FATE/NOVUS ORDO SECLORUM

"New Order of the Ages"

Chapter 19: Death For Tomorrow

The clear night sky blanketed the country with its soothing scenery of twinkling stars and thin clouds. Not long before this, the area had been covered with numerous Demon Pillars writhing about trying to kill the few Servants who resisted them. Now, those creatures were completely wiped out. No signs of the North Army's terrifying battle remained.

"Unbelievable… He actually did it!" Helena exclaimed.

She and all of her allies stared at Arjuna as he kneeled upon the ground, appearing horribly weakened and unable to sustain himself any further.

"Ungh… I hope… this is enough… to atone… for what I've done…" he gasped. "So this is… what it means… to be a Servant… who fights for the world. I understand how you felt now… Karna…"

The Indian hero's form dissipated in a gust of golden dust that faded to nothing. Edison and Tesla stood side-by-side, astonished that everything was quiet once again. Edison was afraid of jinxing this auspicious scene, but nevertheless murmured, "We won…"

"It would seem so," Tesla agreed hesitantly.

Elizabeth suddenly hugged Robin and squealed delightedly, "We did it! We really, really did it!"

"Yeah," he muttered in exhaustion. "Though I've got mixed feelings, being a fellow Archer and all that. Man, it's a huge world out there…"

"Hm," Li Shuwen grumbled. "Now that things have settled here, I must leave to attend to other matters. Godspeed to you all."

Just as quickly as he said that, the Chinese fighter departed with a strong leap. Beowulf sat on a rock nearby, panting heavily from having expended so much energy just to survive against the Demon Pillars. Helena approached him and asked, "Do you understand why your side never had a chance? It's because this is an era forged through intellect and pioneering spirit, not through violence and heroism."

"Heh… You might say that… But there's still a need for strength like mine… And the little princess is doing her best too," he moaned.

"What do you mean?"

"Look…" he pointed to the distance. Everyone looked over to see what he meant, and the sight immediately horrified them. Although they were far away from Washington, they could see a familiar static hurricane rip through the skies and tear everything apart in its wake.

"No!" Helena choked up. "It can't be! That tornado is the same one she caused in Ohio!"

"Hey, don't tell me she's using her full Noble Phantasm again! She'll kill herself like that!" Edison shouted.

"That's just the type of warrior she is," Beowulf muttered. "She's a real trooper, that one. If it means destroying an enemy, she'll gladly die a thousand times without complaint. Geez… That kind of heavy responsibility shouldn't be left to a little kid like her."

"Hey, is the puppy in danger!? Then why are we just standing around here!? We have to go help her!" Elizabeth shouted and started running toward the capital.

"It might be too late, but I guess we should do what we can," Robin grumbled and followed her.

Edison and Tesla pursued them, while Helena took one last look at Beowulf and said, "Farewell. I hope you're summoned to a world where your heroism is needed."

"Yeah," the scarred warrior said and gradually faded away like Arjuna did. "If the kid somehow survives this, take care of her."

"We will."

After several hours of lying in the dirt unconscious, Rama eventually stirred awake and groaned. The horrible migraine he endured felt like his brain had been turned into paste, and that if he moved around too much, it would slosh about like sludge inside his cranium. He spent some time lying on his side before getting to his knees and looking around wearily. He found Nightingale slumped nearby, and he shook her shoulder while uttering, "Hey, wake up! Are you okay!?"

A moment later, the nurse woke up and turned onto her back, staring up at him while murmuring, "Everything feels intact. That must mean I'm alive."

"What happened? Why are we way out here?"

"Hmm… We were fighting that Demon Pillar. Then Connla went inside to use her Noble Phantasm… and Cuchulainn followed to rescue her…"

"That's right! Where's Connla!?"

They looked around for their young comrade, but she was nowhere to be found.

"No…" Rama wanted to tear up. "She couldn't have survived that…"

"That damn fool. Just after I discharged her too," Nightingale closed her eyes. "But that is how it is. Once a patient leaves my care, they are free to live and die as they please."

While they were lost in pity and self-loathing, that was when they noticed something unusual in the distance. Through the dust of the dying windstorm, the duo could see a large figure sauntering toward them with a distinct limp in his gait. His large spiked tail was all but gone, and most of his armor and clothing had disappeared. Copious amounts of blood pooled out of countless scars and gashes across his skin. He breathed hard, but pressed onward toward the surprised Servants.

"Cuchulainn!" Rama seethed, both in anger and genuine surprise.

He wanted to reach for his sword and use the last of his strength to kill his enemy. However, Nightingale raised her arm up and objected, "Wait!"

