Day 9: Shirou — Zelretch
Shortly after breakfast, Shirou had all of his would-be allies assemble in his living room for a war meeting. Today, he was certain, would be the final day of this Holy Grail War. The two corrupted Grails were nearly ready to hatch and unleash their curses upon the world; this was their last chance to stop them. However, that would mean facing the False Avenger and the group of Dark Servants under its command; not to mention that priest, Kirie Kotomine, and the Archer-class Servant which Caren said he retained from the previous War.
Shirou looked around the room at his allies. Rin Tohsaka wore an expression of resolute determination. Sitting next to her, Luviagelita Edelfelt tried to match her poise, but couldn't quite manage it. Having lost her Lancer to the False Avenger, Luvia had to be acutely aware of the fact that she was now far less capable of contributing to the cause than her rival Rin, who still held a contract with two Servants.
Then there was Bazett. The woman was radiating an unusually fierce aura, and was clearly impatient to get down to business. This change in her demeanor had come about the previous night, when the False Caster had delivered her a strange ancient tablet, which Bazett had promptly crushed to dust between her gloved hands. She had afterwards informed Shirou that she needed to speak with him on the subject of Kotomine. Since Shirou had already scheduled the tactics meeting, he had told her to wait until everyone had gathered in order to speak her piece.
Sitting in a corner were the two Einzbern maids, Sella and Leysritt. Following Ilya's abduction by the False Avenger, the two women had meekly surrendered and followed Shirou back to the house without protest. They somewhat unnerved Shirou, the way they sat perfectly motionless like porcelain dolls; but they had displayed formidable combat abilities in the forest, and placed their master's well-being above all else. Shirou believed they could be trusted that far.
Finally, there was Caren Ortenisa, the Church exorcist. She sat calmly and demurely, as though entirely unconcerned with what was going on around her. However, the patches of blood staining her bandage wrappings told another story. It was physically paining her, attending this meeting along with her servant True Avenger; but she was enduring it.
The Avenger, Angra Mainyu, slouched lazily against a far wall. He was staying as far away from his Master as the room allowed, in order to reduce the discomfort caused to her by his presence; but this was apparently as far as his manners stretched. Shirou did not at all like the Servant, who radiated an aura of laziness and scuminess; but he was forced to concede that he was a valuable asset for their plans. For one thing, though very weak by Servant standards, his combat ability still far exceeded that of a human; and for another, his connection to the curse within the Great Grail let him sense how it was developing. It was Avenger who had advised Shirou that he sensed his Grail Vessel, within Ilya, being taken to a cavern beneath Mt. Ryudou; and that they probably had only until the end of the day before his other self would emerge from it to destroy the world.
True Saber Arturia sat calmly, almost meditatively. However, she was wearing her full armor; a sign that, despite her tranquil pose, she was taking this meeting as seriously as she would an actual battle. False Saber Crow, by contrast, could barely restrain himself from pacing back and forth. Always more comfortable with action than talk, if he had his way then they'd already be storming the mountain. False Archer Homura and the nameless True Archer, though as physically different from each other as could be, both wore the same grave expression: the face of one who had seen much death in battle, and was preparing to march once more onto the blood-soaked killing field.
Finally, there was the False Caster Lina Inverse. Now that Shirou had finished assembling everyone and bringing them up to speed on the plan to assault the mountain today, she was enthusiastically taking center stage. According to Rin, one of the advantages of the Caster class was the ability to provide spells and equipment to enhance the abilities of their allies, so Shirou had asked Lina if there was anything to do to help them prepare for battle. She had interpreted his request as a compliment towards her magical prowess, and eagerly agreed.
"I'm more of a combat-sorceress than an enchanter, so I can't make a Workshop or fashion powerful items from nothing." Lina said. "However, I have managed to acquire a few things since coming to this world. I was never that interested in participating in this Grail War, but the idea of finding exotic treasures did appeal to me; and so I acquired a few. In particular, since Rin and Luvia both practice a form of magecraft based on jewels, I'm willing to give you some of the precious gemstones I've collected."
