Typed this one up during free time (a rarity nowadays), so apologies if it's sub-par.
Last time on Fate Zero.
1. Kiritsugu & Saber have a heart-to-heart.
Kiritsugu: Saber, I am Disappoint.
2. Irisviel comforts her Hubby.
Iri: Kiritsugu...Why do you smell like Maiya-san's perfume?
3. And Kayneth apparently pushed Lancer too far.
Kayneth: Rant-Whine-Sneer-Complain Oh dear god that's a spear!
And now, on with the show!
Fate/Zero Requiem
An Alternate Tale of the Fourth Holy Grail War
Twelfth Night: Confrontations.
Kayneth gaped, unable to comprehend what his eyes were seeing, his mouth hanging open mid-reprimand as Lancer, who up until now had raised not one word of protest to his insults, lunged straight at him, twin-spears at the ready & a look of murder in his eyes.
He supposed it was only natural. After all, for all Diarmuid's talk of being a Knight & adhering to the laws of Chivalry, he had still betrayed his Lord King, Fionn, and absconded with his bride-to-be, a scenario which Kayneth could see playing out with Himself & Sola in the supporting roles even as his life flashed before his eyes.
'Command Seal…' he realized, his eyes never leaving Diarmuid's even as his brain screamed at him to move, his right hand, still holding his Mystic Code, twitching slightly as he brought the vase up to his chest 'I need to stop him…!'
As if moving in slow motion, he brought his right hand up, the left securing his vase to his chest, extending the limb towards his Servant as if to ward him off, only to blink as he noticed, in that detached manner of one whose life is flashing before their eyes, that Lancer seemed to be saying something, his mind, stunned by the perceived betrayal, slowly registering the words as his own name, called out in warning.
"■■■■■■■〓〓〓〓■■!"
Kayneth blinked, freezing in the act of using up a Command Seal even as his Servant lunged past him, the sound of clashing metal moments later rousing him from his reverie, whipping round only to pale at the sight of Lancer locked in a stalemate with the menacing form of Berserker, the Black Knight, shrouded as ever in that ominous black mist, wielding what appeared to be a warped Stop Sign he'd ripped from the street below.
"Lord Kayneth, leave this battle to me!" Lancer implored, muscles straining as he held back the blow, Kayneth shuddered in realization, that would've reduced the his Master to little more than a smear on the sidewalk "Berserker's Master cannot be too far away! Use this chance to take him down while I keep his Servant distracted!"
"Very well." Kayneth acknowledged, quickly regaining his composure despite the cool sheen of sweat adorning his brow, taking a breath to steady his voice "I leave him to you, Lancer. And no excuses this time! I won't tolerate any fooling around like you did with Saber." He turned his gaze towards a distant rooftop "In the meantime, it seems I must educate yet another Master in the proper etiquette of Magical Combat."
"Yes, My Lord!" Lancer acknowledged, waiting for his Master to vacate the street before lashing out with his twin spears, Berserker hopping back at the last second to avoid being cut, the Mad servant growling as his weapon was sliced in two.
"You have my thanks, Berserker." the Knight of Fianna offered, smirking at his foe despite knowing his words would have little effect on the Black Knight, save to further stoke his fury "In killing you, not only can I redeem myself in the eyes of my Lord, but I can absolve myself of the shame you forced upon me when you attacked Saber!"
Berserker's response to Diarmuid's mocking thanks and challenge was, as expected, a maddened howl that had no place coming from human vocal chords, the Black Knight lunging forwards, the sounds of clashing steel filling the air as the Crimson Rose of Exorcism clashed against his improvised weapons.
On another Rooftop.
'Damn it…!' Kariya cursed, the half-dad Magus slumping against a wall, watching through the eyes of his insect familiars as Lancer stopped Berserker's attack on his Master, the Knight of the Spear holding his Servant off while the Magus made his way towards him 'Should've known it wouldn't be that easy…'
Like many of his fellow Masters, Kariya had initially assumed that Lancer and his Master had perished in the collapse of the Fuyuki Hyatt, as it wasn't as if Berserker possessed the wit to relay the passing of another Servant to him.
Nevertheless, it came as quite a surprise to him when, whilst prowling the city to locate Caster's hideout, he'd sensed the presence of another Master. Assuming it was Tokiomi, he'd changed course immediately, only to learn the rumors of Kayneth's demise had been greatly exaggerated.