"Why!? Now is the perfect time!"

"Look… in his arms…"

Once she brought his attention to it, he finally noticed what she was so focused on. Cuchulainn was carrying something wrapped inside his torn black mantle. Upon closer inspection, they could see that the small figure cocooned in the cloth was a comatose Connla. Once he saw the nurse and the warrior, he finally exhaled a sigh of relief and slumped to his knees, while still looking at his child with complete sorrow in his battered eyes. Nightingale immediately ran to them to see what was wrong.

"What happened back there? Is she still alive?" she demanded.

"Just barely…" Cuchulainn grumbled. "Please… help her…"

They laid Connla on the ground and unwrapped the mantle so Nightingale could get a better look at the girl's injuries. The nurse, who was accustomed to seeing grievous wounds, retched in horror and shouted, "What is this!?"

She had every right to be appalled. Not only was Connla covered in perhaps hundreds of tiny lacerations, she had completely lost her left arm and both legs, leaving her a triple amputee with only her barely functioning right arm. Her left eye was also gone, not to mention that part of her face looked like it had been scooped out with a gigantic spoon. The child had lost so much blood that her skin was as pale as death itself.

Rama was equally as shocked as Nightingale and yelped, "How the hell is she still alive!?"

"Gah…" Cuchulainn collapsed into a sitting position in sheer exhaustion. "She definitely died… but only moments… after I transferred… my Battle Continuation… to her…"

"How did you do that?"

"With my Runes… of course."

"There's no time for gawking!" Nightingale shouted at the two men. "This is as terrible an emergency as it gets! Although the conditions are not ideal for surgery, I have no choice but to press forth like this! We must stop the bleeding immediately and cauterize all blood flow to unnecessary parts of her body! One of you two need to focus on keeping her breathing stable, while the other follows my instructions on where to cauterize! I will dedicate myself to using my healing techniques to repair the most critical injuries! I must focus on her lungs first, as they appear to have collapsed from puncture wounds!"

"Tch… Then I'll do the cauterizing. Boy, you take care of the breathing," Cuchulainn said to Rama.

"Yeah," the warrior nodded, beginning to perform mouth-to-mouth with Connla. It felt strange to him that in one moment he was fighting against the Celtic hero as his mortal enemy, only to have to cooperate with him to save someone else. As he looked at Connla's terrible injuries though, he remembered his own near-death struggle and how she, while as Ituha, accompanied him all along the way to his full recovery. He also couldn't forget how she braved death to use her full Noble Phantasm against Halphas to save everyone. It didn't matter that she was the child of the man who almost killed him; he was going to repay her kindness in full during her darkest hours.

Connla groaned in her sleep as she reacted to the painful medical procedures. She gasped hard as consciousness returned to her and she tried to open her eyes. However, while she could barely see the sky with her right vision, her left was completely black.

"Father… Where are you…?" Her moaning sounded incoherent through the gurgling of blood. "It's… so dark…"

"I'm right here," Cuchulainn whispered while burning the wounds on her missing arm shut with a small Ansuz rune.

"Is the Demon Pillar… gone…?"

Rama assured her, "You and your father destroyed it with your Noble Phantasms."

"And… the northern front…?"

Cuchulainn pressed his fingers against her lips to silence her and ordered, "Stop talking. You're wasting your energy."

"Mm…"

About half an hour later, the group heard footsteps running toward them. Elizabeth shouted, "HEE~EEY! Are you guys okay!? Is the puppy all right!?"

"Be quiet!" Nightingale snapped. "We're in the middle of emergency treatment!"

"Geez, what's your-? AH!?"

Both Elizabeth and Helena let out horrified yelps of shock as they witnessed the child Lancer's horrific injuries and the others' frantic efforts to save her. Edison, Tesla and Robin also saw them and shuddered simultaneously.

"This is horrible," Robin mumbled, resisting the urge to look away in revulsion.

Edison attempted to keep calm and asked, "What happened here?"

Nightingale replied, "There's no time to explain. Since you use electricity, I need your help in keeping the patient's heartbeat stable with defibrillation."

The lion-man trembled anxiously. "Are you serious!? I've never done anything so precise and delicate in my life!"

"Hah hah hah hah hah!" Tesla laughed. "How pathetic! Such a monumental task is unfitting of an ordinary man, as you so confess! Fear not! I, Nikola Tesla, shall step up to the task and-!"

"HURRY IT UP ALREADY!" the irate nurse shouted. "She won't last five minutes like this!"

"Gah… Right, right. Here we go."

