FATE/NOVUS ORDO SECLORUM
"New Order of the Ages"
Chapter 6: Turbulent Feral Child
The Soul Eater let out a shrill roar and ran at the team of Servants. Everyone jumped out of the way, and the three Archers immediately ran back to make some distance between them while Geronimo and Nightingale remained in the front lines to keep the creature occupied. Even though the nurse had Rama slung upon her back, his weight didn't seem to deter her from boldly jumping in and slamming the foul beast's head with some roundhouse kicks. It suddenly sunk its teeth into her leg, and she yelped audibly. Geronimo stabbed his dagger into the monster's midsection, but it wasn't bothered by the injury and swept its claws at him.
"Blast it!" Nightingale cursed while healing her leg of the bite marks. "I will be more than upset if this gets infected!"
"For someone who is paranoid about contamination, you don't seem to have a problem exposing yourself to those same risks!" Rama exclaimed.
"What of it? My blood is just as precious as every other soldier's. If shedding my blood means that others will be spared, then I will gladly do so."
"I don't get you sometimes…"
"Look out, you two!" Geronimo shouted just as the Soul Eater charged at the Berserker and her wounded patient. Nightingale hopped, stepped on its head, and tumbled in midair to land back on her feet. The monster ignored her and went after the Archers. Billy was too fast for it to catch, and after he somersaulted on the dirt, he fired his pistols multiple times to embed a fusillade of bullets in its thick hide. It spotted Robin as the closest Servant it could attack and dashed at him.
"Whoa!" he grunted and rolled aside. Just as the creature passed him, a strange trap detonated beneath its paws and engulfed its skin in deadly toxins. Robin proudly snapped his fingers and said, "Hope you like my extra special concoction of poison!"
The Soul Eater started to look a little woozy from being assaulted by so many Servants at once. If it were just one or two, it would have no trouble slaughtering them. Wary of going after Robin again, it turned its attention to the last Archer. Ituha drew her slingshot and enchanted the stones with Ansuz Runes before shooting them at the monster. Bursts of fire exploded on its flesh and exposed the inner layers of skin and bones. It realized that it wasn't going to be able to kill all of the Servants, so it decided to at least try and take down the one it thought was the weakest. Ituha looked to be the most vulnerable of them all, so it barged straight for the astonished child.
"HEY! OVER HERE!" Billy screamed, desperately running alongside the animal while shooting his guns. It ignored him and tackled its bleeding body against the petite girl, knocking her right off her feet and making her collapse on the ground.
"Not good!" Robin yelped and shot with his crossbow, while Nightingale hurried past him to try and intercept the creature. Ituha looked up just as it bared its blunt teeth that were dripping with saliva, intent on making her its next meal. Suddenly, Geronimo's voice boomed throughout the area, and the scenery turned dark.
"Oh, spirit! Oh, sun! Please lend me your powers for this moment! Show us the great trick once again! Tsago Degi Naleya!"
The image of a god-like coyote appeared between Ituha and the Soul Eater, and the regal animal howled like a wolf. Then the flaming red sun shone bright and sent a massive wave of fire against the monster that burned it to death. The heat settled and became a warm glow that slightly healed everyone's wounds. Once Geronimo's Noble Phantasm concluded, no sign of the Soul Eater could be seen anywhere.
"Got it!" the Apache warrior exclaimed.
"Hey, are you okay!?" Billy shouted at Ituha, holding her unconscious body in his arms. She had passed out right when she saw the intimidating abomination standing above her.
Nightingale examined her quickly, then reported, "She's uninjured. She only blacked out from shock."
"That's good."
"Is there somewhere she can rest?"
"Not really. All of the beds here are unusable."
"Then find a safe place for her. I need to continue treating Rama's heart so the curse doesn't destroy it."
With the battle over, Billy looked around for a spot where Ituha could sleep, while Nightingale laid Rama on a nearby porch and healed his wound. Geronimo and Robin split up to see if the other Resistance soldiers were okay.
Deep within the border of southern Tennessee and northern Mississippi, two Berserkers ceased their battle and glared at each other from a safe distance. The entire area they had been dueling in until now was utterly decimated, with cut grass and fallen trees littering the place everywhere. The Mad King Cuchulainn stood tall and deftly spun Gae Bolg about in his hand, while the small feral child who was his opponent remained perfectly still and silent.
