FATE/NOVUS ORDO SECLORUM
"New Order of the Ages"
Chapter 15: Cuchulainn's Medicine
The heroes continued northward along eastern America, passing by Georgia and the Carolinas before reaching halfway through Virginia. They had to stop and fight the occasional pack of Celtic warriors and/or a few strong monsters that scouted them out, but the fighting was nowhere near as intense as back in the war zone. Fia-Leanbh was extremely familiar with the area since it was her former hunting ground, so she guided them through pathways that made it difficult for the enemy to find them.
Ituha was starting to show signs of strain however, so the party decided to take a short rest before moving on. Ever since they breached the forest, a whole day of nonstop running and fighting had passed. The young Archer did her best to keep up without asking for any breaks, but she was reaching her limit of endurance.
She sat on a fallen tree and allowed Nightingale to examine her vitals. The nurse reported, "No signs of fever or disease anywhere. Your leg muscles look rather sore though. If you were in such pain, you should have asked one of us to carry you."
"I didn't want to slow anyone down," Ituha shook her head.
"Nonsense. I carried Rama around everywhere, and he was certainly no burden for me."
Rama rubbed his forehead and grumbled, "Please don't remind me of that…"
"It's no trouble for us to rest a bit," Diarmuid said. "Let's have Ms. Nightingale heal Miss Ituha for a couple of hours while we plan our invasion strategy."
"Good idea. Ever since we saw Gae Bolg, we've been running like headless chickens. The fact is, we need a solid plan if we're going to take on Medb and the Holy Grail. Ituha, can you tell Fia to scout ahead for us?"
"Sure," the child said and made the request to her other self. Without a word, Fia turned northward and rushed into the forest. It only took seconds for her small form to disappear within the foliage. Rama and Diarmuid gathered some firewood, and Ituha lit up a campfire with her magic so they could relax and warm up.
"So, how are we going to do this?" Rama wondered. "It's obvious that Medb is expecting the South Army – that is, us – to ambush the White House and try to kill her. The thing is, while our strategy is apparent, I am wondering if she's aware of which Servants are in each army. Can you tell us anything, Diarmuid?"
"Hmm," the Lancer pondered. "I am confident that Queen Medb would know how many of us are with Edison, as well as most of our identities."
"'Most' of our identities? You mean she doesn't know everyone?"
"She would obviously know about Edison, Helena and Karna, along with you from when Cuchulainn nearly killed you. Then there's myself and Scathach, and how we recruited Miss Fia. From my understanding about the failed assassination attempt, she would know about Robin Hood as well."
"So that leaves Elizabeth, Nightingale and Ituha."
"Pretty much. She never had any contact with those three Servants."
Rama glanced over at Nightingale and Ituha. "That means Medb doesn't know how two of us fight. I'll bet that goes double with Ituha since there are no records of any Servant possessing her abilities."
The Archer then suggested, "What about that Li Shuwen fellow?"
"Oh, him!" the Saber exclaimed. "He's been entirely unaccounted for in this whole war. There's also the possibility of other Servants being summoned who will assist us. Even so, I don't think it's a good idea to rest our hopes on those who may or may not show up. It's best to pool what resources we have available and utilize them to the fullest."
"That's a good point."
"So it's clear that Rama, Diarmuid and Fia have no choice but to rush in," Nightingale said. "It'd go against my good conscience to allow you all to charge in without anyone to heal you."
"Don't worry about us," Rama said. "I'll have Fia and Diarmuid concentrate on Medb while I destroy the Holy Grail with my Noble Phantasm. Ituha will hang back and snipe her, so I'd feel more comfortable if you were with her as a bodyguard."
"I see. Then you better finish the job quickly so I don't have to abandon Ituha and heal you all."
"Leave it to me," Diarmuid acknowledged. "Queen Medb may be terrifying as a queen, but her combat prowess is not as refined as mine or Miss Fia's. If all goes well, I can even imagine Miss Fia slaughtering Queen Medb before she has the chance to do anything."
"I can see that too. It's scary how efficient Fia is even though she's under severe Madness Enhancement," Rama raised an eyebrow. "I'm glad she's our ally."