Now Kariya harbored no delusions as to how a battle between him, who had turned his back on the life of a Magus, and any other Master in this war would end. Even with Zouken's accursed worms devouring his body and converting it into Prana, it was all he could do to command a swarm of insect familiars, the rest of it being allocated to Berserker.
That being said, the opportunity to eliminate one of the other Masters was too good to pass up, and having cast aside the world of Magecraft for so long, Kariya didn't see the point in living by their rules, so there was no hesitation on his part when he'd pointed Berserker in the Master's direction and all but told the Black Knight to 'Go Nuts'.
Now, however, the tables had turned, for while Lancer was holding off Berserker, his Master was free to hunt down Kariya, and from the look on the other Magus' face, he seemed to be in the mood for a fight.
'Then again, I'd probably be pissed too if someone turned my home into a pile of rubble…' Kariya reasoned, only to shiver as the image of the Matou Basement, of Sakura's small form being assaulted by Zouken's worms, flashed across his mind 'On second thoughts…'
"So this is where you scurried off to." A cultured voice sneered in accented Japanese, Kariya grimacing at the nasal tone even as he turned to glare at the form of Lancer's Master, whose name escaped him at the moment due his lack of information regarding the other Masters excluding Tokiomi and the Einzbern woman.
"I had wondered who would be so desperate as to defy the rules of the Overseer by launching an attack on my person…" the blonde Magus confessed, sneered mockingly at the sight of Kariya's crippled form "To think you would have fallen so low, Makiri."
"Have we met?" Kariya grit out, grimacing as he turned to face the man, his one good eye taking in the sight of the ornate vase tucked under one arm, rightfully assuming it to be some sort of Mystic Code "I don't believe we've ever crossed swords."
"Simply process of elimination." Lancer's Master replied with an offhand shrug, before he assumed what Kariya clearly recognized as a lecturing stance "With the exception of Caster's Master, who has been confirmed as a Serial Killer chosen at random by the Grail, all of the other Masters and Servants have been identified."
"Tohsaka, Einzbern and myself have summoned the three Knight Classes," he elaborated "Rider's Master is but a foolish student with delusions of grandeur, and Assassin's Master is under the protection of the Church following the loss of his Servant."
He smiled mockingly as he tapped his brow "Going by that, and the fact that the Founding Families are always granted a slot in the Grail War, that can only make you the Makiri representative."
"Not by choice, I assure you." Kariya shot back, smirking morbidly at the magus, amused despite himself as he watched the foreigner grimace at his disfigured features "And you're a couple generations out of date, we go by Matou now."
"Ah yes, I had heard your family had trouble adapting to this backwater." the blonde sneered, his tone mocking as he took in Kariya's decrepit state "To think that such a premiere Magus Lineage could be reduced to this..." his lip curled in disgust "Yet further proof that nothing good comes from Asian Magi."
Kariya said nothing, not really caring about his family's decline, in fact were it not for Sakura being dragged in to 'restore' it he would've relished it. Even before he'd set out on this suicidal quest for her freedom, Kariya had already lost whatever respect & admiration towards Thaumaturgy he'd once possessed, replacing them with a deep-felt loathing & burning anger.
Not for himself, whose body had been twisted into a horror beyond comparison, but for Sakura, whose precious innocence had been stolen in order to perpetuate the mad dreams of the old Monster that masqueraded as his 'Father'.
The only thing that he hated more than Magecraft, the only thing whose existence could send him into a rage comparable to his Servant's, was the continued existence of Tohsaka Tokiomi, the instigator of Sakura's suffering.
However, bereft of the target of his anger, the Tohsaka head having retreated into the shadows following the loss of his home, and Dear Lord did the memory of the smoking crater bring a smile to Kariya's face, the less-than prodigal son of the Matou line supposed he'd just have to settle for this inbred streak of piss.
It wasn't as if there weren't similarities between Lancer's Master and Tokiomi. Indeed, even putting aside the fact they had both managed to summon a Knight Class, their mannerisms and way of speaking were almost completely identical, to the point Kariya had to wonder if they were distantly related, dimly recalling that one of Tokiomi's ancestors, a survivor of the Third Grail War, had been a foreigner.