"Heh… Guess the rumors were true," Cuchulainn smirked and licked some blood off his mouth. No opponent until now had actually wounded him at all, never mind gouged, pierced and lacerated him as badly as the child did. Even though he was up against an extremely dangerous foe, for once he actually felt glad to be alive in this era. He took some slow, deliberate steps toward the petite figure who had given him a lot more trouble than he anticipated.
"I heard that ever since my daughter caused that storm, my men were being slaughtered and eaten by an unknown calamity that they've been calling 'Fia-Leanbh'. I didn't quite understand it at first, but to think that a little brat like you is the one responsible… I find it hard to fathom, but since you are in the way of my war, I have to eliminate you."
"…"
"You probably don't even understand what I'm saying… Well, that's fine. The less I have to converse with my prey, the better. Prepare to die, you rabid beast," Cuchulainn grinned, showing his blood-covered sharp teeth.
The child, now nicknamed Fia-Leanbh, shuddered at his movements and immediately hopped high into the air to land in a tree. They looked up to the sky and noticed a stray flock of wyverns flying above the battlefield. Without hesitation, the kid leapt towards the nearest dragon and grabbed its leg before nimbly vaulting onto the base of its tail. The monster didn't seem to notice its tiny passenger as it kept flying forward.
"Trying to run away?" Cuchulainn sniggered. "It's pointless to try."
He dashed forth and pursued the wyvern with incredible agility for someone of his large size. Fia watched as the monstrous man ran so fast that he was beginning to outpace the dragon's flight speed. The wyvern noticed his presence and circled around to attack him. That proved to be a huge mistake because the grinning Cuchulainn raised Gae Bolg in a vertical slashing motion and made one powerful slicing motion. Fia leapt off their impromptu mount an instant before the spear cleaved through the wyvern and split it into perfect halves that collapsed to the ground in a gush of blood.
While he was busy slaying the dragon, Fia hurried through the forest in a frantic bid to escape from him. They ducked, weaved, and bobbed around dozens of trees in an attempt to lose him with confusing movements. Suddenly, they had to skid their feet over grass and fallen leaves, coming to a full and unexpected stop when they saw the irate Cuchulainn's large form land in front of them, after he had pursued the child and jumped over them to cut off their escape.
"Now, now, it's not nice to back out of a fight with a king," he chided sinisterly.
Fia equipped their wooden spear and immediately pounced upon him. They began another round of furious dueling, and sparks flew everywhere as their weapons struck each other in rapid succession. Cuchulainn was getting frustrated by the child's petite stature, which allowed them to evade his higher strikes and forced him to fight at a lower level, which he wasn't accustomed to. The kid's gymnastic prowess was not to be ignored either since they performed some logic-defying stunts to dodge his spontaneous strikes.
Eventually Cuchulainn found an opening and delivered a mighty kick to Fia's shoulder, knocking them aside viciously. The kid recovered with ease and back flipped into a crouching position. Then they wordlessly unleashed their Noble Phantasm, Maiseite Gaoithe ("Wind Machete"), enveloping their body in a small tornado that granted them an incredible boost in speed while also turning them into a living cutting weapon. The child whirled around in random directions at such a ridiculous rate that not even the speed of blinking could match it. Cuchulainn couldn't hope to counter this onslaught, and his flesh was torn apart with no mercy. One strike came very close to blowing his head off but he ducked aside in the nick of time, leaving the pinna of his upper ear to be sheared right off in a gush of blood.
Cuchulainn's huge eyes, clenched teeth and astonished expression spoke for itself. Never before had the battle-hardened man been this close to death so many times in just a single fight. Fia didn't care about his reaction and continued rushing around in a blinding flurry of movement and jumping. Grass and leaves were sliced about everywhere as the small figure became a living sickle that tore down everything in its path, resembling the Japanese kamaitachi with its speed and cutting abilities. Furious with the child's resistance, he swung Gae Bolg and slammed it against their abdomen, causing them to completely fold like a jackknife as their forward momentum was instantly interrupted. He hurled them several hundred meters before they smacked back-first against a tree. With a loud snarl, he threw his spear at their head, which they narrowly dodged.