Tesla gently pressed his hands against Connla's chest and focused on transferring a tiny bit of electricity through her nerves. He shut out all outside interferences and concentrated on giving her just the right amount to keep her alive without electrocuting her to death. Helena joined Nightingale in the healing efforts. All Robin, Elizabeth and Edison could do was watch and pray silently. Edison was especially surprised to see Cuchulainn helping them out, but he understood his position and opted to save his harsh words for later.

Treatment continued for another apprehensive hour until Nightingale announced that they had done everything they could for Connla at this point. She was still in critical condition, but they managed to stop the bleeding and repair her wounds enough. She would need further surgery for sure, but operating too much on such a small child would cause great strain to her already battered body.

Nightingale looked at everyone and asked, "Is there a bed we can use for the patient to rest?"

"I wish we could take her back to the White House," Edison muttered, gazing into the distance forlornly, "but it's been nearly demolished. We will need to set up a temporary base until we can get it repaired."

"There's a small settlement I saw nearby as we were coming here," Helena said. "It didn't look too wrecked, so I'm sure we can stay there a while."

"Good enough," Nightingale said.

Cuchulainn wordlessly wrapped Connla back in his mantle and carried her. He didn't want to say anything to the heroes who thwarted his efforts to destroy America. He was sure that no one was interested in talking to him right now either. Connla was the only reason he was there anyway – once everyone was certain she would be okay, they would then focus their attention on what to do with him. That was why he kept to the very rear of the group while staring only at the girl's exhausted face.

You idiot… You should have cooperated with Rama and Nightingale to fight me and Halphas from the outside. You didn't have to pull me out of there and destroy the Demon Pillar by yourself. I was more than ready to die back there, so what was the point of saving me too?

He kept cursing himself for his stupidity all the way to the tiny hamlet.

Over the next two days, Cuchulainn confined himself to a small house, refusing to leave or talk to anyone besides Nightingale. He had Connla tucked in the only available bed, and not once did he leave her side. It wasn't like he could anyway; Edison and Tesla had constructed a large cage of raw electricity to confine him so he couldn't run off and cause any more trouble. Everyone else could pass through so long as either of the two men allowed it, but Cuchulainn was never going to escape unless he didn't mind being electrocuted to death.

Truth be told, Cuchulainn didn't care about anything or anyone else anymore. He wanted to be by his daughter's side for once, when he had neglected to do so before. He didn't want her to die, but if she was going to succumb to her injuries, he was going to hold her hand and give her much-needed comfort in her last moments. That being said, he refused to let things get that bad for her.

After getting Connla settled in bed, Cuchulainn used his Runes to connect his life essence to hers so he could transfer his stamina. She didn't have any strength left to fight the agony plaguing her, so he lent his strength for her to survive with. Not only that, he did everything else for her; feeding, bathing, dressing her wounds, giving her medication, and keeping her calm. All this time, she actually didn't understand how awful her physical condition was.

The first day was difficult for Connla, although she still had most of her mental faculties intact. One time, she told him, "I had a weird dream."

"What was it about?" he asked.

"I was in another version of myself… You and I were working for the same Master, at some place called Chaldea…"

"Is that so?"

"We were fighting the same enemies… Side by side… As allies…"

"Heh. That would be nice. I bet anyone who opposes our Master would be quivering once they faced the two of us in battle."

Soon enough, her unusual ramblings turned incoherent as she started to have a delirious fever. Nightingale had to make plenty of visits on the second day to help her fight the infections with her healing skills. Connla looked like a zombie on the second night, her remaining eye completely devoid of life, as she had been pumped full of enough medications to last a lifetime. She was unable to speak any longer, and her skin turned a clammy grey hue.

Cuchulainn wiped her sweating forehead with a damp cloth, waiting for the sedatives to kick in and knock her back into a coma. Once Connla was fast asleep, he held her freezing cold hand and stared at the gold-and-red ring on her thumb. It was the same one he gave to her during her birthday celebration – the only real present she had ever received in her lifetime. It was the conduit he used to connect his life essence to hers, and the etched red marks shone to symbolize this.

After a moment of hesitant silence, he looked up at Nightingale and said, "Give it to me straight. How much longer does she have?"

The nurse closed her eyes and sighed, steeling herself to deliver the unfortunate news:

"Two… Maybe three days if she holds out long enough."

"So it's that bad."

"Yes. She has so many infections that she is succumbing to severe sepsis, and she doesn't have the same endurance levels that Rama did when he was fighting that curse. In fact, Connla should already be dead. Only my healing and you transferring your stamina to her have acted as her life supports. I think it's best to put her to sleep for good, but I'm sure you'd be against that."

