Hallowed Promise Chapter Two: Legend
"I can't stop 'til the whole world knows my name. 'Cause I was only born inside my dreams. Until you die for me, as long as there's a light. My shadow over you 'cause I am the opposite of amnesia."
-Centuries Lyrics, Fall Out Boy
Basement of the Tohsaka household -
My entire body ached, particularly my head. My spirit was drained and mana low after somehow escaping the grail. The void hadn't broken me, nothing in any world was truly capable of that…but I felt bent. A new and undesirable sentiment. I fell away from the girl's shove and into a large pile of coins and jewels largely because keeping my feet after such an escape was difficult. It wasn't the most comfortable summoning I'd ever experienced, but the agony was a delight compared to the lack of it. I couldn't help but laugh at the scene around me. The fact that I again had a form with which to feel anything was a delectable twist given what effort had been put into trapping me.
My existence was an absurd thing, beyond mortality despite only being partly divine. I'd chased immortality once years ago but only found fools' gold. I'd given up on the concept, but now. Now I realized I'd been both correct and not about death being the reason to enjoy life. I'd already seen the end, and I never intended to do so again. The void had given me all the greater thirst to appreciate everything, just not in the manner I expected…
The girl fell to her knees, staring at me in suitable amazement. She was still young, probably in her late teens or early twenties, but that was still older than several servants I'd seen in previous wars. Long wavy dark hair fell around her face, bangs just above her wide, bright blue eyes. She wore some manner of uniform, so I expected she was still in college. She reached up to touch her lips, not seeming to know how to react to what I'd done.
Opening magical circuits was dangerous, but I'd lacked the time to hesitate. I'd been a mage in one of the many lives twirling through my head. Instinct had covered whatever subconscious knowledge had not, and just as well since I could still feel the connection allowing mana to flow into me even without contact. The proximity alone was enough to draw energy and I lounged where I'd fallen, content to take in the world. The room was in tatters, and dark save a few candles near stairs leading up. The summoning circle worked into the now cracked earth beneath our feet no longer glowing now that I'd fully materialized.
"I'm compelled to ask you," The words flooding into my mind as a part of the ancient magic of the grail war. "Are you my Master?"
"I am." She stated with conviction; for someone rising from their knees. "I'm Kagome. Kagome Higurashi."
"I can't believe it actually worked…" She muttered lowly.
"Uncertainty. You are an inexperienced Magus." I observed, the coins clinking as they shifted with my weight when I took my feet. My armor fading away into the black and white clothing I preferred when blending into the mortal world. I glanced back to the treasures, waving my hand to let them fall into my Gate of Babylon. They were offerings for me, after all. "What did you use as a catalyst? Did you get ahold of that snakeskin again?"
"Uh…" She looked unsure of how to answer, as if still coming to terms that I was here. I offered a slow smile which seemed to spur her to words. "I used your arm…well, what was left of it."
I recalled the young mortal magus and his slipping close enough to remove the catalyst the girl spoke of shortly before I'd been trapped. Ironic that his lucky strike would be the requirement of my return.
"Where did you come by my arm?" I asked, flexing the fingers as I rolled my shoulder.
"I had someone dig it up for me. The last person that uh…defeated you…had it buried in their garden." She had the sense to sound nervous about mentioning my loss in the previous war. I didn't sour until she mentioned how she'd come to possess my lost limb.
"They put me in their yard, like fertilizer?" I snapped at the notion of it, did they think I'd let such an insult stand? "Where are they?"
"They aren't a part of the war this time around." She said, shaking her head at my question. "Which reminds me, we should get moving. I only came here to make sure I had the best chance at summoning you. This isn't where I stay."
She'd turned to leave but took several steps backwards as I appeared in front of her. "You haven't answered my question."
Her brows lowered, lips curling into a frown.
"Look, Gilgamesh." Her tone was notably lacking respect this time and I narrowed my eyes. "I get that you don't like what happened. I do. I'd be pissed too. But we can't just wander around half-cocked and have you take on Saber right now. I'm already exhausted, and from what I can tell you aren't exactly running on a full tank of mana. Whatever happened with the summon just now, it wasn't normal…we need to get somewhere and lay low to recuperate, so we have more strength behind us. Then you can go murder Saber and Shirou both if you want, as long as you win me the war."
Her exasperation was followed by her disregard for those not involved in the war. Was she unconcerned with the usual rules then? At first glance, I wouldn't have pegged her as a rebel. Her reasoning was sound enough, my body felt lethargic.
"No need for that expression." I shrugged lightly, then took a step closer to her, leaning down and staring until her resolve broke enough that she glanced away. "You might be the most useful mongrel I've come across for a very long time, but know this, I won't continue to tolerate disrespect."
I left her to consider the warning and walked toward the steps. I could have dematerialized, but I wanted to maintain my form. I walked up from the peasant's basement just to feel something solid beneath my feet, to hear the creaks of the wood reacting to my weight. The reflections of my presence something I needed after what had happened. It was weak, but also a new indulgence. Even tiny motions, sounds, or textures I had a new appreciation for. My fingers trailing over the top of a marble table when I reached the ground floor.
"Do you have a coat?" The girl asked, having trailed up the steps behind me. She paused at a closet to pull out one of her own. "It's getting cold these days. You'll probably want something. I have an extra hoodie here if you want it. It's big for me, so it might be snug, but it should fit."
"I've little need for your tattered fleece." I remarked, I didn't even really need to worry about things like temperature. Now that I was a spirit again and lacking a fully physical form, I wouldn't need to concern myself with such details. For the sake of appearances, I added a black jacket with fur along the rim of the hood to my outfit.