While the discussion was going on, Ituha stared at the campfire sullenly. She didn't want to jinx the hopeful mood, but she remembered the most dangerous and unpredictable aspect of their battle that they had been overlooking this whole time:
Cuchulainn… I wonder if he's followed us or not…
She shook her head and stood up, saying, "I'll get some more wood."
She headed a little ways into the forest and found a variety of fallen sticks and twigs. She crouched to pick them up, stuffing as many as she could in her short arms. It wouldn't be two minutes that she heard something rustling nearby, and her heart leapt in worry. After a moment of silence, she dismissed it as a passing animal and continued gathering.
Then, without a sound, a black-gloved arm reached from behind her and snatched her off her feet!
"KYAAA~AAA~AAH!"
"Ituha!?" Rama yelped, and the group ran to where she was. To their collective horror, the little girl was forced against a familiar scaled warrior wielding a long red lance with spikes. He kept his gaunt arm tightly wrapped around her petite torso so she couldn't break free no matter how much she flailed and struggled.
"Miss Ituha!" Diarmuid screamed and tried to charge in to save her.
"Don't move," Cuchulainn Alter threatened the others, pointing Gae Bolg at her neck. "You don't want this one to wind up as another stain on my spear, do you?"
"Ah…! Ah…!" Ituha shuddered uncontrollably, scared beyond comprehension. She couldn't resist looking at the tip of the blade aimed directly at her - she even saw her reflection on the polished crimson metal, which only made her panic more.
Rama took control of the situation by shouting at her, "Stay calm! Take deep breaths and don't provoke him! We'll take care of this!"
"Mm…" the child sobbed and kept her mouth shut.
"So, your name's Ituha? Can't say I've heard of a Celtic Heroic Spirit like you," Cuchulainn said to her. "You even have a striking resemblance to my daughter. Well, that's impossible – she's already become a Berserker. You must be using some kind of disguise to try and fool me."
"…"
"Nevertheless, that plan you've all been cooking up doesn't sound like a very good one."
"You were listening!?" Nightingale snapped.
"Did you honestly think you lost me back when I killed Karna?" he grinned darkly. "I could have just rushed in and killed you lot before, but even I'm a little apprehensive when it comes to Connla… The one you call Fia now. She left behind a bunch of nasty scars for me as a parting gift."
"So you were waiting until Fia was separated from us to strike!" Rama exclaimed.
"Exactly. I would have liked to kill her first, but she's taught me to be cautious when it comes to her Berserker self. I'll get rid of the rest of you first before concentrating on her. Once you're all dead, Medb only needs time to overwhelm the North Army."
"Then fight me first, Cuchulainn!" Diarmuid challenged him, wielding his dual lances. "As I am a traitor to your cause, would it not be suitable for you to seek my death first!?"
"Traitor? I don't give a shit about any of that," Cuchulainn grunted. "I would have turned on you anyway. Your incessantly chivalrous attitude makes me sick to my stomach. You did me a favor by eliminating Fionn for me, and now I'll send you to where he is."
"Don't make me laugh! You taking a small child hostage is even more revolting!"
"My war will decimate everyone equally – man, woman, and child. This one isn't a hostage… She's my first victim!"
"STOP!"
"Heek…!" Ituha whimpered as Gae Bolg dug though a tiny layer of her cheek, expelling a drip of blood.
"Hm?" Cuchulainn appeared perplexed for a moment. He found it odd that she wasn't dispelling any sort of illusion or disguise by now. The blood was very real and flowed as a normal red color, meaning he was piercing actual human skin. He thought that perhaps some otherworldly demon or monster was masquerading as Ituha, but now he understood that she was no different than them.
This can't be… If she's not an impersonation of Connla, then she really is a Heroic Spirit who looks like her…
It made no sense to him. He already knew that Fia was Connla, so how was this Archer also Connla? He watched Fia leave on her scouting mission earlier, and she had not returned yet. Ituha remained behind the whole time and had not left other than to gather wood, and she hadn't gone very far either. In his mind, Connla couldn't be in two places at once. It was impossible for any individual Servant to pull off such a feat.
