Day 6: True Avenger — Absolution
True Avenger Angra Mainyu watched as Caren Ortensia changed her bandages. Her condition had improved markedly following the battle at the school, as the sanctification spell she had worked had purged the area of all evil spiritual energy. Once she'd returned to her apartment, however, her flash had once more rebelled against Avenger's offensive nature, thrusting out spikes that gouged her body from within. He had watched with satisfaction as her blood seeped into her bandages, dying them red in interesting patterns. It was annoying, however, how calm and disinterested Caren remained; as though she didn't even care that Avenger's presence was causing her body to tear itself apart. He hadn't caught so much as a single resentful glance cast in his direction. As the entire nature and purpose of Angra Mainyu's existence was to be hated and abhorred as much as possible, he found Caren to be a rather frustrating Master.
"Being cooped up in close quarters with me obviously isn't doing you any good." Avenger said, giving her a sleazy smile. "Why not let me out of this stuffy room for a while? You can recuperate some more, and I can have a little fun painting this town red. Oh, right, you told me you didn't want me murdering any civilians. That's fine; I can show some restraint. You can trust me; promise. How about it?"
"I forgive your lies and your ill intentions." Caren said. "But I believe we should focus on laying low for the time being. The Holy Sacrament I used at the school is likely to draw the Overseer's attention. I will require the assistance of a Servant to eliminate him, and it would be difficult to locate another free Servant to contract with at this point of the War, so it would be problematic if you were to do anything that would make you an obvious target."
Avenger heaved a theatrical sigh.
"Well, you're the boss." Avenger said. "Not that it makes much difference to me if I'm killed, you understand. I mean, my fate is already predetermined – my destiny set in stone just as fixedly as these tattoos are carved into my flesh. The Great Grail is still nurturing the ultimate manifestation of the curse I bear, 'All Evils Of This World'. If this Servant body is destroyed, my soul will be drawn back to the Grail to rejoin with it; whereas if I remain until the end of the War, it will physically consume this vessel along with everything else upon its birth. Either way, my end will be the same. That is the burden I must carry: to be the devil of this world. I've come to accept the necessity of that role; that I must be an absolute evil, so that others may be good in comparison. But you know, even after being scapegoated, tortured, and demonized – I still love this world. I don't get to enjoy it much, being trapped in the endless darkness within the Grail, and it won't be around for much longer – so I'd like to get out and have some fun while I've got the chance."
"Your concern for the world is admirable, but unnecessary." Caren said. "The curse within the Grail will not have the opportunity to be born. When Overseer Kotomine is eliminated, the War will be suspended. When the Mage Association is informed of the Grail's corruption, they will disassemble the magic formulas which summon the Grail to Fuyuki, thereby permanently ending the Wars and any further danger from your curse."
"What a pleasant little fantasy." Avenger said. "You really think all the Masters competing in the War will give up on the wishes they were willing to risk their lives for, just like that? That the blue-blooded families of the Mage Association will unmake the Grail, abandoned the prize that they've spent generations striving for? You really don't get people, do you?"
"I forgive the greed of those who selfishly crave the Grail." Caren said. "But even such misguided souls are capable of rationality. They will not drink of a chalice they know to be poisoned. Even if there are those unwilling to abandon the dream of having a miracle bestowed on them by the Grail, the contamination of the current Grail means that there is no other path for them to attain their wish except to abort the current ritual and begin constructing a new one from scratch."
"And therein lies one of my favorite ironies: it is irrational to expect people to behave rationally." Avenger said. "You believe that the Masters and the mages of the Association will abandon the current Grail when they learn it is cursed? What then do you make of Kirie Kotomine, who knows full well of the corruption within the Grail but nevertheless wishes to unleash its taint upon the world?"
The was a long pause, then Caren spoke with slow deliberation.
"I try my best to believe the best of people." she said. "My father, however, is a truly evil man — someone who finds please only in inflicting suffering on others. His whole life, he has done nothing but bring pain to everyone around him. He is the one person I cannot bring herself to absolve of evil."
"Well, if you can't absolve him of evil, then I will." Avenger said.
"A noble sentiment; but one I fail to see the reason in." Caren said. "You are not of his blood as I am; nor are you a follower of God, or indeed anyone who can claim any type of moral superiority. What should your forgiveness matter to him?"
"Because that's Angra Mainyu's purpose: to bear responsibility for the sins of humanity." Avenger said. "'There is no evil but me. There is no imperfection but me. I am the only one who should be hated. I am the only one who should be abhorred'. Or, as your own Church would put it, hate the sin but love the sinner. To forgive is divine, isn't it? Well, I'm may be the furthest thing from divine, but even I've learned to forgive people for the evil they do. It'd be pretty hypocritical if I didn't, given that I'm a thousand times worse than any of them. But the point is, I know what it's like to be hated for your very nature, something you did not choose and cannot change. And for that reason, no matter what wrongs he has done, I will forgive him."
"It's not the same thing." Caren said. "You are subject to a curse forced upon you by others. But Kotomine never had such evil inflicted upon him; rather, he was blessed with good fortune in his upbringing. He was raised by a good and decent man and taught devotion to the Church from a young age. He was given every opportunity to compose himself with compassion and benevolence. And yet, he turned his back on everything to embrace evil. He did not stray from God's path in ignorance, was not tempted or corrupted by sinister forces beyond his control. Knowingly, willingly, proudly and defiantly, he declared himself an ally of All Evils of This World. That... is unforgiveable."
