Chapter Nine: To Lose a Life

It was good that he'd noticed the first half of the clip not working and recited the incantation for his magic to alter his personal time, because Kiritsugu Emiya was face to face with a knife and a boy that was not only very fast, but totally fine after taking an entire clip of bullets to the torso without so much as a sign of magical reinforcement. The magus killer dodged the slash of a butcher knife just barely as it was about to hit him, the wind of it letting the man know that he would have been dead instantly if that had hit him.

"What the hell? How is a master that fast and strong?" was the natural thought that went through his head.

He quickly rolled away and pulled out his other gun, a single shot pistol with very high stopping power that he used to fire his specialty: origin rounds made from his ribs. If the kid was using some form of magic, the shot would penetrate and incapacitate him instantly. The boy thought nothing of it, and took one straight to the chest. It immediately regretted it. His skin came apart in several places and then immediately retracted as if trying to tie him in knots.

Kiri was stunned. What the hell kind of reaction to them was that? Normally a magus hit with them simply had his magic circuits knotted up and made useless, a process that pretty much always floored them. Instead, this guy's skin was trying to rearrange itself. It was disgusting. Worse still when the 'boy' simply tore it off like a shirt and threw it aside. The only parts left were the appendages of what was apparently a skin suit for some... thing.

Something that looked like a patchwork of a man, a woman, and something like a bug. Its head was mostly human, but with the face missing. And it was notably taller than the boy had been.

"Skinwalker? Those are supposed to look like insects... what the hell am I looking at?"

In sneered at him, "Take your skin... smells like both the pretty ladies."

Kiritsugu took the chance to reload his guns, since the thing was talking, "You're a servant I assume. Can't say I recognize the legend."

The thing lunged at him again, some blade-like thing coming out from its forearm. Kiri dodged thanks to a small burst of reinforcement magic, and went back into time alteration, holding up the hand that bore his command seals, "Saber if you are free, teleport straight to me right now and kill this thing."

Saber immediately appeared directly between the two of them and quickly ascertained the situation. Quickly enough to block the new attack that was bound for Kiritsugu and drive it back with a blast of wind mana.

"Master, we were attacked by a servant, seemingly this one. The others escaped down the escape route while I held it off. Forgive me for letting it slip away. It called forth quite the army to evade me."

"No harm done I hope. Just focus on putting down this abomination."

Saber sneered at the creature, "I recognize the insignia on that piece of armor. It belonged to Donovan, a knight whose name I only know because he's the one that took Marrok's lands and wife for his own with treachery. He stole the skin Marrok used to turn human."

The creature made strange clicking noises at Arthur before talking to her, "I'm a victim too, I'm a victim too, and I'm a victim too. You should thank me I killed a man wasting his land, thwarted a beast posing as a man, and guided men to more productive lives. I made your kingdom better Arthur."

"What? You aren't making any sense! What's become of you? Since when did a minor knight know demon magic? Why are you in that state?"

"I'm better than you... you who gave up being a woman to become king. I didn't take the easy way. I stayed a woman... and you let him take my face. You let him take my only weapon."

Saber glanced at the parts of dress and the single breast on the torso, "You're not one person outside or in... what in god's name did the grail summon?"

The creature rushed at Saber, who parried again, "Avenger class servant... haha ha, Bisclavret!"

Saber shoved Avenger back with a burst of strength then planted a boot in its stomach with enough force to knock it into a tree and that tree over. Saber surged immediately forward, sliced the falling tree in half as she came at the creature with a downward slash. Avenger deflected it with its arm blade and punched her with enough strength to send her rolling backward. Then it dodged another round from Kiritsugu that had been aimed at the part of the boy's arm that was still attached. The part with the command seals.

"Clever boy." Avenger rushed Kiritsugu, and was immediately smashed into the ground by Saber.

Kiritsugu shouted out advice as he created some distance, "Go for the command seals! It made a point of keeping them on itself. It probably can't survive without them on."

"Right. Go find the others before you get trapped here by its familiars!"

"Good idea. Keep it busy this time and I'll get out of its view."

Kiri left Saber to it and circled the mansion towards the path the escape route would take them. He wasn't expecting to spot them running around the mansion to his side until a minute or two later when he spotted Iri and Kariya a bit frther north through the trees

"Iri! Kariya! What are you doing? There's a servant that way! Where's-"

"Kiritsugu... Kiritsugu... Kiritsugu."

The man turned to see Maiya walked towards him, with an odd expression. Like someone trying to seduce a person while not really understand the idea and also while completely insane. She was holding the relic sword he'd given her.

"Maiya, why do you have that sword out?"

"I drove off Kirei Kotomine for you! Please, can I have a present? I want a reward, Kiriwiri!"

"Kiriwiri?"