The other Servants noticed Cuchulainn's hesitation and tried to prepare their weapons. He caught them from the corner of his eye and decided to worry about it later. Right when he was about to jam Gae Bolg through Ituha's head, the wind immediately picked up and rustled the leaves and grass in a chaotic frenzy. A small cyclonic streak bounced off the trees like a pinball and headed straight for the Mad King.
"What!?" he roared.
Both Cuchulainn and Ituha were suddenly sent hurtling across the dirt from a surprise gust of wind generated by Fia bashing her body against him. He lost his grip on Ituha, and she screamed while tumbling in the air. The feral child immediately caught her other self and brought her back to Rama and the others. The terrified Archer hurried behind Diarmuid for protection. Fia hunched down on all fours like an animal and glared at Cuchulainn through her mask, shivering with anticipation of tearing his guts out. He didn't return her malice with hatred of his own, but rather unadulterated shock.
"Impossible…" was the Mad King's astonished reaction. "T-There's two of her!?"
All this time, he knew about Fia's existence and assumed that she was the one and only Connla who had gone mad. He never found out about Ituha until this very moment, and seeing two very conflicting versions of his daughter made him extremely baffled. In that instant, Scathach's bitter words finally started to make sense:
"You know absolutely NOTHING about your daughter!"
His heart sunk, but he tried to hide it behind a veil of malice. His mentor was right; he knew nothing. He had no idea how truly deep Connla's despair was until now. Her simply becoming a Berserker was one awful outcome, but at least it made the most rational sense for a Servant to give up their sanity in order to overcome grief.
For her to split apart into two different Servants however, she had to have plummeted into an inescapable abyss of darkness and loneliness that shattered her mind and fragmented her body. In other words, she 'committed suicide' by splitting herself so she could erase her original form entirely, thereby ending the nightmare she was living in. He wasn't sure if there was an actual skill he could identify this phenomenon with.
"Do you see it now, Cuchulainn?" Nightingale asked. "Your illness was so contagious that it wound up affecting her. Connla became infected with your darkness and was willing to shed her former self to escape the hell you put her though, lest she wind up becoming as despicable as you. Yet that did nothing to heal the underlying cause of her sickness. Her offspring are likewise fighting diseases of their own - one with amnesia, the other with insanity."
He glared at the nurse and glowered, "You talk too much."
"I'm not speaking for myself. I am the voice of my patients who are unable to say any of those kinds of things. I promised her from the very beginning that I would treat her, and I am going to finish that duty by burning every last pathogen threatening to ail her further!"
Cuchulainn was about to retort, but Fia grew impatient with listening to their conversation and jumped out of sight in a small twister that kicked up leaves and grass. He grit his sharp teeth and dilated his eyes in alarm, realizing instantly that he had to go on the offensive. He brought Gae Bolg forth and blocked her diving thrust, which was powerful enough to make him reel backwards. They clashed their spears several times, then Fia ducked into the tall grass and obscured herself while running at breakneck speeds in a low angle. Cuchulainn could see where she was going thanks to the rustling foliage and ran parallel to intercept her.
Fia skidded on her heels to twist her body toward him, then leapt over him as he stabbed forth. She avoided being skewered and somersaulted several times, then landed in such a way that she could launch herself back at him, plunging her polearm at his midsection and piercing through with a burst of blood.
"Damn it!" Cuchulainn cursed and wrapped his tail around the small girl. His intention was to crush her to death like a boa constrictor would, but she used a series of Ken Runes to generate a sphere of razor-sharp winds around her. The gusts tore through his tail and backside, forcing him to drop her to avoid being shredded to bits. She maintained the deadly winds and seemed to 'fly' through the air as she activated her Noble Phantasm, Maiseite Gaoithe. She practically transformed herself into a "wind machete" that tore through the air around Cuchulainn, and he had to concentrate on maintaining a solid defense when it wasn't exactly his specialty. Her movements made him think of the Japanese kamaitachi , especially with the way she lacerated his skin with small but countless wounds.
If there ever was such a thing as a coherent thought in Fia's mind, it would resemble this:
Kill him! Kill him! Kill him! KILL HIM! KILL HIM! KILL HIM! KILL HIM! KILL HIM! KILL HIM! KILL! KILL! KILL! KILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILL KIII~III~LLL~LLL~LLL!
