Day 8: Kotomine — The Master of Souls
In one of the rooms of his church, Kirie Kotomine set a number of wine bottles out on a table. For a long time, he had maintained a small but refined collection of a few of the most exquisite vintages. He rarely opened one, for the mere taste of wine could not bring pleasure to his defective soul unless seasoned by the experience of human suffering; but now he brought forth all of the bottles he had saved so long.
"Truly, you never cease to confound me, Kirie." Gilgamesh said with an amused shake of his head. "Did you hoard this liquor for so long only to drink it all down in one night like a common lush?"
"I have never been a drunkard, Gilgamesh." Kirie said. "But on this night, the eve of our victory, I feel like I can truly savor the taste of wine. And there is no point saving them any longer, for tomorrow the world perishes in flame."
"So it's to be a night of hedonism and debauchery on the eve of the end of all things?" Gilgamesh asked, raising one eyebrow.
"Just an aperitif." Kotomine said. "The true pleasure will be tomorrow's battle itself. When I have Bazett Fraga McRemitz reveal her treachery to her comrades, then betray her in turn. When I tell little Rin Tohsaka how I gifted her the very dagger I used to kill her father, then tear her heart from beneath her breast. When I break Shirou Emiya on the wheel of his own impossible ideals. When I crack open the shell of martyrdom within which my daughter Caren has so long restrained herself and expose her true essence. That exquisite bliss shall excess the taste of all the wine in the world."
"No special plans for the Edelfelt Master, then?" Gilgamesh asked.
"Unfortunately, I never crossed paths with Luviagelita Edelfelt prior to this War, and so was unable to make any suitable preparations." Kotomine said. "It's a shame I couldn't lay the grounds for anything more elaborate, but I suppose I'll simply break her neck."
"Indeed it is unfortunate; in this world overflowing with teeming masses of vulgar humanity, not every enemy is a worthy nemesis." Gilgamesh said, nodding his head. "Most are merely beasts which need to be put to the sword. I will also be busy exterminating all the unworthy mongrel-Servants who have somehow persisted this long into the War."
"It seems Shirou Emiya has managed to summon the same Saber who once contracted with his father." Kotomine said. "That, surely, is a stroke of luck for you. I remember how she caught your eye."
"Hmph." Gilgamesh slouched disdainfully. "I'll admit I was once captivated by her, but she has since lost her luster. It seems her Master has convinced her to discard her martyr complex. It is flaws which render jewels unique; without the exquisite agony borne of bearing the crushing weight of her tragic fate, she is just another worthless false king."
"Truly, you are a difficult man to please." Kotomine said.
"Of course." Gilgamesh said. "Only the rarest and finest treasures of the world are worthy of the time and attention of the true king; obviously, this includes people as well as objects. Speaking of which, this momentous night should occasion a worthier wine."
Gilgamesh lazily waved one hand, and a shimmering golden portal opened in the air over the table. It coalesced into two cups and a pitcher, filled with a dark liquid as rich and red as blood.
"Behold!" Gilgamesh said. "An ambrosia of the gods, brewed by Dionysus himself! Mixed by maenads and satyrs from the juice of stomped grapes and the blood of butchered sacrifices, it is a liquor surpassing all mortal measure. The taste, so sensuous that each sip is a dance on the cliff-edge of madness; the spirit, so potent that it liberates the soul of all reason and restraint! This is truly a wine with which to celebrate the end of the world!"
"A most generous gift." Kotomine said, lifting one of the goblets and watching the light play off the swirling liquid within.
"You are worthy of it, Kirie." Gilgamesh said. "There past ten years have been most entertaining. I have high hopes for the humans of the new world that will be born in Angra Mainyu's shadow, but I do admit I shall feel a loss upon your passing. So please, make tomorrow's final performance grand enough as befitting of your requiem."
"I shall endeavor not to displease you." Kotomine said.
He began raising the goblet to drink, but drew up short by a sudden electric tingling sensation on his skin – an alarm signaling that the bounded field surrounding the church had been breached by an enemy Servant. A moment later, the windows exploded inwards in a hail of glass shards.
