face bathing in the wind.
Somehow, she knew that that greatsword was the source of this strange cold. It felt familiar yet not like a sister of some long-forgotten dream, an image gone and lost and returned as it's opposite. She stepped into the room and her heavy boots clanked against the stone.
"Kay" She heard him sigh heavily and his chair creak as he lifted himself up to stand, his sword acting as a cane he turned to face her, he didn't look angry or frightened he just looked tired like the weight of the years crashed down on him all at once.
"Why" She wanted a reaction more than an answer at this point. Fear, anger, hate, regret all of that she expected, all of that she should have seen. He had betrayed her and whatever reason he had should have led to those outcomes. Fear of what she would do to him, anger at what she had done to the town they grew up in, hate for twisting the kingdom into the idol of order it was now, or regret that he did betray her at all.
No.
All she saw in his eyes was sorrow and pity, and it drove her mad.
She swept out her blade and he did the same. Frost formed an armor to match her own and his greatsword glowed with a harsh cold light, fey runes shifting and traveling all around the blade.
It didn't matter. For long as she bore this sword nothing would.
'To the death'
So, you've probably noticed the title change, honestly it was just the more I thought about it, the more Broken Order just didn't seem to fit properly and as I fleshed it out in my head more and more the less sense it made. Dream's end is more in line with Harker's character, past... and purpose.
A bit of analysis, originally the chapter was going to include the final fight at the grail but the original draft of it felt too rushed, so I pushed back and expanded things a bit so sorry for the wait the rewrite of the chapter caused, also I kind of wanted to scream with that last part, so closed to done and my mind dried up right next to the finish line
Anyways for the next chapter I want to say we'll start it off with Cessair's view on the sea top battle, but I can't guarantee that, the way I wrote is a bit too fluid for a promise like that.
Onto some other business it has been suggested that I also move this story to space battles as well, the site would allow for more interaction but I'm still a bit unsure so I made a poll so you guys could vote on whether you guys want this story there as well. If you guys say yes, I'll still post on , but I imagine a greater amount of attention will be placed on spacebattles.
Freaky Freak
I'm not intentionally trying to raise hate on Mash, I'm just trying to give her more agency as a character and she really can't do that if she stays all "Senpai!". Still, I get your point, I've been more than a little harsh, yet I still feel like it is a logical reaction to the situation she's been placed in, plus while we have insight into Harker's thoughts she doesn't, and he really doesn't make himself easy to like. She'll get better and she'll get worse and then get better again, that much I promise. As for reference images, think of Cessair looking like Mademoiselle noir but with green eyes and green eldritch tattoos though that is still just a basis, you'll have to use your imagination to fill in the gaps.