If Cuchulainn only caused Connla immense sorrow and sadness, then Fia was born from her darkest desire to get rid of that source of her despair. Back when she was whole, Connla would never have allowed this dreadful, selfish side of herself to dominate her thoughts. By splitting it into an independent entity, she could discard such sentiment and try to eliminate her woes without restraint. That was Fia's entire purpose; kill Cuchulainn, and make herself feel better.
"Ugh! Kgh! Damn it-!" the Mad King grunted, barely keeping up with her god-like speed with his own violently flailing spear. The unhealed injuries he sustained from Karna's Noble Phantasm also compounded his fatigue.
SWISH! SWISH! SWISH! SWISH! SWISH! SWISH!
The intense swooshing of Fia's wind vacuum was too much for him to handle, and she landed a blow on one of his legs that caused him to lose his footing. She richocheted everywhere, slamming into him at rapid speeds and throwing him about everywhere like a piñata being batted around from all different directions. One blow sent him hurtling backwards, but Fia immediately shot straight behind him while he was in mid-flight and barreled at his backside. The two opposing forces bent Cuchulainn back in an almost perfect and downright agonizing fold where his ankles touched the top of his head.
He couldn't utter a cry of agony as he crumpled upon the grass, and Fia vaulted off of him. She spared absolutely no mercy or time for him to recover as she immediately leapt above him aiming her spear at his neck. The livid Cuchulainn snarled like a beast and whirled around, swinging Gae Bolg just in time to parry her stab. She tumbled in midair and landed, then flipped aside just before he slammed his weapon into the ground she was on. The frenzy they were caught in was impossible to describe with words beyond chaotic, random, and destructive. Any land they wound up on would be destroyed in a matter of seconds either by Cuchulainn's raw strength or Fia's awesome speed.
At last, he got in a hit when he stabbed at her abdomen and grazed the flesh. She wasn't used to pain, so she winced and performed some back flips to get away from him. He was just as relentless as her however, and he took deadly chase. With a powerful swing that rendered the earth asunder, he raised Gae Bolg in an upwards arc in an attempt to cleave her in half. She just barely edged her body back to avoid the terrifying attack. The tip of the spear scraped across her mask, just shallow enough to miss her skin but deep enough to destroy the face cover. It fragmented into useless pieces and clattered upon the forest floor. Fia left it behind and somersaulted backwards several times before landing squarely in a squatting position, breathing very hard.
With her mask gone, everyone finally got a good look at her real face. The charming white fur coat and mittens she wore did nothing to dispel her frightening visage. The little girl's brown eyes were completely devoid of life. Her lavender hair was much longer and more messier than she normally had. What caught their attention however was the multitude of extra eyes that opened up on her cheeks and forehead like blinking tumors. Her bared teeth were sharp and dripping with saliva as she snarled at Cuchulainn.
"Miss… Fia…?" Diarmuid choked up and shuddered.
Ituha was equally as shocked at seeing how horrifying and disgusting her alternate self appeared. She covered her mouth in abject fright and yelped, "What… happened to you!?"
"Riastrad."
Cuchulainn's calm voice broke through the disbelieving atmosphere as he approached Fia. She anxiously backed away from him with each step he took.
"She has gone so far off the deep end that riastrad has fully claimed her, not to mention the added effects of Madness Enhancement," he explained. "It is the battle frenzy that I was once famous for, so it's no surprise that she would inherit it from me. Normally Connla keeps it buried within her subconscious, but this Berserker version of her must have allowed it to awaken and let it control her actions. Meanwhile, that Archer version has amnesia, so remembering her previous suffering is out of the question."
He wielded Gae Bolg and got into his battle stance. "Don't you see? Connla is no longer herself. It's my duty as her father to send the last of her fragments to Emain Ablach."
"I apologize, sir, but I can't let that happen!" Diarmuid retorted as he brandished his dual lances. "Both halves are needed to repair her Spirit Origin! If you destroy even one of them, there will be no hope of reviving the princess!"