Fia didn't just dodge Gae Bolg however; when Cuchulainn summoned it back into his hands, the child held on to the spear and rode along with it back to him. He wasn't expecting his opponent to pull off such a daring move, so he failed to block a powerful kick to his cheek. He spit out some blood and furiously swung at them, fully intent on chopping them into indescribable meat ribbons. The young Servant was too nimble to allow that to happen however, so they just wound up dancing and hopping around his slashes.
The child vaulted aside and crouched upon a tree stump, holding their spear behind them in a hunched hunting pose while fixing their masked gaze upon the livid man. Cuchulainn exhaled in frustration and said, "You have some guts to try and make a fool out of me."
"…"
"Normally I don't care who my enemies are, but I'm feeling a little generous today. You're the first opponent who's had the skill and audacity to make me bleed. Tell me who you really are, and I might be willing to make a headstone in your memory."
"…"
"… Nothing? Well whatever. I'll find out who you are after I rip that mask off of your dead body."
Fia didn't care about what he was saying. In fact, they couldn't understand human language in the first place. Once they saw Cuchulainn gear up to charge at them, they pounced off the stump moments before he sliced it clean through the middle. The child grabbed his hood and twirled their body over his head in an upside-down pose, tightly grabbing his shoulders before letting their lower torso fall behind him. In one smooth move, Fia had forced Cuchulainn to lean backwards at a frightening angle while pressing their legs against his back. Something crunched inside him. The cringing sound echoed throughout the forest, and he let out a howl of agony.
That move would have killed an ordinary human, but he somehow managed to survive having his spine broken. The child deftly flipped away and carefully watched him as he got onto his side and tried to use his legs. They only barely responded to his commands however, and he wasn't in much condition to do more fighting. He used Gae Bolg to steady himself as he glared at Fia with a look that would scare even the Devil. The two embittered warriors prepared to launch themselves at each other for one last violent dervish.
"STOP!"
The unexpected yell startled Fia and Cuchulainn and made them face towards the source of the new voice. A woman in her late 20's dropped down from the tree branch she squatted upon and halted the two warriors. Her bodysuit was as deep purple as her long silky hair, and her crimson eyes accentuated the shadowy, mysterious aura surrounding her. She carried a thinner version of Gae Bolg with her at all times.
"That's enough," she declared to the white-cloaked Servant and pointed her spear at them. "You're coming with me."
The young stranger said nothing.
"It's you…" Cuchulainn grumbled, recognizing the woman immediately. "What do you think you're doing here, Scathach?"
"As much as I would prefer to reprimand you for this foolish role you have taken on as a king, my priorities lie elsewhere," the mistress of Dun Scaith said with an even tone. "I'm taking the child with me."
"No, you're not. This whelp needs to perish for disrupting my war."
"Feh. I knew Medb's mind was twisted, but to think that she would warp you into such a cold-blooded beast is both unimaginable and easy to understand. Either way, I can't let you have that girl."
"That girl…?" Cuchulainn murmured, raising an eyebrow. This whole time, he actually wasn't sure if he was fighting a boy or a girl due to how quiet the child was and how they obscured their features so well. A disturbing, sinking feeling had been bothering him during the battle, and hearing that simple word made it worse. His eye twitched in realization, and he snarled in disbelief, "So I've been getting tossed around by a little girl… Only one child has ever done that in my life…"
"I'm sure you have every idea who that Berserker really is by now. That's why you need to stop and leave her to me."
The Mad King clenched his teeth, refusing to relinquish his prey to his former teacher. While the two adults were preoccupied, Fia quickly conjured a Disengage skill and leapt back with both perfect silence and blinking agility. They only noticed her departure when they heard the grass rustling and her padded footsteps bouncing off the trees.
"Damn it!" Scathach cursed. "You won't get away!"
She took chase after the mute Berserker and disappeared into the forest without any further regard to Cuchulainn. Even though he had the power to slaughter hundreds at any given time he wanted, he was very lucky to have survived this battle. He never imagined that the rumors of Fia being a force of nature would wind up being true rather than being dismissed as wild hyperbole from some frantic soldiers. He sighed and sat against a tree, completely exhausted from the fight. His mind drifted away from his narrow survival towards the unknown Berserker's identity and what Scathach was implying.