Kotomine was already in motion, turning his back so his kevlar-reinforced priest robe could absorb the attack. He had known that he could not rely on the rule of Church neutrality to protect him forever; that once the Masters participating in the War realized that he was an enemy to the world, they might move against him – and so he had been prepared. While his ultimate defense against any attack by a Servant would rely on Gilgamesh's aid, he had equipped himself with certain tools that would make him more likely to survive for a time should the King of Heroes be delayed in coming to his aid. Wearing his combat vestments had been one such precaution. In addition to being hardened against attack, the robe concealed a large number of Black Keys.
Kotomine let the handles fall into his hands as he completed his turn, pouring prana into them in order to magically manifest the slender blades. He held four of them in fan position between the fingers of each hand, raising them into position to either block, slash, or throw as necessary.
The hail of glass from the broken windows had ceased, but the volley of projectiles which had broken them was continuing. Kotomine caught only glimpses of them as he reflexively whipped the blades around himself in a defensive pattern: large, grey, oblong objects, moving much too slowly for them to be being fired from any type of gun or cannon. The magically keen edges of his blades sliced through them with ease, and the curtain of death his Black Keys cut through the air did not permit any to reach him.
After a few moments, the intensity of the onslaught waned; and as Kotomine lowered the tempo of his defense, he was finally able to clearly see the missiles bombarding the church. They were pigeons: a massive flock of the birds suicidally hurling themselves through the windows. However, no blood was spilled by the sweeps of his blades, nor did any bodies accumulate on the church floor: each bird, as soon as it was cut, lost cohesion entirely and disintegrated into a cloud of glowing sparks. Not real animals at all, then, but magically summoned familiars. Weak ones, too, unlikely to be capable of killing him even if he had not been well-prepared for the attack; obviously chosen for quantity rather than capability. Then, they were most likely not intended as an attack, but as a diversion.
Even as Kotomine came to this conclusion, the final wave of birds ceased their swoops and broke apart into nothing. A moment later, his deduction was confirmed by an exclamation of rage from Gilgamesh.
"It's been taken! The Ninnion Tablet!"
The Noble Phantasm, lent from Gilgamesh's treasury to allow Kotomine to bind his pawn Bazett to secrecy, had been placed on the central altar of the church in order to tie its power into the Church's own Sacrament of Confession. While Kotomine and Gilgamesh had been momentarily distracted by the barrage of familiars, the invading Servant had broken into the church from the opposite side and grabbed the tablet. It was a theft utterly lacking in subtlety, a large hole having been smashed through the church's walls to create a direct path to the altar. It did, however, display a degree of precision: the window of distraction created by the familiars had been extremely brief, meaning the intruder had seized the tablet and departed at great speed without the slightest delay.
"These familiars – they're the work of that wretched False Caster." Gilgamesh clenched a fist in wrath. "That wretched mongrel! Not once but twice does she dare affront me by conducting petty robbery in my presence! And this time, she has even gone so far as to defile one of my Noble Phantasms with her touch! A mere bandit has the temerity of daring think herself worthy of my treasures! There will be no forgiveness for this insult! This time, I will follow her back to her den and give her the death deserved by a filthy, stinking cur!"
"Calm yourself, Gilgamesh." Kotomine said. "This was obviously no mere act of petty thievery: she targeted only the Ninnion Tablet, and knew exactly where it was kept. It is clear that this intrusion was orchestrated by Bazett Fraga McRemitz. It seems she has finally realized my true objective and decided to oppose me; but in order to tell her comrades about the secrets we shared in this church, she must destroy the Ninnion Tablet and free herself of its binding magic. Since she could not accomplish the deed herself, she recruited the aid of the Caster. It is unfortunate, as I was hoping to have the pleasure of betraying her before she came to the realization on her own. However, her act of rebellion poses no threat at this point; she has both been eliminated from the War and exhausted her uses of Fragarach. So, there is no need to let such a minor thing spoil this night."
Gilgamesh reigned in his anger, but his displeasure was obvious.
"The magus woman is nothing to me; I am prepared to allow her to live long enough to witness the birth of Angra Mainyu and test her mettle against the fires of hell like the rest of the masses. The transgressions of the Caster, however, cannot be forgiven. I am king of all the world, and there is no place on Earth for those who would defy my authority. I will not leave her reckoning to fate; I myself shall render the king's judgement upon her!"