"Sure, fine." I watched her stop herself from rolling her eyes. If only her effort to remain polite weren't so visible. "Let's go."
She walked out the door. She was right, that the air was more chill than in the house. Wind curled along the street knocking leaves from trees. Autumn closing in on winter then, a common time of year to start the grail war. She stepped away from the home and I followed, laughing when I saw it from the outside.
"The Tohsaka? Again?" I wondered if she was aware of what had happened in the fourth grail war. "Did you not give your name as Higurashi?"
"My father got around." She muttered, frowning at the comment. "I only learned I was related to the Tohsaka's early this year. Then, the grail war came along and I received seals. You can win it again, right?"
"For your service thus far, I'll forgive that ignorance. There isn't a servant that can stand against me. I, however, find little wisdom in ending the war. I'll pass on being sacrificed to the grail."
She paused and turned toward me, shocked yet again. "But, that's the point of the war…for you to fight and then return to the throne of heroes."
"Are you so certain the throne of heroes is where I'd return?" I was hesitant to believe the grail would be so kind. "I have no intent of allowing that to happen."
"Then, we'll find another way." She said seriously, starting to walk again. I'd anticipated more of an argument, but she'd wisely acquiesced. "The war doesn't have to end with your death. You survived it once before."
"I did, but do you have someone else in mind to sacrifice?" I knew nothing came easily with the grail.
"Anyone I have to." She stated without hesitation.
"Oh?" I smiled at the remark. "Your conviction surprises me. I can arrange it all, defeat of the other servants, a sacrifice suitable to power the grail, the proper methods to activate it so you'll garner a wish and I'll survive. What are you willing to barter away, I wonder?"
"Way I see it; I don't need to barter away anything." She answered bluntly, making it my turn to be surprised. "You clearly don't wanna return to wherever you were before I summoned you and given how you betrayed my uncle in the fourth war, I hesitate to make a deal with you."
"Your fearlessness would be admirable were it not pointed in my direction." I observed drily. "I must admit, you are more willful than our first meeting would imply. I'll enjoy breaking of you of that, eventually, but regrettably you are correct. I will kill whomever I must remain here, and it'd be a pity for all the dedication to your cause to go to waste. I'd expect you wouldn't want me pulling mana from another Master."
It wasn't the most subtle of threats, but it was a possibility. A spirit once summoned could end up with a different participant of the war than the master that called them. She knew it, given her mention of her uncle, whom I assumed was Tokiomi. She stopped walking and I grinned slowly. "A deal then…"
"Gilgamesh, I order you to remain loyal to me. For the length of this Grail War you are not allowed to forge contracts to any Masters other than me." She interrupted, and I winced at the burn echoed on the back of my hand. The magic curling across our connection and locking the order in as one I'd be forced to follow.
"Well," My tone had gone colder than the winds shifting by us. "As wasteful and unwise as your ancestor. Had we come to an agreement I would have kept my word."
"Shit…" Her hissed frustration didn't match the current conversation. Then she shoved me suddenly into an alley between the streets, pushing me until we had gotten a several feet inside. Had she gone mad? "You need to disappear, or whatever you do."
"Excuse me?" I raised a brow at her distastefully. "Have you lost your senses?"
"We need to hide. That was Shiro's car that came around the corner. I knew they'd figure it out, I just thought we'd get away from here before they decided to check out the Tohsaka house." The mongrel stated, as much to herself as to me. "Come on…no, no, what are you…"
I stepped away from where she was moving through the unlit path. If this person approaching was really the child that removed my arm and trapped me in hell, then I owed them a proper greeting.
"Stop it! We agreed you weren't gonna fight yet." She chased me down to grab my arm just before I reached the street.
I paused to take my limb back from her, we'd need to remedy this informal behavior soon. "I'm only going to buy us time, I'll wait until I can summon Ea to finish them."
"You'll still be seen!" She whined fruitlessly when I continued out of the alley. "We're supposed to be careful when we're out, so we don't become targets."
"Do you take me for Assassin? Hiding in the shadows like a criminal." I sneered at the concept of such a thing. "No, what point is there in remaining unseen, let them know what awaits them."
"Get back here." She hissed as I stepped into the path of the oncoming headlights.
I grinned at the way the horn cut off. An audible moment of the recognition of their fate. To the boy's credit, he blocked several blades that shot from my gates. Though he missed that it was a feint. He didn't know I could summon them from the ground. Even if he had, Enkidu wasn't a weapon he could replicate to block. The chains wrapping around the undercarriage of the vehicle. Using its own momentum my chains flipped it harshly into the air. I leaned slightly backward as the air born Toyota went over my head, offering a small wave at the shocked expressions of the two in the cabin. Then they were rolling down the hill in the front of the Tohsaka house. I doubted it would kill them, but it would pause or delay any current pursuit.
The exchange closed for the time being, I returned the few feet to my Master; her mouth was hanging open again. I reached over to push her jaw shut and gestured at the road. "We can continue on foot if you like, or I could summon a vehicle to get us to the intended destination faster."
End Chapter
Gilgamesh just needs Enkidu and physics/gravity when it comes to fighting an approaching car. LOL. Saber's probably so pissed right now. Someone ruined her garden and then Gil threw her off a cliff (literally). Don't think she'd pull off her Ahoge quite yet but close. Poor Kagome too. She's trying so hard to use tactics and Gil is just: ha, watch me roll this car.
-Aura