Iri called out from a distance, being held back by Kariya, "Kiri, run! The sword is cursed! She's not in her right mind!"

Maiya yelled loudly at her, illogically so. Rather than as loudly has you'd expect, Maiya yelled at the very top of her lungs. So hard that her voice cracked, "STOP GETTING IN THE WAY OF MY FAMILY! HE WAS ABOUT TO PUT A BABY IN ME!"

Kiritsugu didn't retreat, or panic, "Maiya. Put down the sword, that's an order."

"But I'm going to carve out a future for us with this."

"Don't make me take it from you. I don't want to hurt you, Maiya."

The crazed woman blushed, "You don't want to hurt me?"

"No."

"You care about me?"

"You know I do."

"YOU LOVE ME, KIRI! I KNEW IT! NOW PUT A BABY IN ME!"

"Maiya, calm down."

The woman started cutting her clothes off with the sword, "It can be angry, self-punishing sex like always! I can put you back together after you kill yourself inside! Or if you want to die I can take you apart! Just... make love to me!"

"Maiya, stop it! This isn't you!"

Maiya looked hurt and betrayed, "This is me, Kiri... this was all in me... like I want you in me." she seemed to reel herself n a little, "This has to be me... this... kind of woman... otherwise why would those soldiers have... why would you..."

"Maiya... I...,"

"You'll never love me..." Maiya spasmed as if fighting herself, "I'll kill you... no me... kill me... I can't stop it help me!" she lurched forward, "IF YOU WON'T AND YOU WANT TO DIE... THEN I'LL KILL YOU AND THEN-"

Kiritsugu started losing his cool, he fought back tears at the sight of what he'd put in her hands and apparently in her head. He'd saved her from that hell, only to put her in a worse one, "Maiya, put it down or I'll take it by force!"

"I can't... you can't... look at me! LOOK AT ME AND LOVE ME!"

Maiya suddenly rushed him, but was hit suddenly from the side. For a split second Kiri thought it was a bus. However, that bus was very hairy and started shrinking to the size of a large man.

"Marrok!"

Kariya shouted from a distance, "What happened with Sakura? She's been kidnapped! I told you to go get her!"

The big wolf barked angrily back at his master then yelped at the feedback from his origin, which seemed to rile the beast up more. Kiri, very close to it, noticed it was surrounded by some sort of light blue mana. Much like when Marrok had tried to use some sort of ability at the shipyards against archer.

He was about to warn him not to kill her, but Maiya was on the attack, wreathed in fire, the second the wolf had flinched. She punched him hard enough to slam his head into the ground and grabbed the thick fur around his neck, somehow picked the man-sized wolf up like a feather in one hand, and clubbed him into a tree, breaking it. She then caught the falling tree and slammed it into the wolf like a bat, propelling him into a large rock. Maiya went to club him with the tree again, but he caught it in his mouth and swung it himself, slamming her into a different tree. When he lunged to bite her throat, she grabbed him and ran straight back into the rock, slamming him repeatedly into it before driving Secace into his shoulder and leaving it there.

Kiritsugu was briefly relieved seeing her let go of the blade, but she threw the wolf aside with her strange strength and walked towards Kiri with the same look in her eyes, "I put the sword down, Kiri... now make me your bitch... please... I'm nothing without you..."

"No... you're still under it's effect?"he started to raise his gun, knowing he couldn't leave her in that state. If he couldn't cure her and she was as strong as a servant, Maiya could kill them all.

"Yes... please... help me."

Before Kiri could pull the trigger, Marrok slammed into her again and bit her throat savagely, tearing into it.

"NO! NO! It should be me! I did this to her! LET ME!"

The wolf whipped around, snarling, barely in control of himself. He positioned himself between Kiri and the now slowly dying Maiya that was struggling to ask for mercy.

"GET OUT OF MY WAY, YOU MONSTER!"

Slowly, Marrok's body started cracking and contorting, warping rather than transforming into a more and more humanoid shape, as if something were yanking him back into human form by force rather than him doing it himself, while something else was pulling him back the other way. When he was human again, clothes and all, he hit the ground in pain, struggling with maintaining his form. Secace lay at his side rather than in his arm.

He forced out words as he dragged himself to Maiya and started healing her, "Second Noble Phantasm... risking it... lycanthropy."

Kariya and Iri arrived, having started down the second Maiya went down for the count, it was Kariya that protested, "What good will making her a werewolf do?"

Marrok started gaining some more control over his form, looking less pained. He was still panting though, "Curse from a wolf immune to curses."

Iri started trying to get a look at Maiya, who was mostly healed, but wasn't thrashing about anymore, "So you think your origin might carry over some?"

Marrok looked at Kiri as he answered, "Worth a shot... That sword's curse can't be lifted as far as I know. It's this... or kill her."