"Such is your right." Kotomine said. "But just a moment, Gilgamesh; it seems the commotion has drawn further attention. I may yet require your protection tonight."
He could feel the barrier around the church being impinged upon again. However, this was nothing like the single fuzzy spark of a stealthy Servant trying to suppress its presence. It was a continuous pressure surrounding the building like a rising tide, a massive formless presence far beyond what could be accounted for by a single Servant. There was only one thing that account for this overwhelming, all-encompassing power.
"It seems the time has finally come to face the False Avenger." Kotomine said.
"...So be it." Gilgamesh said grudgingly. "I shall delay that mongrel's punishment just a bit longer, so as not to miss this more promising entertainment."
Kotomine walked to the front door of the church and opened it to receive the False Avenger's ambassador. It had thus far spent the entire war hiding in the shadows, and Kotomine did not expect it to change its behavior now; doubtless it had sent one of those it had enslaved to speak to Kotomine on its behalf. He was therefore not surprised by the figure who walked mechanically through the front archway: a teenage girl, with a black chain of solidified curses embedded in her heart.
"So you've finally come to me, Sakura Tohsaka." Kotomine said.
"It's Sakura Matou." the girl said; her voice flat, devoid of inflection.
"I know that, of course." Kotomine said. "It was just a little test, to see how you'd react. How do you feel, having been discarded by the Tohsaka for the Matou to pick up? Does your heart burn still burn with resentment over that abandonment? Who do you hate more: Zouken, for what he has done to you; or Rin, for failing to stop him?"
"I no longer have any lingering emotions over events past." Sakura said, dead-eyed. "I have a new family now, those who have been chosen by God for the new world."
"I see." Kotomine said, shaking his head ruefully. "How disappointing."
"You find no amusement in her suffering, Kirei?" Gilgamesh asked.
"There is no pleasure in breaking something which is already broken." Kotomine said. "This puppet does not interest me. Answer me, broken doll: why has your master now sent you to my door?"
"I come to convey an invitation." Sakura said. "God invites you to the banquet now being held in the cavern beneath Mt. Ryudou, where the Grails now ripen."
"Oh?" Kotomine said. "How generous. If I may ask, what have I done to earn the honor of an invitation to this momentous event?"
"When this War began, my Master believed that you, as Overseer, would need to be eliminated." Sakura said flatly. "However, it soon became apparent that you were aware of the corruption within the Grails, and yet were allowing and even encouraging the War to proceed regardless. Though it may not have been your intention, it is undeniable that your actions have been helpful. God can be gracious towards those who show proper respect and obeisance; and so, as reward for your assistance, you are being extended this invitation."
"I see." Kotomine said. "And, just hypothetically, if I were not interested in attending this banquet?"
"One cannot politely refuse a request made by God." Sakura said. "Any who would spurn a blessing given in kindness by my Master, would become my Master's enemies."
The chains covering the ground behind Sakura writhed like a mass of serpents. Kotomine felt the tingle of hostile eyes upon him: at least three corrupted Servants observing him from concealment in the shadows. It seemed the False Avenger had at least some appreciation for Gilgamesh's abilities, to send so many; though it was still underestimating the King of Heroes if it thought even this many would be enough. However, he chose not to give any indication he had noticed their presence, maintaining his affable demeanor.
"So it's an offer we're not allowed to refuse." Kotomine said. "What do you think, Gilgamesh? It would indeed be a splendid thing to see the grand opening of the Grail from such privileged seats, but we are being asked to walk into the very lair of the beast. This might be a trap."
"Oh, I do hope so." Gilgamesh said. "Just as a good hors d'oeuvre should precede a great entree, a good prelude should precede a great show. If that Servant amuses me enough, I may even honor it with a glimpse of a few of my swords."
"Very well, doll." Kotomine said. "You may escort us to your Master – your God."