It can't be her… It's impossible… But those skills were definitely hers… It had to be her… There's no one else like that…
Cuchulainn rested his hand over his eyes.
What the hell is going on here?
Robin and Geronimo reunited with their allies and told them that there were some wounded soldiers, but that their lives were not in grave danger. Billy had sat Ituha upon a bullet-riddled barrel and leaned her head and back against the wall. She snored lightly, and he placed a sheet over her shoulders.
"Out like a light," he whispered.
"I feel bad for dragging her around when she should be getting plenty of rest," Geronimo said. "She really is trying hard to not slow us down."
Robin asked, "So what's the deal with the kid? Why is she fighting against her own people?"
"Allow me to explain."
The Native American told the two Archers everything that had happened so far. It took about an hour for him to get them caught up, during which Nightingale continued treating Rama. Billy looked displeased as he murmured, "Amnesia, huh? Not exactly the best place and time to be worrying about getting her memories back."
"I'm afraid we've made her recovery virtually last on our list of priorities, but she seems to understand the situation," Nightingale said. "After I discharge my current patient, her treatment will be next on my to-do list."
Rama muttered bitterly, "You're not thinking of amputating her limbs to traumatize her into remembering her past, are you?"
"Depends."
"Don't say something so morbid with such a calm attitude!"
"Settle yourself. Yelling at me is a waste of your precious energy."
"I swear… When I get my strength back, I'll make sure you don't do anything dangerous to Ituha!"
"Yeesh, scary…" Robin cringed. He said to Geronimo, "So the gist of it is we need to find more allies, heal this guy, and assassinate the Celts' leaders, right? Sounds like something right up my alley."
"Of course it would be," Billy agreed. "The Faceless King never hesitates when it comes to espionage."
"The same goes for you, Boy Outlaw King. We're Servants who don't mind doing the dirty work."
"Yep. I'm not exactly in the mood to deal with guys who spawn infinitely. Terminating the head honchos is the only thing we can do to save this nation."
Geronimo said, "However, we need to focus on finding more allies first. Our classes are not on an even level with the enemy forces. We have three Archers, myself as a Caster, Nightingale as a Berserker, and Rama as a Saber who is out of commission. It'd be best if we could find a Lancer or a second Saber to provide front-line cover. It's problematic to protect ourselves when Nightingale goes running off to do her own thing. Furthermore, we need Servants who aren't connected to the Celts or Americans."
"Hmm…" Billy hummed. "I'm not aware of any Servants like that who were summoned."
Robin started to look rather uncomfortable, as if he wanted to say something but that doing so would cause problems for the group. Geronimo asked, "What's the matter?"
"Well… Actually, before I teamed up with the outlaw here, I ran into two Servants before – a Lancer and a Saber. The issue is… well, they're rather rambunctious…? Or more like problem children that you can't hope to keep under control. I may not know Ituha well, but even I can tell she's hundreds of times more mature than those two."
"Do they have Madness Enhancement, or are they Anti-Heroes?"
"One of them is definitely an Anti-Hero, and you can communicate with them just fine. It's just… Ugh," the bowman scratched his head. "I guess since we're in need of Servants in those classes, I can show you where they are. Just don't blame me when you meet them."
"Come now. Compared to Nightingale, what's another load of unnecessary baggage to us at this point?"
"I guess. It's just that Nightingale's scariness is a lot different than theirs."
"Very well then," Geronimo declared. "Once Ituha has rested enough, we will move out."
The Servants wanted to get going for sure, but they figured it would be best to wait until Ituha and Rama were well enough before continuing the journey. Geronimo asked the two men, "Have you found out any new information about the Celts while I was gone?"
"Not that I know of," Billy said. "I've been guarding this town for quite a while now, so I haven't had a chance to leave."
"There were a couple of interesting things I learned while wandering around," Robin replied. "This might not be much, but I heard some strange rumor going around the Celtic grapevine. Apparently Cuchulainn named a successor a few months ago, but word is only beginning to spread."
"A successor?" Geronimo murmured curiously. "How bold of him. He is acting like he has already won this war if he intends to hand this land over to the next in line. Who is this person?"
"I don't know much about them other than they're being called the Celtic Princess."