"Why the hell do the Knights of the Round Table have a sword like that?"

Marrok winced again, "I'm immune to curses. Lancelot is practically immune. Most of us aren't vulnerable to it even without curse resistances if we're careful. It's not evil, it just makes you competitive about something. That's why it can only be out in a mortal fight. It will put ideas in your head. If you have it out too casually and aren't strong emotionally, it will erode you away just by nudging your dark thoughts a tiny bit over time."

Kariya gawked, "That was all her?"

"Not really. I'm not sure why it worked so fast, but basically everyone has little dark thoughts sometimes. It's like if you notice you could steal something nice and get away with it. Lots of people just swat that aside with barely a thought. Imagine though if something started pushing every other part of yourself out."

"I'm so sorry." Maiya suddenly spoke up, tears in her eyes, "I didn't mean it...I don't... that's not really me."

Kariya was gawking again, "Did it work?"

Iri went over and grabbed the woman's hand, "I know. Maiya. I understand you must have had a thought of stuff going on in your head. You've suffered so much in your life and have probably done many violent things, but you're a good person. Whatever your life tried to make you into, you became a good person instead."

Maiya then started doing something she'd never allowed herself to do. She cried.

Marrok forced himself to his feet, sheathing Secace, "I didn't know this was that relic or I would have warned you, Kiritsugu. I apologize."

Kiritsugu bit his lip.

Kariya went right up to his servant, "Anyway, what about Sakura. I told you to save her!"

"She was gone by the time I managed to get there. Then I felt the activation of Secace and was compelled this way."

"What?"

"Your command was to use all of my abilities to save her, and suddenly one of them that I didn't have until now manifested over here."

"Isn't that way to literal an interpretation?"

"My origin boosts command seals. Apparently that's also a drawback."

Kiri suddenly remembered, "Forget that. Saber's fighting Avenger and none of those things have come after us. That means they are all on her."

Marrok started walking towards the way Kiritsugu was pointing.

Kariya wasn't having it, "She can handle it! Sakura's getting kidnapped as we speak! Who's servant are you?"

Marrok turned, "Kayneth took her. He has no reason to hurt her. He still has his own magic so he's not one of the husks. That means..."

Kiritsugu chimed in, "He wants to trade her for a replacement servant. I was wondering why he never went to the church for shelter after losing Lancer."

"He still has command seals after all. Only reason he could have to grab her is for ransom her to you for me. She will be fine. I can track her."

"I used a command seal to command you to save her!"

"I'm doing that. Trust me."

"Trust you?" Kariya snapped back, "You've always done things your way! You've never trusted me. You're going the complete opposite direction just to save someone whose leg you want to hump!"

Kariya immediately realized he'd said several things he shouldn't have, but was too angry to apologize. He did however, have the reason and respect left to not use a second command seal.

Marrok had the wounded look on his face that you'd expect, but simply turned and walked away. Kariya went off in the direction Sakura had supposedly been taken.

Back across the manor grounds, Saber beat back another lunge from Avenger and threw off the four skin familiars that had been tangling her up for the attack. She used some mana to close the newst wound she'd taken. It was a rough fight tanks to how unpredictable the creature was and the fact it did have a knights training. The fact of the matter though was...

"Face it, you Avenger of Just Rewards, even a conflagration of the villains of Marrok's legend is not enough to make you measure up to the King of Knights."

"Perhaps... though maybe I just need more friends." more of the skin creatures showed up. There was probably around seventy of them left, "These probably aren't enough though. I'll go make more!"

"You're not slipping away again!"

"I'll turn this entire city into my subjects, a newer, better Camelot with one will! My will! All the victims of this world will be granted peace!"

"Don't spit on the dream of Camelot!" two voices said in coincidental unison as Marrok came down at Avenger's flank with a slash. The creature wheeled away so that it was equally far from both servants.

Artoria was surprised and delighted, "Marrok! You are back in human form!"

"For now. Something's trying to pull me back into wolf form but the command seal is holding me in this one. That aside," he put away Cavall and drew Secace, "I have this back now, so you handle this abomination and I'll handle its minions."

Saber recognized that sword and smiled, "Haha! This will be a glorious battle! Avenger, for the sake of drama how many minions do you have here? Tell us!"

"Seventy three, he can't beat all of them together! That's no holy sword!"

Marrok raised Secace, tip pointed to the ground, "Pity to use this on rabble, but witness Secace, the Sword of Burning Victory. My anti-army Noble Phantasm! This will be a fair fight. One versus seventy-three!"

