Chapter 16: A Preteen Struggles to Take Horsecock
As Chiron stood where Vlad had once been, Hyde's form warped and shrank, bloodstained fur and muscle melting away and being replaced by Jekyll's clothes, wrinkled but unmarred by gore.
The Berserker ran a gloved hand through his hair, then turned and jogged up the hill to Fran.
Slumped on his knees, hands shaking before him as he stared at the place where Siegfried had passed, Gordes was still visibly stunned.
Trent looked to Carmilla as he rubbed at the Command Seals emblazoned on the back of his hand and remarked, "It's almost time, Carmy. You ready to live as a human in the modern world?"
"I suppose," the Assassin replied as she let her eyes trail over Charlie and Astolfo, who were currently talking about Charlemagne. Or rather, the Rider was animatedly describing the various Paladins and peers of his king, all of whom sounded about as wackadoodle as Astolfo.
"Then again, I don't know if I'm quite ready to deal with those two for the rest of it, even if it's part of the cost for my new lease on life."
The blond magus chuckled before reaching out and patting her shoulder. "Eh, we'll get through that together, just like how we got through this war."
"Sounds positively dreadful," Carmilla sighed, a fond smile present on her face despite her tone.
At that moment, a loud roar echoed from the forest. Not the roar of a monster or a Berserker, though. This was something far, far worse.
"Wahoo!" Mordred whooped as she drove a large ATV over the hill, getting at least five seconds of air. Trent and Carmilla could see the panic-stricken faces of Kairi, Johan, and Caules in the back seat of the vehicle. Fiore, though, was seated in the front seat, and seemed to be enjoying the ride if the manic smile on her face was anything to go by.
In the next moment, the ATV slammed into the ground right in front of Trent, its axles groaning in protest.
The Musik magus remained unmoving despite the commotion, letting out a wheeze as he finally did some form of strangled respiration.
"I'd say that this is unexpected, but given just what I know of Saber of Red…" the Canadian trailed off as he covertly tried to hide the almost pants-shitting terror he'd just experienced. "So, given everything that happened, I suppose that our allies were successful. Hey, everything work out for you nerds?"
Johan was just a bit too busy hyperventilating to answer, but Kairi managed a gruff, if shaky, "Aye. We killed the old lich twice, and…"
He trailed off, and looked over at Fiore, who chipperly continued, "And we managed to save some of the homunculi." Her face sobered. "Only some of them, though. About half of them were drained of all of their mana by Lancer of Black's Noble Phantasm, and they...didn't make it."
"That is… unfortunate," Trent admitted as he scratched at his chin, while he didn't know anything about the homunculi, it was still a huge amount dead. "Did any of those who survived have any sort of plan?"
Charlie looked at Fiore expectantly, who nodded. "Indeed. I've left one of them in charge; Toole, I believe her name is. She's going to sell off all the garish, frankly unnecessary decorations that grand—that Darnic filled his castle with, so that they have enough money to take care of the ones that need attention, and so they can buy food and sundry." She jerked a thumb at the back of the ATV. "We also took a fair number of priceless antiques and Mystic Codes when we left, so Caules and I will have all the funds we require."
"Hey, nice, sounds like you guys have all the makings of a decent nest egg," the Canadian said as he put his hands on his hips. "And hell, you'll probably make Darnic spin in his non-existent grave by doing so, which is great."
Fiore let out a wry chuckle. "Indeed. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to speak with my uncle." She turned to where Gordes knelt, still shaken and not stirring at all.
"Uncle Gordes!" She raised her voice slightly as she walked, an authoritative tint to her normally gentle voice.
The large blond let out a noise, but his gaze was still distant and unresponsive.
Fiore sighed, then made a gesture. A massive metal arm extended from the Mystic Code on her back, then snapped out and grabbed Gordes by the collar and lifted him to his feet with a none-too-gentle shake. "Pull yourself together!" she snapped. "Are you a mouse? Or are you the head of the esteemed Musik family, and proud father of Goredolf Musik?!"
"Brfh!" Gordes let out a noise, and shook his head, ignoring the grip holding him up. "Fiore, what are you doing here? Have you come to help us retake victory from these scoundrels?"
Fiore tilted her head in confusion, then sighed and set him on his feet. "No, Uncle Gordes. I joined with the White faction in exchange for them healing my legs." She gestured to how she was standing unaided by her Mystic Code. "Darnic is dead, and the only Servants left that even desire the Grail are Mister Shishigou's Saber and my Archer."
"And that is why my own interference has come to a close," Jeanne interjected as she strode forward to join the group. "Despite the sheer number of Servants remaining, if they intend to forfeit the Grail, then I shall watch over the proceedings."
"You call it forfeiting, I call it being happy with incarnation," Carmilla scoffed as she eyed the Ruler, her hand coming up to cover her mouth. "Though, I suppose that a bumpkin would have issues understanding such intricacies."