"That's why I'll kill both of them instead."
"Don't be absurd! She's your daughter! Have you given up on her so easily!?"
Cuchulainn's eyes grew so wide that blood vessels could be seen on the whites. "Those two are not the Connla I remember! She killed herself in Ohio! She abandoned the future I had planned for her, and left me behind to mourn for her death! She destroyed my entire purpose for waging this war, leaving me with nothing but the power to kill! The daughter I know is dead! DEAD!"
All of the Servants fell silent as they felt his rage and disappointment. They realized that he was extremely angry with Connla for self-destructing when he wasn't around to protect her. That was why he saw Ituha and Fia as nothing more than complete strangers, even if they were created from Connla's Spirit Origin as their bases.
"I see… So that's what it is…" Diarmuid whispered slowly.
The Fianna Knight said no more. He no longer had any right to lecture Cuchulainn when he was suffering from such tremendous grief. Everyone else felt the same way. Diarmuid immediately charged at his former king and stabbed both of his lances with incredible precision and furor. Cuchulainn had to struggle not to just avoid the two weapons, but to also dodge the curses either of them could deliver to him. He concentrated on Gae Buidhe first, fully aware that if he couldn't heal his terrifying wounds afterwards, he would die from exsanguination anyway.
Both men shouted their battle cries and dueled in an incredible dervish of movement. The three spears smashed against each other in an imperceptible flurry. Soon enough though, Diarmuid found himself unable to tolerate Cuchulainn's monstrous strength and tried to retreat.
"That was stupid," the king snarled and unleashed his full might against Gae Buidhe. The yellow spear cracked, then shattered into fragments that scattered in the air.
"Impossible!" Diarmuid gasped.
"One problem neutralized. I could focus on doing the same thing to Gae Dearg, but why waste the time when I can have your heart instead?"
"My heart-!?"
Gae Bolg shone an intimidating crimson color as its owner called upon the familiar curse. The other Servants tried to stop him, but it was much too late.
"GAE BOLG!"
Once Cuchulainn threw his weapon, Diarmuid's fate was already decided. A shrill piercing sound echoed throughout the forest. Blood exploded out of the knight's mouth, and he lost his grip on Gae Dearg before plummeting onto his back in total silence.
"NOO~OOO~OOO!" Ituha shrieked.
There was no time for anyone to mourn Diarmuid's fall, since Cuchulainn was still retrieving Gae Bolg and set his sights on the survivors. Fia let out a child-like roar and flew into an uncontrollable frenzy that would not be calmed until she devoured the Mad King's entrails. Saliva drooled through her sharp teeth as she charged in to strike him again, allowing the highest level of battle frenzy to dominate her mind and instincts. Riastrad likewise claimed his sanity and transformed him into an incoherent monster as he lunged straight for her.
"GWAAA~AAA~AAA~AAAHHH!"
Both of them closed the gap between each other at such a fast rate that blinking would cause any observer to miss the moment of impact. When the worst of it dissipated, it revealed Fia violently tumbling and bouncing across the ground. She finally stopped on her side and didn't have the strength to get back up. Cuchulainn rushed at her, seeking to pierce her to death multiple times with Gae Bolg.
"Not a chance!" Rama screamed and parried with his sword.
"Goddamn rat! Shut up and DIE ALREADY!" the Celtic king raged, flailing his legendary weapon around so hard and fast that he easily cleaved through trees and dirt like they weren't even there. Rama twisted his body to avoid the onslaught, while Ituha had already taken Fia away from danger. Nightingale healed Fia's wounds, giving her the energy she needed to rejoin the battle. The young Berserker pounced right back on Cuchulainn at the same time Rama swung his sword down upon him. He raised Gae Bolg to block both assaults at once, and the two Servants struggled to overpower him together.
"USELESS!" he shouted and delivered a mighty swing that tossed both of them off him. He tried to kill them while they were off-balance, but he noticed Nightingale aiming her gun at his head the moment she fired. The flashing sparks emanating from the pistol snapped him into using his lance as an impromptu shield, deflecting the bullet a fraction of a second before it could puncture his cranium.