Mana surged around Marrok into blue flames, and one of the familiars leaped at him, only to be met with a punch to the stomach. On impact the thing was just... gone. The concussive force of the strike being enough to completely obliterate the thing and carve a line through the crowd that were sent flying into the air. Marrok jumped up and grabbed one of those, hurling it into the crowd surging at him. The move left nothing of the thing but a crater of several dozen crushed but still moving others of its kind. It was an act of pure raw power on the scale of a small army of lesser demons combined. Around seventy lesser demons actually.

"The hell?" Avenger gawked.

And was promptly reminded of the pairings when Saber rushed forward and nearly took its head off, "I won't stop you from joining that melee, but Marrok was trying to be courteous."

"What nonsense is that?"

Artoria smirked, "A fair one versus seventy three fight."

The two battered blades thrice more before Avenger tried to command some of the minion not directly tussling with Marrok to rush at her and hold her in place again. They turned and started that way.

Artoria glared at Avenger, "I was trying to be polite too, but if you want to mix the fights so badly: Marrok! Southeast northwest!"

Marrok bowled through the enemy lines and grabbed his king, throwing her over the crowd to the southeast of Avenger so that the army was between them. The King of Knight lifted her sword and focused as she flew, drawing large amounts of mana, then as she came down...

"Ex..."

Avenger raised the remains of his master's hand (his command seals) and muttered something.

"CALIBUR!"

A massive beam of light enveloped the small army as it traveled to the northwest towards Avenger, who only Marrok's angle allowed him to see a discharge of a command seal and the servant vanish. A pillar of light erupted into the sky where it had been standing, and could likely be seen for miles. Any familiars that managed to live through that Saber simply cut down as they tried to flee.

Arthur raised her sword in victory, "The day is won! A fine battle!"

Marrok sheathed Secace, "Avenger slipped away with a command seal, but I doubt it will attack again tonight. It will wait until its made another army."

"Curse that collection of no good villains! We should track it before it gets the chance."

"Before that I need to help-" Marrok fell to the ground, crying out in pain.

"Marrok?"

The man was yanked back into his wolf form, as he tried to resist his origin and the command seal both punished him. When he warped ungracefully back into his bestial form he collapsed briefly before forcing himself to stand. He etched into the dirt with a paw. "Sakura."

With that he barked a request for aid and started for the woods.

Back with the others, Maiya had finally calmed down, "I'm so sorry. I've had those thoughts pop in my head before, but I would never... they were nothing. The furthest thing from what I would ever do."

Kiritsugu briefly pondered sending her away. She could be a danger to his family and him. Especially if lycanthropy did some of thing things it did in legend. It was too risky and gamble to count on Marrok's origin altering some curse the grail had given him. Plus, if she was part of Marrok's pack now because of it, would she be forced to follow an eventual enemy's orders?"

Instead, he knelt beside her and held the same hand Iri was holding, "It's fine. I'm the one that should be sorry. I used you like that to punish myself even though you'd been through that kind of thing in your youth. I thought you weren't bothered by it anymore."

"I'm not." Maiya's voice wavered, "It was just a little thing chipping at the back of my mind. It just got dragged out."

Iri looked at her husband, not even bringing up the affair. After all, she'd known about it, "Is she going to be okay now, Kiri?"

"Not likely. She's a werewolf. Marrok just broke one of the rules of the war. He spread a global apocalypse level viral threat to a person in the present. If they find out, Marrok, Kariya, and her are all going to have a bounty on them. Plus we don't know if this will make her evil or force her to change regularly. If the rules follow the most common part of the legend," Kiri looked at the half moon, "Her life as she knows it is over in only a day or two."

"Could Avalon cure her?"

"Of lycanthropy maybe, but Marrok said the other curse can't be lifted through any means he knows. He knows of Avalon. Can we risk lifting a curse keeping the other one in check?"

Maiya looked at him, "Then what? I just run off into the wilderness?"

Kiri bit his lip, "We just have to win the war before the curse turns you all the way into a werewolf. Best case scenario when Marrok returns to his era his sword and all his curses just go away."

Iri was worried about some implications, "And if we can't win by then?"

"We kill Marrok and get the same result."

Next Chapter: The Princess in Another Castle

Author Note: Wow, I'm glad I split the mansion attack into two chapters. Combined these would have been about fourteen pages. Anyway, more action next chapter as the Sakura rescue operation gets underway. Will Marrok and Kariya make up? Will Kiri jump the gun and go after Marrok for Maiya's sake? Will she turn before they can stop it? Given that Kirei knows Sakura is in danger too, what will happen if a certain someone shows also shows up to save her? Where are the romance elements implied by the genre?

Oh, my loyal readers, the story has only just now started to really get going! The things I have planned! Not even counting the planned sequel, lots of stuff is ahead. Especially with an apparent timer on when the war needs to end. I AM FREAKIN' HYPED! Can barely wait for the full moon scene... hehehe! Please review so I can curb my hype by hearing what your levels of hype are. See you next time!