"So it's a girl? Could she be related to Medb? I heard that she had seven sons and one daughter."
"No," Robin dismissed the theory with disturbing ease. "Cuchulainn claimed to be the girl's biological father. No one knows who the mother is, other than it's not Medb."
"If Cuchulainn is a Servant, it stands to reason that his child should be as well. Do you know her True Name?"
"I didn't get to find that out. Looks like only the Celts' higher ups know who she is. The only thing that the rank and file know about her is that she's around six or seven years old."
The others were astonished to hear that and simultaneously glanced over at the sleeping Ituha. Geronimo swallowed and uttered, "L-Let's not rush to conclusions here. It'd be dangerous to assume that Ituha is Cuchulainn's child…"
"It's actually possible," Billy said. "They say that the princess went missing almost a week ago."
If a dark-skinned Native American could go pale, the Apache warrior most certainly did right now. Rama remained calm and said, "Geronimo's right. Until we get some evidence or confirmation from someone, we shouldn't force our assumptions onto her. Let her try to remember on her own."
"I agree, but damned if I don't say that this is getting downright scary," Robin complained. "If she really is this Celtic Princess and Cuchulainn finds out she's with us, he'll hunt us down without remorse. I'm not exactly thrilled at the idea of having to fight him on his terms. If I'm going to fight him, it'll be when he's caught in as many of my traps as possible."
"Hmph. Such cowardice," Nightingale scoffed dismissively.
"Say what you want. I look out for Number One first, no questions asked."
"Well, that's fine. Valuing your life is important as well, so long as you do not neglect to tend to others in their time of need. In that case, while I wholly cannot agree with your logic concerning Ituha's amnesia, keeping quiet about the Celtic Princess certainly is the safest bet if we intend to safeguard her from Cuchulainn. I would prefer for her to focus on recovery while there isn't a war going on."
"Oh my," Geronimo smiled. "You actually can be reasonable for once."
"Only because of the precarious situation we're in. Otherwise, I would have prescribed some intense therapy for her already."
The others didn't want to imagine what Nightingale meant. After an uneasy silence, Billy asked Robin, "So what's the other 'interesting thing' you learned?"
"It's kind of weird, but remember that huge tornado that hit Ohio recently? Afterwards, there have been reports of Celtic scouts being brutally murdered by some unknown force. Not just Celts either; Edison's mechanized infantry have been reduced to scrap metal as well."
"An 'unknown force'?"
"The Celts have been calling this calamity 'Fia-Leanbh' and are trying to hunt it down on top of fighting the war. I don't know a lick of Irish, so I have no idea what it means."
Behind him, a small voice moaned, "Wild Child…"
"Hm?" Robin looked over at Ituha, who had just woken up when she heard him talking about the mysterious catastrophe.
"Fia-Leanbh means Wild Child. I'm sure of it," she murmured while rubbing her eyes and yawning.
Nightingale wondered, "What in the world does that mean?"
Rama suggested, "Judging from the amount of casualties both sides have been sustaining, this Fia-Leanbh character could be a Servant that neither faction has been able to recruit into their forces."
"That makes sense. If we were to obtain this Servant's help, a proper assault is entirely possible."
"I don't think that's a good idea," Robin said. "Apparently both forces have been trying to confront this unknown disaster, only for everyone to be wiped out regardless of their allegiance. If I had to guess, that creature must be a Berserker that has gone on a true rampage."
"Then it is all the more fitting that we meet this out-of-control Servant! If their mind is poisoned, then I must bring an antidote for them immediately!"
"I think you're the one in need of an antidote, lady," Billy grumbled.
Geronimo said, "Let's leave that matter for another time. First, we should go meet those two Servants that Robin mentioned and get their cooperation."
"Uuh…" the bowman shuddered. "Don't say I didn't warn you, 'kay?"
In the White House, Medb sat upon her throne and listened to one of her vassals give their status report on the war's progress.
"You're telling me that this Fia-Leanbh thing still hasn't been apprehended?" she yelled angrily. "It's only one insignificant creature! How much trouble could it possibly cause for you imbeciles!?"
"A lot more than we anticipated, Your Highness. Fortunately, the many losses we incurred have allowed us to study this beast's attack patterns further, and we're mobilizing our strongest men to eliminate it."