They walked through the streets of Fuyuki like a strange procession: the chained girl, the smirking priest, and the King of Heroes. They were accompanied also by the False Avenger's corrupted Servant guards; though they did not let themselves be seen, he could sense them moving at the periphery of his vision. And every shadow of the night seemed to be filled with chains: coiled, lurking, tensed like serpents ready to strike. Gilgamesh was surely also aware of this; but with his usual casual contempt, he refused to dignify the threat with any response – he remained in his casual clothing for the journey, rather than donning his invincible golden armor. Such carelessness in the face of danger was truly the King of Heroes's greatest flaw; but in this case, Kotomine was not concerned. At the end of the previous Holy Grail War, Gilgamesh had been fully immersed in the curse of Angra Mainyu, but his unbreakable ego had pushed the curse aside like it was nothing. Though the False Avenger had been summoned from a parallel universe, Kotomine suspected that its chains functioned on the same principle as Angra Mainyu's mud; and so, Gilgamesh would be just as unmoved by their power.
It came as no surprise to Kotomine to find himself being led to Mt. Ryudou; to the secret entrance to the vast cavern at its heart which contained the foundation of the summoning ritual for the Great Grail. Though there were several locations in Fuyuki where the Lesser Grail could be made to manifest, this cavern was the most suitable. Being sheltered, secluded, and hidden, it was also exactly the sort of place the False Avenger would have taken to lurking while influencing the war from the shadows.
It was not until reaching the entrance to the cavern that one of the darkened Servants escorting them revealed itself. The False Lancer, Rei Ayanami, stepped from the shadows and raised one of her hands towards the night sky. After a long moment of silence, Kotomine finally detected the whistle of a rapidly approaching object; then the Servant's red lance, which had gone missing following her battle against the False Caster, flew back into her hand. It seemed that the Noble Phantasm had not been entirely unmade in that conflict, though Kotomine noticed that the strange red metal of the lance bore a large, ugly gouge where the Caster's sword of darkness had bitten into it. Gilgamesh sneered, and Kotomine knew him well enough to understand the source of his contempt – he had no respect for one so weak as to allow their treasures to be defaced. Such an affront must be met with swift and terrible vengeance, such as he planned against the False Caster for defiling the Ninnion Tablet, or else the owner demonstrated their unworthiness to have possessed the treasure in the first place. Not that Gilgamesh particularly valued any but a select few of the infinite Noble Phantasms in his treasury; he would carelessly discard any number of priceless treasures on the merest of whims. But such was his right, as king of all the world, where as for any other to do so would be an attack on the king's law, and thus the king himself. So went Gilgamesh's reasoning. It was an ancient and alien type of worldview, which any modern person with an ounce of common sense would probably deride as absurd; but Kotomine could understand it.
What was the principle of the False Avenger's worldview? That was the question Kotomine needed to answer, the reason why he permitted the chained girl to lead him into the very lair of the devil. Kotomine had developed a theory, based on his observations of the hidden Servant's actions during the war, but he needed to be certain. The False Avenger now controlled both Grail Vessels, Ilyasviel von Einzbern and Sakura Matou; thus, it had the power to determine whether or not the curse of Angra Mainyu would be born into the world. If, like himself, the False Avenger sought to facilitate the birth, then he had no quarrel with it; indeed, he would pledge himself to willingly fight alongside it against Shirou Emiya and his allies. But, on the remote chance that he had misjudged the situation, it would be necessary for Gilgamesh to destroy the False Avenger and its Servants. That would be an unfortunate outcome, since it would severely deplete the Grail's defenders; but Kotomine was resolved to see matters through to the end, regardless of circumstances.
Ahead of Kotomine, the narrow tunnel that they'd been walking finally opened up to the massive cavern at the mountain's heart. The cold stone chamber was lit with ruddy light that shone from the magical formulae inscribed in the stone floor. A vast mass of chains spread from a throne-like structure in the cavern's center to the walls, like the web of a vast and terrible spider. The chains were in constant motion, seething and sliding over one another like living things; and so they cast ever-changing shadows upon the cavern's ceiling as they writhed above the glowing runes. The burning red light and kaleidoscopic shadows made the cavern a vision of hell.
Kotomine focused his vision on the central throne. A pillar made of chains rose above it, and bound at the peak was the limp body of Ilyasviel von Einzbern. Even as Kotomine observed this, more chains leapt forwards to wrap around the limbs of Sakura Matou. She was as passive and unresisting as a puppet as they pulled her through the air to the pillar and bound her in place next to Ilyasviel. A minor tremor shook the cavern, and the throbbing light of the magical inscriptions intensified. The message was clear: though many Servants still had not yet been eliminated from this war, the Grail was more than ready to be born. After so many previous wars had ended inconclusively, it had filled to the point of overflowing; and now, whether the ritual was properly completed or not, it was going to force its way into the world.