'Would explain his taste in clothes to be certain.' He snorted, recalling the suits that the Tohsaka head had preferred even in their younger years. Aoi had thought they made him look mature & dapper, Kariya had always thought he looked like a would-be pimp, especially with that cane he carried with him no matter where he went.
Needless to say, that very 'elegance' that Tokiomi prioritized even, Kariya suspected, over Magecraft, meant nothing on the battlefield. In a free-for-all battle like the Grail War, where the only certain proof of victory was your opponents' corpses laid out behind you and the Grail in hand, worrying about appearance was liable to get you killed.
He grimaced as a wave of pain washed over him as Berserker, locked in heated battle with arguably his WORST possible opponent given Lancer's Noble Phantasm, began to mercilessly wring the Prana out of his Master's body, Kariya's vision blurring as he slumped against the wall, the agonizing pain brought on by the frenzied activity of the crest worms as they hastened to create more Prana from his flesh akin to having his limbs shredded.
"Nothing to say in your defence, Makiri?" Lancer's Master sneered, taking Kariya's silence as a means of continuing his mockery "Honestly, while I can understand your reasons for teaming up with the Einzbern and Tohsaka, that you could allow yourselves to fall this far is a disgrace to Magi everywhere."
"The world of Magi seems to be doing well enough in that regard without my involvement." Kariya quipped "Every day some new discovery makes countless generations of Magecraft redundant. Used to be there were numerous 'Magics', now we're left with a mere five, and of those only two are active."
He scoffed mockingly, watching as the blonde's expression steadily darkened with each word, allowing a haggard chuckle to slip past his lips, the sound like the chirping of countless insects.
"And all because Magi are such a jealous lot, squirreling their secrets away where no-one to find them, only to wind up surprised when their descendants are left grasping at straws down the line." he scoffed as he pushed himself up using the wall for support "Even this so called 'Heaven's Feel' is simply the Einzbern's attempt at recreating something they lost due to their own incompetence. Quite frankly, if it weren't for how pathetic it all was, I'd find it quite amusing."
"...It seems I underestimated you." Lancer's Master grit out, his jaw clenched so tight that it may as well have been wired shut, his eyes narrowed to flints as he set the ornate porcelain vase he'd been carrying down on the rooftop with an audible 'clunk', Kariya's good eye narrowing as he realised whatever was in there must have been heavy enough to require a weight-reduction spell in order for the Magus to carry it under one arm.
"No matter how far your line had fallen, I at the very least would have expected you to retain your pride as a Magus of the Three Founding Families." the blonde Magus noted coldly "Though given how desperate the Einzbern have become, I suppose I shouldn't be surprised." He sighed in disgust "Honestly, is Tohsaka the only other Respectable Magus in this war?"
The moment the words 'Tohsaka' and 'Respectable' left the man's mouth, Kariya's mind shut down. Visions of Sakura lying prone on the basement floor, her small form assaulted by Crest Worms, and of Aoi playing in the park with Rin, his childhood friend's happiness a mere shadow compared to the time when both of her daughters had been with her, flashing across his mind.
All of that pain and suffering, brought on at the behest of a man who put the importance of 'Tradition' and 'Magecraft' over the happiness of his family, who more than likely saw his childhood friend as nothing more than 'breeding stock' to produce exemplary heirs, if Zouken's comments were to be believed.
"Don't fuck with me…!" he hissed, hatred and anger like nothing he'd ever felt before coursing through his veins like venom, further stimulating the already agitated crest worms, Kariya not even flinching as the agonizing pain wracking his body intensified, the evil chill that afflicted the left half of his body slowly spreading as more and more of his innards were broken down and converted to Prana to bolster his atrophied circuits.
"You filthy Magi…you're all alike!" Kariya snarled, his one good eye glaring at his foe with all the hatred he could muster, Lancer's Master actually taking a step back at the sheer intensity of the hatred being leveled at him, though it might have had more to do with the numerous worms that were slithering out from the shadows around them, a veritable wave of rat-sized maggots.
"I'll wipe you out till there's nothing left!" Kariya proclaimed, leveling his hand at Lancer's Master as the worms littering the ground convulsed in response to his hatred, their soft shells cracking open to unleash a battalion of giant beetles that took to the air on thundering wings.
Fuyuki Sewer System...