She unfurled a cloth inscribed with a magic hexagram and set it down on the table in the center of the meeting. She then pulled several plain cloth bags from the bounded field within her cape and opened them, spilling their contents onto the cloth: piles of shining gems, of all different types.
"Normally, I'd charge a pretty penny to part with any of these." Lina said. "But, in the interest of our collaborative world-saving effort, I'm donating them free of charge this one time only."
Rin, however, was examining the piles of gemstones with a critical eye.
"Hey, I recognize some of these!" Rin said crossly. "They're mine! Someone broke into my house and stole them early in the War – it was you, you thieving minx!"
"Hey, hey, hey!" Lina said. "We weren't allies, then. And I'm giving them back now, that's the whole point! In fact, it's your lucky day; because I'm going to use a few of my special patented magical tricks to improve them for you."
Chanting words in a strange magical tongue, Lina held out one hand above the pile of gems and then clenched it into a fist. With a sharp, bell-like noise, every single one of the gems shattered into dust. As Lina's chant continued, the dust fused together into a single, ugly, lump-shaped mass.
"What a spectacular improvement." Rin said. "Are you sure you know what you're doing?"
"Hey!" Lina said. "Are you a Caster with the Item Creation class skill? No? Then sit back and leave this to the professional sorceress."
Lina now pressed her heads against the cloth the mass was sitting on and began a different chant. The hexagram inscribed on the cloth began to shine with a brilliant white light, which was soaked into the mass. Finally, with a smug satisfied smile, Lina snapped her fingers. The mass broke cleanly in half, revealing the inside to be lined in gemstones like a geode. Furthermore, the new gems seemed to glimmer with internal light.
"Look how nice these are." Lina said. "If you stored all your magic power in gems for a hundred years, you wouldn't be able to accumulate even a hundredth of what I've just charged these stones with. Using these stones to fuel your magecraft, you might even be able to take down one of the corrupted Servants. If we all survive this, you're going to owe me sooo much money."
"You said you were giving them back because they were my gems to begin with!" Rin protested.
"The gems were yours, but the magic energy is mine." Lina said. "Plus labor costs for hiring me to improve them – the services of the most talented sorceress in the world don't come cheap."
"Unbelievable." Rin muttered.
From the way she was eying the gems, though, Shirou could tell that she really was impressed; she just didn't want to show it.
"What else do you have?" Shirou asked. "You mentioned something about a magic sword?"
"Yeah, this beauty." Lina reached into her cloak again. "It certainly feels magical; and looks spectacular, right?"
The weapon she withdrew was a sword with a blade that seemed to have been cut from a single giant gemstone. Shirou instinctively scanned it with his structural grasp magecraft, only for his mind to recoil in shock; the magical theorem encoded within that crystal was beyond his ability to comprehend. It was something that surpassed human magecraft, and entered the realm of True Magic. And he wasn't the only one to be shocked by the sight of it; as soon as Lina held out the sword, Rin leaped out of her seat.
"No way!" Rin said. "That's the Jeweled Sword Zelretch!"
"You know this weapon?" Shirou asked.
"It's the Mystic Code of the Great Sorcerer Kischur Zelretch Schweinorg, holder of the Second True Magic." Rin said. "He entrusted the blueprints to my ancestor, Nagato Tohsaka, for the Tohsaka family to work on recreating. But after my father died in the last War, the blueprints were stolen... It must have been Zouken Matou. As one of the three original students who was mentored by the Great Sorcerer himself, only Zouken would have the knowledge to actually produce this blade. I heard he was resentful that the blueprints were left to Nagato, believing himself more capable... Shirou, do you realize what this means?"
"Uh..." Shirou said.
"The Second True Magic, Kaleidoscope, allows for interaction with parallel worlds." Rin said. "When Zouken created this sword, he perverted the design to suit his own ends. This is the tool he used to summon the False Grail, by using this Mystic Code to draw it here from parallel worlds. And now that we have it, we can undo what he did. Send the other Grail and the other Servants back to where they belong."
"That's great!" Shirou said. "It's the False Avenger that's been corrupting and enslaving Servants, so if you can remove it..."