Ituha twirled like a dancer and spread her arms about, conjuring a series of fireballs that she launched at Cuchulainn. He parried each one with incredible precision, then rushed in to try and stab her. She hopped straight up, landed square on the spiked pole, then shoved an Ansuz Rune right in front of his face before back flipping off, leaving the spell to explode all around him in a brilliant inferno. She landed without incident, and the four heroes looked to see how badly injured their foe would be.
The flames swirled around his large silhouette until he broke through and showed them how positively livid and furious he was. In that moment, he truly looked like a hell beast emerging from the depths of an erupting volcano. Burns, wounds, gashes, and blood coated his battered body. His appearance was terrible, but he still had plenty of life glowing in his ruby eyes. He looked at the remaining four Servants, unsure of who to brutally slay first.
"Let's go, Fia!" Nightingale shouted, and the two Berserkers rushed in to attack Cuchulainn.
"Impudent little shits!" the Mad King shrieked, and coarse veins distorted his hideous expression. He swung Gae Bolg hard at Nightingale, but she did the unthinkable – she used all of her strength to catch the spear in mid-swing. The spikes gouged through her hands as she wrapped them around the pole, momentarily disabling him. Fia generated an invisible wind lance and flung it at him. In a desperate move to block it, he lifted Nightingale off her feet, used his lance to toss her away, then smashed the windy projectile into useless gusts. Ituha fired another volley of fireballs, which he effortlessly blocked with numerous spear twirls.
"Why are you trying so hard!?" he shouted. His blood vessels looked like they were going to burst on their own. "Just give up and die! We're all destined to perish anyway, so why bother struggling!? All of you should join me in death! Then the pain and misery plaguing us all will all go away!"
"Quit your incessant babbling!" Rama shouted and swung his blade hard at Cuchulainn's chest. He gouged out a nasty diagonal gash across the king's torso, causing blood to spill everywhere.
Cuchulainn screamed vicious profanities and jumped away while pressing his hand against his chest. He glared at the Saber and snarled, "Stop flaunting your borrowed feathers, you worthless scumbag!"
"Right back at you, false king!"
"Hmph! If it wasn't for Fia buzzing all over me like some obnoxious fly, I would have enjoyed destroying your heart a second time! I have no choice but to go home and cool off now!"
"There's no point in fleeing, Cuchulainn," Nightingale declared. "You may heal your body, but your fury will never be cured. Why? Because you are irrevocably ill."
"Heh heh! You right about that, blood-covered saint. I'll never be healed. All I can do is continue living as a king with no successor, fighting and fighting until I fall and rot."
"No successor…? I see, so that's the medicine you so desperately need. I get it now. You're suffering from severe symptoms of withdrawal."
"Shut up, bimbo. Don't talk like you know everything about me. If you want to finish me so badly, then come and get me if you can! I'll fight you all to the death in Washington!"
With that threat, Cuchulainn jumped high into the sky and disappeared into his spirit form, leaving the remaining heroes to surround the dying Diarmuid. Ituha was especially devastated and held his hand while crying.
"M-Miss Ituha… Miss… Fia… Listen to me…" Diarmuid gasped. "There's only… one way… to calm… that beast. You two… need to remember… who you once were…"
"As the Child of Cuchulainn?" Ituha sobbed.
"Yes. You need to… resurrect the princess."
"But I don't know how."
"Scathach told me. All you need… is to have nothing more… than the desire… to save that man…"
"To save Cuchulainn… My father…"
Diarmuid finally lost all of his strength and disappeared in a flurry of golden light particles. She wanted to stay there and mourn his death until she was satisfied, but she knew there wasn't any time left. Rama put his hand on her shoulder, which was all the encouragement she needed to get back up. Whether they were victorious or not, there would be plenty of time for grieving later. Ituha had to concentrate on the mission that Diarmuid and Scathach left behind for her:
Father… Even if I'm not strong enough to save everyone, I want to at least pull you out of that darkness… To reach my hand for you as you're falling, when no one else will…
"Let's keep moving," Nightingale said. "If we give him any time to rest, he'll be back at full strength. Now's the best time to sanitize him and Medb – when the main pathogen is at his weakest!"