"Don't presume so quickly to know his inner nature based simply on what others have said about his life." Avenger counseled. "There are those in this world who are different from others not because of their experiences; but rather because from the moment of their conception, their fundamental nature is different from the norm: those who are defective from birth. But just because something is abnormal, does not necessarily mean it is inferior. Even if a soul is born into this world twisted, irregular, and misshapen... it is still something precious and unique. Someone should have sympathy for the devil, even if it's only another devil."
"Even so." Caren said. "Your sympathy does not change my mission. For the heresy of contracting a Servant and interfering in the War, Kirie Kotomine must be eliminated."
"If you say so." Avenger said. "But that brings me to the next issue with this plan of yours. I have mentioned that I am the weakest Servant of all, yes? Whereas Gilgamesh, King of Heroes, could potentially make claim to the position of strongest. At the end of the previous War, my complete self attempted to consume him, and he shrugged off my full strength like it was nothing. Since I couldn't affect him even wielding the power of the six billion curses within the Grail, it should go without saying that this reduced Servant body of mine stands no chance whatsoever."
"I am aware of your limitations as a Servant." Caren said. "However, you have assured me that you are among the best when it comes to slaughtering humans, and that is the talent of yours which I will require. I myself will face Gilgamesh, creating an opportunity for you to kill Kotomine."
Avenger eyed her with naked skepticism.
"Of course I am not implying that I could fight better than you." Caren said. "However, I have been granted a powerful Mystic Code, the Shroud of Magdalene. This holy cloth can bind and incapacitate any man – even he who is the first and greatest of all Heroic Spirits. While I hold him, you will be free to attack Kotomine."
"Well, sure, that's a lot more manageable – on my end, at least." Avenger said. "But you know, with all the crazy Noble Phantasms at his disposal, it probably won't take Gilgamesh long to break free of the rag of yours. Since he's gained a permanent physical form, my killing his Master won't affect his ability to fight in any way. And given his personality, I imagine he's going to be rather pissed off at you for having the effrontery to attempt to restrain him. What's your plan for that eventuality?"
"So long as I am able to complete my mission, whatever happens to me afterwards is immaterial." Caren said serenely.
"How noble and self-sacrificing of you." Avenger said. "You just love the idea of being a martyr, don't you? Isn't there anything you desire for yourself? Don't you, as a Master in the Holy Grail War, have a wish buried in the depths of your heart?"
"Of course not." Caren said. "The other Masters may have entered this War out of greed or pride, to have their wishes granted or to bring glory to their family name, but I act only on behalf to the Church and God. I have foresworn all material desires in order to attain spiritual fulfillment. The knowledge that my actions are in the service of God and the cause of goodness is the only reward I require."
"What a perfectly boring answer." Avenger said. "Come on, you've forbidden me from going out for my entertainment, so at least indulge me in this. Imagine a scenario in which you were able to lay hands upon the Holy Grail – a truly pure instance of the Cup of Heaven, one unsullied by my evil influence – and were given the chance to have any wish of yours, any wish at all, miraculously granted. What would you ask of it?"
"Nothing." Caren said firmly. "Even if divine providence were to place the Grail within my hands, I would make no wish of it, for the only possible outcome could be evil. The cup need not be poisoned by All Evils Of This World for that to be true, for power in itself inherently corrupts. There is no wish I could make that would not be sinful: for to begin with, the act of altering the world from God's design to one of your own would be an act of supreme Pride; and the motivation for the wish itself would be based in Greed or Envy or Wrath or Lust. The best I could do would be to refuse the temptation to malice and pass up the opportunity to do the world such harm."
"Now that is truly interesting." Avenger said. "Most generally good-hearted people would feel comfortable wishing for something like 'world peace' or 'an end to disease', with the reasoning that a pure grail given a benevolent wish from one of pure heart would produce a pure and benevolent result. But you, however, believed that any wish you could make would be tainted by malice. But if the Grail is pure, then the temptation to do malice must lie within you. You didn't offer up a suggestion like world peace because you knew that, with the power of the Grail at your fingertips, you would be tempted to make a different type of wish. Caren Ortensia, the most selfless and self-sacrificing of martyrs, believes that she cannot be trusted with power because she fears that her heart is filled with malice."
"..I don't follow your reasoning." Caren asked. "You are trying to insult me, I believe; suggesting that my amiability is only a facade covering an internal darkness – but your implication is flawed. Surely you must understand that any offer of power is a form of temptation, because all power has the potential for abuse; hence the common saying, 'Power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely'. If I recognize the danger of the wish offered by the Grail, it is because I am wary of the corrupting influence that wielding such power can have on even a pious soul, not because I believe that I myself have an evil nature."
"The people who created me were just like you, you know." Avenger said. "They could not accept that the potential to do evil lay within themselves, and so had to create an external devil to blame it on. You, who forgive all others, hate Kirie Kotomine... and, though you do not admit it, in your truest heart you hate yourself. That is why you believe it is okay for the Church to use you as you do, okay to die on their mission. It has been said that we hate most the ones we see the worst of ourselves in. Perhaps you hate Kotomine because you truly are your father's daughter. Because, like him..."
"Be silent!" Caren snapped, then composed herself and continued in a calmer voice. "I forgive you. You are only fulfilling the wishes of those who made you Angra Mainyu, by taking any opportunity to inflict harm in any form you can. However, as your Master, it is my responsibility to set limits on your behavior. Therefore, I forbid you to speak further of this matter."
"As you wish, my Master." Avenger said.
He gave a mock bow, then faded into spiritual form to think on matters. It seemed he had finally located the weak point in Caren's saintly facade, and he was looking forward to picking at that sore spot as much as possible. He could do nothing else; he was, after all, Angra Mainyu.