The air above the heads of the two vessels began to ripple, then tore apart. A pair of black holes appeared within the cavern, binary starts shining with black light. They were the birth canals through which the two Grails, the True and the False, would unleash all evils of their respective worlds. They were small at the moment, only the size of marbles; but already they were growing. Kotomine estimated that it would be less than a day now before they expanded enough for Angra Mainyu to pass through and take form.
"Welcome, Overseer Kire Kotomine, to my sanctuary." a voice said.
Kotomine tore his eyes away from the alluring pulsations of the Grails and looked back at the throne of chains. A figure sprawled languidly across the seat; a young, pale, thin, androgynous form. As his pact with Gilgamesh from the previous war had never been dissolved, Kotomine was still considered by the Grail to be a Master and granted a Master's privileges; thus, he could sense that this unimposing form was a Servant of the Avenger class. Kotomine studied it carefully. Its parameters matched its weak appearance, being of the lowest possible rank in every category. Kotomine's suspicion was confirmed: this was not some great and mighty evil, some dark god given flesh, but merely a mortal burdened with the curse of all the world's evil. Just as the man who would become Angra Mainyu was just an ordinary person of no particular ability before being scapegoated and made into the avatar of the Zoroastrian devil, so too was this Avenger from a parallel world a thoroughly unexceptional individual. It was just fortunate enough to have a Noble Phantasm suited for inflicting its curse upon others, giving it the ability to corrupt other Servants and wield power disproportionate to its individual strength. But while that little trick had served it well thus far, it would be of no use against Kotomine and Gilgamesh. Kotomine relaxed, and let his lips curl into a smile; it seemed that fortune was on his side in this instance.
"This cavern is the womb from which will be born the world's destruction." the False Avenger said, gesturing languidly with one arm. "But, it is also the ark which will see the chosen few through the apocalypse. While the curse flows forth to engulf the rest of the world, this place alone will be spared – the proverbial eye of the storm, safe in the shadow cast by the hole connected to the Root. Here, my family and I will survive, and live in eternal happiness. Too large a family would be bothersome, of course; but since I have only attached myself to seven souls from this world so far, I would be comfortable with adding, oh, about six more. Should the remaining Masters and Servants attempt to attack this place, I will chain them in loving submission – but to you, Overseer, who have aided my cause, I extend one of my rare and exalted invitations."
"A question for you, Avenger." Kotomine said. "The Grail native to this world is incubating a curse called Angra Mainyu, All Evils of This World. I have made it my life's work to see the birth of this curse. However, as you are from a different world, I am unfamiliar with you or the precise nature of the curse carried within your Grail. Could you provide an explanation?"
The False Avenger scowled. It was not, Kotomine suspected, used to having its grandiose proclamations casually ignored. But while it might think itself impressive, Kotomine was underwhelmed. He had spent ten years in the company of Gilgamesh, King of Heroes. Gilgamesh did not need to work to generate an aura of pride and majesty; it was as inherent to him as gravity to mass. He exuded it effortlessly, the world bending around his immovable ego. This Avenger, though, was trying too hard. It was striving to project strength because it was weak; confidence because it was insecure; certainty because it was confused.
"Yes, you are correct; a curse is incubating within my Grail." the False Avenger said. "A curse which I myself bore in life. When I was foolishly summoned as a Servant and my soul entered the Great Grail, the curse was given incarnation; and now it will be unleashed upon your world. How best to explain it? Well, I suppose I should start from the beginning. It's a very old story, a very familiar story. 'A long time ago, God invited all the animals to a banquet'..."
"The fable of the Chinese Zodiac?" Kotomine asked.
"Ah, you're familiar with it." the False Avenger said. "Of course, like most legends, it has become distorted over time. The story everyone knows tells how God invited sent out invitations to a banquet, to which twelve animals responded... actually thirteen, when you add in the cat. But that's where the story usually ends. People don't tell what came after. God and the animals held a joyous banquet for a long, long time; but all things must eventually die. However, that lonely God was unwilling to part with his only companions. So, when they began to weaken with age, he bound their souls to his own. Chained together, they would be together forevermore throughout all their reincarnations. And that was the beginning of the curse. Reincarnating again and again, over and over, the God's soul began to rot and decay; he who had rejected his rightful eternity in favor of chaining himself to base and ephemeral mortal beings."