"AAAALaLaLaLaie!" Rider bellowed, his war cry audible even over the thundering hooves of the oxen that hauled the Gordius Wheel, Waver holding on for dear life as they raced through the sewers, having determined that Caster must be lurking near the river due to the traces of Magecraft he'd detected in various water samples he'd had Rider collect shortly after receiving the Overseer's message.
Initially, he'd had some apprehension towards just charging straight into the lair of the insane Servant, as Caster was likely to have littered the path leading to his sanctuary with traps and God only knew what else. However, thus far his fears had remained unfounded, as other than the smell of feces and sewage, nothing had risen from the murky waters to impede their advance, a fact which seemed to visibly disappoint Rider as they reached the apparent end of the road.
"I guess this was about all one can expect from a Magus summoned outside the Age of The Gods." The King of Conquerors noted, eyeing the darkness around them with a grim expression, having expected to be welcomed with some intricate defence mechanism, as was the standard even with Modern Magi, only to be greatly disappointed.
"The Caster this time round isn't a proper Magus." Waver countered, more out of a need to defend Magi in general than any concern for Caster "While dabbling into the Dark Arts may have made him infamous, as someone who was originally a Knight, there's no evidence proving Baron Gilles de Rais actually summoned demons or possessed Grimoires. If anything, such things may have been added to further vilify him in the eyes of the public."
He left it unsaid that had it been Prelati, the Magus that had led the Baron to disgrace, who had been summoned as Caster, then things might have taken a different turn, as even the Association felt that the Executors of the Holy Church had been justified in their zealous drive to hunt the man own for his crimes, if only because doing so served to ensure the secrecy of Magecraft.
"Is that so?" Rider mused, not sounding entirely convinced by his Master's reasoning, instead turning his attention to the end of the tunnel as it widened up into an open space, his eyes easily taking in their surroundings despite the suffocating darkness, as no light shone this far beneath the streets of Fuyuki "Hm…unfortunately it appears Caster decided to take a stroll this evening…"
"Is this some sort of water tank?" Waver wondered as he peered into the darkness, his eyes, unlike his Servant's, not being blessed with superior night vision, nor was he willing to risk reinforcement this deep into enemy territory just to confirm the absence of their quarry.
"Boy…" Rider warned, his tone low, subdued, a fact that, more than anything else, gave Waver reason to pause, as it was not in the King of Conqueror's nature to be quiet unless the need suited him "I think it's better that you don't see this."
"What are you talking about?" Waver demanded, insulted that his Servant would think he couldn't handle whatever Caster had lurking in the darkness "Even if Caster isn't here, we should still search for clues to his whereabouts!"
"That may certainly be true, but don't do it." Rider commanded, his tone calm, though Waver imagined he detected a modicum of concern in the giant's tone "This is too much for you to handle, boy."
"Shut up!" Waver snapped, thrusting his hand into his pocket and pulling out a handful of magnesium pills, clapping them between his hands to charge them with Prana before hurling them into the air, the resulting flash illuminating the area slightly, just enough that he felt confident enough to disembark from Rider's Chariot, only to pause as he felt something soft underfoot.
"What…?" he stammered, his hand coming up to touch the liquid that had spattered onto his face, eyes widening as the tips of his fingers came back covered in blood before turning to gape at the scene before him, his throat constricting even as the bottom dropped out of his stomach "T-this is…!"
As a Magus, Waver understood that death wasn't a possibility, it was a certainty. Be it an accident in the workshop or through confrontation with another Magus, Death and Magecraft went hand in hand.
He'd known this going into the Grail War, known that, despite the ritual only requiring the Servants to battle, that the other Masters would be likewise trying to brutally murder one another and had, up until this moment, believed he'd mentally prepared himself.
That fragile belief had been instantly shattered the moment he laid eyes on what he would forever consider 'Caster's Den', for he refused to call it a Workshop. To do so would only besmirch the name, tarnish it, bring it down to the level of the incomparable horror that was proudly laid out before his horrified eyes.
At first glance, one might mistake the shapes littered about the cavernous space as furniture, clothing, musical instruments or even cutlery. And indeed, like any 'workshop' there were various items lying around whose use Waver could not fully comprehend, but were most likely there for decoration.
In a morbid sense, it spoke highly of the enthusiasm and devotion of their creator, of his love of both the raw materials which had gone into his work and the manufacturing process itself.