"Don't get ahead of yourself." Rin warned. "I'll need to reach the center of the summoning formula for the Great Grail to reverse the change Zouken made. That'll be were the Grail is manifesting, so likely the most defending area of the enemy's camp. In other words, we'll need to fight our way through all the Dark Servants first."
"And it won't just be the Dark Servants opposing us." Caren added. "We will be facing Overseer Kirie Kotomine and his Archer as well. Kotomine has allied himself with Angra Mainyu, and seeks to birth its curse into the world. I am certain he will be awaiting us at the Grail."
"I remember that Archer from the previous War." Saber said. "Despite fighting at full strength, I was unable to defeat him. I have the magical energy to use Excalibur but one more time, and I must reserve that for destroying the Grail. And if we're fighting inside a cavern... at the level he is capable of fighting at, a full-scale battle could bring the entire mountain down on top of us."
"You can go ahead and leave that guy to me, then." Lina said confidently. "With my magic, I can create a subspace to fight in so the real world won't be damaged. He's vowed vengeance on me for some ridiculous reason or another, so I should be able to draw his attention."
"Angra Mainyu..." said Luvia, who had been thinking for a bit. "That's your name, isn't it, Avenger?"
"Guilty as charged." True Avenger said.
"Then... if Kotomine is trying to birth the Grail's curse out of loyalty to you, why is it that you yourself are trying to stop him?" Luvia asked.
"Don't confuse me with the curse I bear." True Avenger said. "The curse called Angra Mainyu is something that has been engraved on my body against my will. This man Kotomine's allegiance is to that curse, All Evils of This World, rather than to me, Servant Avenger."
True Avenger looked around at the suspicious and hostile faces of everyone else in the room.
"Come on, don't you trust me?" he asked. "The curse that is going to destroy this world is something that was born from the wishes of all the rest of humanity, not me. Personally, I still love this world. I am a hero, after all."
"I can forgive you all for your doubts," Caren interrupted, "but given the seriousness of the situation, perhaps it would ease your concerns if I were to use one of my Command Spells."
She raised one pale hand into the air.
"Servant Avenger, by my Command Spell, I order you: Assist us in destroying the Holy Grail." Her words echoed with magical weight. "...There. Will that suffice?"
"I still don't like him, we're not in a position to turn down any help we can get." Shirou said. "That goes for you too, Einzbern maids. I know your master has a grudge against me because of what Kiritsugu did, but I'm hoping we can settle our differences after the Grail War. Right now, with the whole world in danger, we should be working together. Can I count on you to help?"
"I wish we could." Sella said. "However... I don't believe we can be of assistance in this situation. We are homunculi created to serve Lady Ilyasviel. And so, we are naturally bound to assist her and to obey her commands. Currently, Lady Ilyasviel is under the control of the False Avenger. If it ordered her to order us to turn on you, we would not be able to disobey."
Leysritt nodded mute agreement, prompting a frown from Rin.
"But if your loyalty is to her, why have you joined us here instead of going to your lady's side and assisting her?" Rin asked.
"We were made to serve and obey Lady Ilyasviel." Sella said. "However... we are not merely her servants. We are also her friends. And we want what is best for her, even if it is not what she would command of us. So, we ask of you... please, save her."
"We will." Shirou said solemnly. "I promise. Whatever the cost. I'll bring her back to you."
"Is it now my turn to speak?" asked Bazett.
"Sure, go ahead." Shirou said.
"I must make an important confession." Bazett said. "I originally came to you for shelter claiming that I could not take refuge at the Church. This was, in truth, a ploy. At the time, I was secretly colluding with Kotomine. He had instructed me to pretend to ally myself with you so that I would be in position to betray you at a critical moment."
"Hah!" Rin said. "I knew it! Didn't I tell you, Shirou, that you should've been more suspicious of her? Didn't I say that her asking you for sanctuary was an obvious plot? Guess who it turns out was right!"