"And so, allow me to finally introduce myself." the False Avenger concluded. "My name is Akito Sohma, and I am God – the final reincarnation of the divine being you might recognize by the name Yu Huang Shandi, or the Jade Emperor. The one who controls the Zodiac – the Master of Souls!"
Gazing at that feeble figure trying to make such a grand pronouncement, Kotomine could not help but chuckle. The False Avenger showed shock, then rising anger at Kotomine's insolent reaction; but Kotomine did not try to restrain himself. He had suspected from the start that, despite the airs it put on, this Avenger was not too different from the Servant incarnation of Angra Mainyu – nothing but a weak and pitiful scapegoat, a mere stand-in for the curse they carried; and a number of observations he had made during the War had seemed to support this hypothesis. Still, he had chosen to err on the side of caution and avoid direction confrontation with this Avenger and its Dark Servants. Now, however, standing before it and seeing it with his own eyes, Kotomine could tell that he had never had anything to fear.
"You disappoint me, Avenger." Kotomine said. "I seek an answer to the question of whether it is wrong to be true to one's own nature, no matter how black and twisted it might be. I wish to gaze upon a being such as myself — a being of pure evil, utterly devoid of any redemptive traits, whose very existence is a plague upon the Earth, whose only pleasure is the suffering of others — and see what it thinks of its own actions. Does it find itself abhorrent? Is it at peace with its nature? If I could understand this, perhaps I could understand the meaning of my own life. But these are questions you cannot answer, because you are not the embodiment of evil — just a pitiful victim of abuse, who abuses others in turn."
"Shut up!" Akito yelled. "I am an existence that approaches God!"
"I see through you, oh mighty Master of Souls." Kotomine said. "Did you think I wouldn't divine the true meaning of the chains? Your counterpart in this world, Angra Mainyu, is a murder machine which lives only to kill; yet you merely enslave. You bind others to you because you are afraid of being alone."
"I said shut up!" Akito raged. "Stop talking!"
"With most of the Servants, the true Servant was summoned first, and the counterpart pulled from the False Grail as a consequence." Kotomine continued. "But not so with the Avengers — it was you who manifested first, and Angra Mainyu who was forcibly incarnated in counterbalance. Why did you emerge from the Grail once the other seven Servants had been summoned? Because you couldn't stand to remain in solitude after the other souls which had accompanied you within it had departed. Why do you bind your minions with chains through the heart? Because you fear that in the absence of such bonds they would flee and leave you alone. Your Noble Phantasm is nothing more than the embodiment of your fear of abandonment. You may use it to chain others, but you yourself are chained mostly tightly of all."
"Don't speak about me!" Akito screamed. "You don't know me! You don't understand me!"
"How could I not?" Kotomine asked. "You are but a child playing at being god, and your facade is clumsy and transparent to someone like myself. I can tell what you are, little girl."
With a scream of inarticulate rage, Akito flung out one arm in Kotomine's direction. In response to the Avenger's command, a chain lifted itself from the floor and shot forwards with the speed of a striking serpent, embedding its barbed head into the Overseer's heart. Kotomine, however, did not flinch in the slightest. In fact, he laughed in amusement as dark energy poured down the chain. The cursed magic reached his chest, but advanced no further. With one hand, Kotomine pulled the chain free from his chest, showing no pain as the barbs tore free from his flesh. He casually probed the wound left behind with the tip of one finger.
"As I thought." Kotomine said. "As a manifested curse, your chains are composed of pure magical energy and have very little physical substance to them. As gruesome as they might appear, the only real danger they pose is the curse they inflict – and that will not work on me."
"Impossible!" Akito said. "How did you...?"
"I have already embraced All Evils of This World." Kotomine said. "Ever since that day ten years ago, my heart and soul have belonged fully to Angra Mainyu, my body sustained and saturated by its curse. So, I am not available for you to claim."