Jeanne shot an unamused look at Carmilla, before replying, "Regardless, if your goals no longer require the Grail, then it is not my place to interfere, praise, or condemn." She turned to look between Chiron and Mordred. "Now then. Saber of White, Archer of White. As the Ruler-class Servant and moderator, I shall observe the final battle of this Grand Grail War, as well as the wish that is made at its conclusion."
The Assassin huffed, and muttered to her Master, "To think, her showing up as a Ruler would steal her crusader's fire."
Jeanne's eye twitched, but did not deign to reply to the blatant jab.
Mordred looked at Chiron, then glanced at Fiore. "No hard feelings when I beat yer Servant into the ground, eh missy?"
Fiore gave a demure smile. "I think you'll find my Archer no easy battle, but on my honor as the heir to the Forvedge family, when my Servant wins, I will turn the wish over to Mister Shishigou, as promised."
Mordred barked a laugh. "You've got spunk, girl. I don't hate it!"
By this time, Chiron had finished his vigil and walked over to face Mordred. "Saber," he said with a nod, shouldering his bow and taking a Pankration stance.
"Ah? You expectin' ta take me with yer fists? Heh, you're a funny one, but I'll show you why ain't nobody in Camelot could handle me!" Mordred roared as she surged forward, and as she closed, faked out a slash before jumping up and trying to plant her foot in the center of Chiron's chest.
Chiron's hand smoothly snapped up to wrap around her ankle, and the Archer turned with the momentum of the kick to sling Saber into a nearby hill. The moment after she left his hand, his bow was already drawn, and then six arrows were following after her before she'd even touched down.
The Saber blasted out of her impact crater almost as it formed, red lightning exploding off of her body and shattering the arrows as she heaved her sword over her shoulder, wreathing it in energy. "You think that'll be enough?!" As Mordred shouted, she brought her sword around and unleashed a blast of power, intending on vapourizing Chiron.
Chiron, though, was already moving, and all but danced out of the way of the energy wave before firing another half-dozen arrows at the Knight of Treachery. When these met the same fate as their predecessors, though, they burst, peppering Mordred with small explosions of starlight.
The Saber just kept bulling forward, her armour absorbing most of the damage, though one explosion managed to bruise and cut up her face. Laughing as she tried to corner the Archer, she allowed more energy to enshroud Clarent as she swung it about.
Chiron threw his bow aside as he bent over backwards under the sword strike, then came back up within her guard and slammed his fists into her gut. As she staggered back, clutching her abdomen, she noticed the broken shafts of arrows poking out through her armor.
The cheeky bastard had punched her with his arrows like they were punch daggers! Mordred gave a savage grin and charged, even as the arrowheads in her guts detonated, scorching her with searing starlight. Ignoring the pain, her hand locked around his arm and brought Clarent down on his shoulder with a savage roar of victory.
His arm went flying, but Chiron wasn't down yet. He clenched his muscles and closed off the wound, even as he smashed Mordred in the face with his remaining hand before sweeping her feet.
Despite her bleeding and crumpled nose, Mordred barked out a laugh as she launched herself back to her feet and drove her fist towards Chiron's solar plexus. Not happy with just that, she also aimed to take off the Mentor of Heroes' head with her sword.
Chiron leaned into the first blow, allowing himself to be folded over Mordred's fist rather than losing his head. Even as his breath was blown out of his lungs, he threw an uppercut directly into Mordred's elbow, jarring her grip on Clarent. Before she could regain her grip on it, the son of Kronos spun into a two-footed drop kick that knocked her onto her rear, Clarent sinking into the ground a few meters away.
Ignoring her sword, the Saber let out a snarl as she launched herself forward, slamming her head into the Archer's chin. Before he could throw her off, she wrapped one of her arms around his torso and drove her clawed gauntlet into his open wound, intent on tearing through it and ripping out his heart.
Chiron let out a roar of pain as he reached up and scrabbled at her face, pressing into her eye with his thumb. Before he could gouge her eye out, though, Mordred's gauntlet pierced the wound, and with a feral roar, she ripped his Spirit Core from his chest.
Chiron gasped, blood dripping from his mouth. "Well...fought...Mordred…"
"Heh, you were… a pretty good fight, Chiron," Mordred laughed nasally, her broken nose still unhealed. She collapsed down into a sitting position, and chuckled. "I did it… I won, I'm gonna be king now…"
Chiron gave a wet, wheezing chuckle. "I'm...sure...you'll do fine…"
As he looked to the night sky in his final moments, he stretched his arm out as though grasping for something. "Ah...the stars...are beautiful...tonight…" He let out another wet cough, then started as he felt two small, gentle hands clasp around his own large, callused one.
Fiore knelt beside Chiron, unshed tears in her eyes. "You did well, Chiron."
The words were simple, but they brought the Son of Kronos great relief nonetheless. "Thank you...my kind Master…"
And with those last words, the Mentor of Heroes closed his eyes, fading away into golden prana.
The blonde knight sat up and grinned at Kairi. "Master, we can get the Grail now, get your skeleton daughter back."
Kairi pinched his nose and sighed deeply. "I'm too old for this shit."