"Obviously, that was before I was aware of Kotomine's malicious intent." Bazett continued, ignoring Rin. "Though I am normally not a fan of such underhanded tactics, and had refused his initial overtures; but after being ambushed by the False Assassin at the temple, I was in a precarious position and Kotomine's proposition seemed my only opportunity to salvage my chances of winning the Grail. In hindsight, it is clear to me that I was wrong to succumb to this temptation, and I hope you will not hold any grudge against me for my moment of weakness."
"You are forgiven." Caren said immediately.
Across from her, Avenger mockingly mimed the words in unison with his Master, then held up a hand.
"Slow down a moment, little miss martyr." he said. "You aren't the one who this lady deceived and plotted to betray. So it's not exactly your place to offer her forgiveness, now is it? I would think that that's a matter for our gracious host to decide."
Shirou shot Avenger a dirty look.
"Of course I'm willing to forgive you." he said. "I understood that, as a rival Master in this War, you saw me as an enemy to be defeated. But my goal was always to end the War with as little bloodshed as possible. If I managed to change your mind about doing harm, that's all I could have asked for."
"I cannot truly say that it is you who changed my mind." Bazett said. "If it truly were the only way for me to acquire the Grail, and if the Grail truly were the ultimate wish-granting machine of kegend, then no amount of kindness on your part would have stayed my hand from doing what was necessary. It is only because I discovered that the Grail is corrupt, and that Kotomine was duplicitously using me as a tool to advance his agenda of unleashing its curse, that I decided that I would assist you in earnest against him."
"Heh." Red Archer chuckled. "It seems there is at least one woman in the world immune to your charms. I was beginning to despair of that after watching my own Master succumb."
"I would have informed you of all of this sooner, had I been able." Bazett continued, determinedly ignoring the interruptions. "However, I had been magically bound to secrecy. It is only recently that I managed to communicate enough to False Caster for her to assist me by destroying the artifact Kotomine was using to enforce my silence."
"I'm adding that to my tab, by the way." Lina added.
"Fortunately, I had my doubts about Kotomine from the start; he had changed enough from the man I once worked with in the past to make me uneasy." Bazett said. "Thus, even while collaborating with him, I concealed the full extent of the resources at my disposal. While it is true that I have expended all of my available Fragarach, Kotomine was not aware that I retained this."
Bazett removed the black cover on her left hand, revealing a mark inscribed on her skin — a single remaining Command Spell.
"I'm glad to hear someone saw through that damn fake priest, but I don't see how much help that Command Spell will be." Rin said. "I made you swear to a geas, remember, not to take another Servant for the rest of this War. I suppose you could use the Command Spell as a mana source to turbo-charge one spell..."
"Do not jump to hasty conclusions." Bazett said. "I was already working as a double agent at the time I swore that oath; and since I was entering into it in bad faith, I made sure to choose a wording which left me a loophole. In truth, I was worried you would catch on sooner; I understand your father developed a similar stratagem for the previous War, and your Red Archer has proven remarkably astute in his guard duties."
"Ah, so that explains it." Red Archer said, giving her a smirk. "What a sly woman. Well, I can't say I approve of such rank treachery; but I do wish I could have bee summoned by a Master as clever as you."
"Hey!" Rin said.
"Huh?" Shirou said. "I'm missing something. What are you talking about?"
"One final advantage for the coming fight." Red Archer said. "You have been practicing your Projection as I instructed, boy? You can create the weapons needed for victory without fault or flaw?"
Shirou nodded.
"Then perhaps you really do have a chance." Red Archer said. "To fulfill that dream which I gave up upon..."
...many times, I have withstood enormous pain to create thousands of weapons...
...and yet, those hands that have created so much will never hold anything...
Shirou's mind burned with images of a sky filled with enormous gears, of a vast plain impaled by countless swords.
"Say, Red Archer..." Shirou said uncomfortably. "Just who are you, anyways?"
"Nobody important." Red Archer said casually. "Just someone who once held a foolish dream of being a hero."
"There's nothing foolish about wanting to be a hero." Shirou said firmly. "We're going to do it. We will destroy the Grails, and protect the world, and save everyone."
He looked around him, at the faces of his friends and his allies.
"Today is the final day of the Grail War." he said. "Let's go end it."
Author's Note:
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