"Oh, the inanity of it all. First Connie disappears, then that typhoon causes us setbacks, and now we have some unknown monster on the loose. If it wasn't for the Holy Grail granting me its bounty, our situation would have been a real nightmare. If only Cu was here, he would go take care of that creature in a heartbeat, but he's busy searching for Connie."
"A-Actually, madam…"
The door to the audience chamber creaked open, and in stumbled a bloodied and severely wounded Cuchulainn. He had heard the conversation and muttered, "Looks like things aren't going to be that simple, Medb."
"CU!?" she screamed and ran up to her beloved, corrupted king. "What in the Devil's name happened to you!? Why are you like this!?"
"I found Fia-Leanbh and fought her."
"… Her? You mean it's a girl?"
"Yeah. That mysterious calamity which has been ruining both sides' forces is a young female Berserker that has the mind of a violent animal."
"Oh my… Surely that monster's ferocity couldn't match yours, could it?"
"It's about even."
"How terrifying. If only there was some way we could recruit Fia into our ranks, we'd be unstoppable."
"That's impossible," Cuchulainn snapped. "She's completely mad. On top of that, she doesn't even understand human language. Communicating with her will just be a waste of time. That's why I tried to destroy her, but her powers caught me off guard."
Medb sighed sullenly. "If you were a low-level grunt, I would have beat you to death for your failure. But to think that you were the one who failed, my liege… My heart is torn between punishment and forgiveness. Well, make no mistake – I'll never forgive that hideous predator for what she did to you! The moment I have her in my clutches, she will suffer a terrible death the likes of which no one has ever endured before! Then I'll revive her with the Holy Grail and kill her again and again and again until my maidenly heart is satisfied!"
The Mad King didn't say anything about Scathach's appearance and his assumption about who Fia-Leanbh really was. He figured that Medb would be upset enough without hearing the whole truth, and the last thing he wanted to deal with was her incessant ranting. As he was about to go to bed, they heard the door open again, and another fellow walked through.
"You're the worst woman alive, Medb," he remarked with a friendly smile that didn't match his harsh words. "It's rather conflicting that you have such a terrible personality to go with that lovely body of yours."
"It's you," Cuchulainn grumbled.
This man was known as Fergus mac Róich, who had been summoned as a Saber. He had very short purple hair done in a crew cut, and he always kept his eyes closed. He wore simple warrior's attire, and left his chest bare to show everyone the three large gashes running diagonally across his biceps. He wielded a large drill-like sword over his shoulder – the legendary piercing blade Caladbolg, or the Spiral Rainbow Sword, which was capable of rending mountains asunder with such brilliant light that it would refract into multiple colors.
"It's been a while, Setanta," Fergus greeted his foster son. "I see the war hasn't been treating you well."
"Spare me your pity. And don't call me that name either. The child you remember as Setanta is dead."
"More like fallen into darkness."
"…"
"So, were you the one who called me?"
"No, it was I," Medb said. "I've been hearing some disturbing reports of stray Servants who have been banding together in rebellion against us. I worry that if their forces grow big enough, they could amass enough power to rival us."
"Interesting. So it's just a simple matter of picking them off one by one before they can meet."
"Precisely. Could you do that for me, Fergus? If you do, I'll reward you with a night that you can keep me company in my bed."
Fergus grinned with satisfaction. "Sounds promising. But I'm afraid I'll have to decline your offer. Just the prospect of hunting down Servants who are audacious enough to rebel against you will be reward enough for me. Call it staving off boredom, if you will. Just like with Setanta, I'll let my animal instincts run wild. Wouldn't you agree, young man?"
"Hmph," Cuchulainn grunted. "I don't care about minor skirmishes. My duty is to destroy everyone so that Connla will inherit this land."
"How charming. Despite having become such a bastard, her future is still imperative above all else to you. Of course, it won't do much good if the little lady is not around to inherit anything. I'll make sure to keep an eye out for her during my hunt. The bigger issue is, what should I do if she actually resists me?"
"Then kill her. Torture anyone else all you want, but if you're to kill her, then make it as swift and painless as possible. I'm tired of watching her suffer while I get all the glory."
"Got it. Then I will be off."