"Do not think to try chaining me either, mongrel." Gilgamesh said casually. "Your petty curse means nothing to me; for I am an absolute existence which not even all the evils of the world can corrupt. That is what it means to be a true epic spirit! Of course, should you make the attempt, I would be compelled to answer such an insult by unleashing the myriad weapons of my treasury upon you and your slaves. It would be most unfortunate, to risk damaging the Grails at this stage; but such is the judgement of the king. Now and forever, this world belongs to me; you, Servant of a parallel world, are merely a visitor in my domain."
Akito curled in on herself upon her throne, the other Dark Servants closing ranks protectively around their Master. It seemed she had finally realized which way the scales were tilted. Even with an entire army of Servants at her command, this self-proclaimed God was nothing before the power of Gilgamesh.
"You should open your hearts to me." Akito pleaded. "Only by tying your souls to mine can you survive the coming apocalypse. When the Jade Emperor's curse emerges, it will claim any souls which I do not; and unlike I, that pure incarnation of the curse will not have any humanity holding it back."
"Survival is not a concern of mine." Kotomine said flatly. "My only remaining worry is whether the curses of the two Grails are compatible. Some legends of the Jade Emperor have it warring against demons for millions of years. Will it attempt to battle Angra Mainyu for supremacy over this world?"
"Please." Akito said, a bit of contempt creeping back into her voice. "The original Jade Emperor has long since rotted away; all that remains is the curse. That thing which is now incubating within the Grail is no different from your Angra Mainyu: just a mindless force of pure evil. The two manifested curses will be so similar, they'll probably just flow together into one indistinguishable mass."
"Then that relieves me of my final concern." Kotomine said. "If your Grail had posed a threat to the birth of Angra Mainyu, I would have had to destroy it. But since it does not, I am content to await its advent. In my final moments, I will bless it and forgive its sins, and accept and acknowledge its existence. So long as I am able to find my answer, then what becomes of humanity after my death does not concern me."
"Kotomine is a bit of a pessimist." Gilgamesh said. "Myself, I have faith in the resourcefulness of humanity. True, the current era overflows with weak and decadent mongrels; but perhaps one in a thousand possesses some small measure of value. The flames of hell shall serve to separate the wheat from chaff and forge the ore of vulgar humanity into a shining alloy worthy of me. Only the very best will survive the apocalypse to be ruled me; but those weak enough to die to a mere curse, had not right to live in the first place. And once mankind has been restored to its proper state, it will rise from the ashes to achieve a bright and shining future."
"You are both fools." Akito told them sullenly. "Thinking the curse something that can toyed with. You will know your folly, when the Grails open; and no matter how much you beg, I will not extend the hand of salvation."
"You accuse us of toying with the curse; but aren't you working to see it born as well?" Kotomine asked. "You do have both Grail Vessels in your possession. If you wished to deny the curse, you should have simply crushed their hearts and so aborted the ritual."
"I am not like you at all." Akito said, "You wish to use the curse for your ends; I have merely realized the futility of opposing it. Each of the previous Grail Wars has ended without a winner, but what has actually been resolved? Nothing. Every generation, it simply repeats again: more maguses fight more pointless Grail War, more innocent scapegoats are sacrificed in place of the guilty, more incarnations of the Jade Emperor are born and die and are born again. No, the only way to bring an end to this eternal cycle is to let the long-delayed curses finally be born. They will burn the world to ash; but I will save those I can by claiming their souls for myself, and then we will be free to found a new Eden among the ruins of the old world. It will be a fresh start, one untained by the long-festering evils that have poisoned this world beyond saving."
"Well, it makes no difference to me." Kotomine said. "I live only to see the birth of Angra Mainyu, and care not for what happens after."
"I have no objection, either." Gilgamesh proclaimed. "You are indeed a foolish mongrel, Akito Sohma, but you have at least succeeded in amusing me. This whole world is my garden until the end of time, so I will loan you a small corner of it to build your so-called Eden. I look forward to you providing me with much more entertainment."
"There you have it." Kotomine said. "We will not let you subjugate our souls, girl cursed by God; but since our short-term interests align, we will assist in protecting the Grails until their birth. What so you?"
"...So be it." Akito spat, pronouncing the words like a curse.
Above them, in the heights of the cavern, the dark pulsating cores of the twin Grails continued to expand.
Author's Note:
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