A part of Waver's mind dimly recalled that Caster's Master was a Serial Killer that had somehow managed to slip under Tohsaka's radar & gain the approval of the Holy Grail. The very idea that he could be considered the equal of a monster capable of such atrocities was about all Waver could take, the youngest Master clapping a hand over his mouth as he dropped to his knees, the realization of just what it was he was kneeling in only hastening his need to empty his stomach.
"Didn't I tell you?" Rider sighed, the grim-faced King dismounting from his chariot to stand by his distraught Master's side as the boy continued to retch "That's why I told you not to look."
"Shut up!" Waver choked out, all trace of pride, of composure lost, the distraught teen kneeling on the disgusting ground with his eyes shut in a meaningless effort to block out the horror that had been burned into his retinas "Damn it…" he wept, cursing his own weakness "Stop looking down on me…Damn it!"
"This isn't the time for pride, fool." Rider admonished, though his words were soft and bereft of mockery, "There's nothing wrong with your reaction, I'd punch anyone who could gaze upon this and not bat an eye. All the more reason for me to praise your decision to bring down Caster and his Master. Every second men like that are allowed to draw breath disgusts me."
"What are you talking about!?" Waver choked, disgust warring with anger and shame as he ceased his puking to glare at his Servant, his emotions conflicted turned to glare at his Servant in the gloom "Aren't you standing there unconcerned?"
"That's because now isn't the time for emotion." Rider muttered, the calmness of his voice carrying a dangerous undertone as he stepped forwards, one massive hand drawing his sword from it's sheathe "Something isn't right."
"What?" Waver wondered, looking up hesitantly, trying his best not to look at their surroundings even as he followed Rider's gaze to find a small figure slumped against the far wall beneath a strip of cloth, wincing as the Servant ripped the cover away, exposing the small form of a little girl "Is she-?"
"Dead" Rider confirmed, Waver sighing in remorse even as the Servant glared down at the corpse as if it personally affronted him "Less than a day I'd wager, the maggots haven't set in yet."
"Another of Caster's victims?" Waver wondered, a wave of pity and disgust washing over him as he joined his Servant in standing over the small, mercifully intact form, cursing himself for not discovering the lair sooner despite knowing all-too-well it was unlikely he could've done anything to change her fate.
"Possible, but unlikely." Rider countered, his expression grim as he turned the corpse over, Waver's stomach heaving at the sight of the exposed red flesh of her back, the skin having been peeled off to make some of the 'artwork' scattered throughout the den.
"As I thought" Rider muttered, snapping Waver out of his thoughts, the Servant having turned the child over, "Whoever killed this child did so swiftly." He deduced, gesturing to a stab to the heart & the cut throat "This wasn't an act of brutality, this was a Mercy Killing."
"So?" Waver demanded, his hand instinctively going to his own throat as he glared at his Servant, his already frayed nerves stretched wire-thin as it was without having to consider such a brutal image "What's your point?"
But the King of Conquerors did not answer, instead turning his head to regard the pillar the corpse had been leaning against with a frown. Waver, annoyed at being ignored, opened his mouth to reprimand the Servant, only to trail off as he noticed the source of the King's distraction: a button, strapped to the pillar in such a way that the only way it could only have been noticed was if you moved the corpse.
"What on earth?" the magus wondered, leaning forward to peer around the pillar, only to blink as he came face to face with a digital clock face, not unlike the one on the McKenzie's VCR, the digital readout slowly counting down from 00:10 to 00:09 to 00:08…
The next thing Waver knew Rider had grabbed him by the back of his shirt & thrown him back onto the Gordius Wheel, the King of Conquerors following suit, ignoring his Master's distressed coughs in favour of cracking the reigns, steering the Divine Oxen towards the opening of the lair, the roar of Thunder & the crack of Lightning followed swiftly by howling Flames & crashing Debris as Caster's lair exploded behind them.
Yet Another Cliffhanger!
For those wondering, yes, this is set slightly before Kiritsugu's little emotional moment with Irisviel, in other words, the set-up for the situation that Maiya called him about at the end of the last chapter.
Nothing has really changed since last time, other than Kayneth & Kariya knowing each other's faces now. Next up, it's a Servant & Master Two-Way Free-For-All!