"Took the words right out of my mouth. If she possesses the will to live, then it's your prerogative to work toward sustaining her."

"Right you are. However, reality is a bitter pill that I must also swallow. I don't know what your intentions are, but know this – she is in excruciating pain, and she doesn't have the strength to fight it on her own anymore."

"That's why I'm here," Cuchulainn said, holding Connla's hand tighter. "That amount of time is just what I need anyway. Do me a favor; tell the others not to bother me for the next 24 hours."

"What are you going to do?" the nurse wondered.

"You'll see."

She wasn't sure what he had in mind, but the confident tone in his voice was enough to assuage her concerns. She left him be for the night, and he kneeled over Connla while using his index finger to begin tracing some magic symbols under her right eye that resembled the marks on his face.

"Just put up with this a little longer. Don't worry, you're gonna be fine. I'll make sure you get better," he whispered to her.

Just as promised, Nightingale told the other Servants not to bother Cuchulainn for the entire day. They weren't sure what he was planning and grew more and more nervous with each passing hour. They started to think that Cuchulainn was doing something horrible to Connla, like a murder-suicide that he didn't want any of them to stop. Nightingale had faith in him however, and constantly told the others not to rush to such conclusions.

The full 24 hours finally passed, so Edison and Rama agreed to go check up on Connla together. Once they were inside the hut, they saw Cuchulainn kneeling next to Connla's bed fast asleep while the little girl remained unconscious, appearing much worse than when they last saw her. Both men were relieved to see that Cuchulainn hadn't done anything drastic, but were equally afraid of Connla's deteriorating condition.

"Hey," Rama said to the former king. "Are you awake?"

Cuchulainn soon stirred awake and groaned. He took a moment to get his bearings, then looked back at the pair and grumbled, "You two, huh? What do you want?"

"We were worried for the young lady, so we came to check up on her," Edison said.

"Oh, right. It's been a whole day, hasn't it?"

"What was so important that you didn't want us to disturb you for the last 24 hours?"

Cuchulainn didn't respond right away. His expression was blank and disinterested as he sauntered back to his feet, looking down upon his comatose daughter for a long minute. Rama and Edison believed it would have been rude to bother him while he was observing his child, so they kept quiet and waited for him to say something.

Finally, he smirked and said, "This is my last-ditch effort to save her."

Suddenly, Cuchulainn raised his arm and summoned Gae Bolg in his hand, then lifted it above his head so that it was pointing downward!

"What are you doing!?" Rama screamed, grabbing the hilt of his sword.

"Don't be reckless!" Edison added. Both men panicked at the sight of their former enemy seemingly ready to strike Connla down.

"STAY AWAY!" Cuchulainn roared.

Before the others could react in time, they heard the distinct sound of metal crunching through flesh and viscera, followed by the copious pooling of blood on the floor. It all happened so fast that neither Servant understood what just occurred. It took them a moment to process the scene before them.

"Gah… Augh-!"

Cuchulainn reeled back, then slumped to his knees and coughed up blood. He had not stabbed Connla, but rather himself in the chest. He extracted Gae Bolg out of his torso and chucked it aside without a care, leaving it to disintegrate into nothing. His heart was pierced clean through, and the legendary spear's curse coursed all over his flesh and organs. He slumped forward on all fours in agony, but he breathed hard for a moment to regain his strength. His deep panting made him sound like a wounded beast that was struggling to hold on to its mortal coil.

Rama released his grip on his weapon and uttered, "W-What did you just do?"

"Isn't it… obvious…?" Cuchulainn coughed. "I'm… finishing things…"

Edison closed his eyes and shook his head. "You fool. That young lady sacrificed so much to rescue you from Halphas. Do you no longer have a soul? Do you not care about what she did for you? Are you happy with spitting on her efforts like this?"

"No… that's not it. That's not… why I'm… doing this… Unngh!"

The fatally wounded Celtic hero crawled up to the bed, then slumped his upper body over the sleeping girl so he could look at her angelic face while dying.

"Listen to me…" he urged the two men. "I bound myself… to a geas… that would help… restore Connla… to full health…"

"You mean like some kind of resurrection spell?" Rama asked.

"Yeah. With this… she'll get better… in no time. But in order… for it… to work… I have to… kill myself… and transfer… all of my essence… to her…"

"That's insane! Do you have any idea how devastated she'll be when she finds out!?"

"Heh…" Cuchulainn chuckled. "Are you saying… you prefer to execute me… and have her die… like this?"

"But… But even if we wanted you executed for your crimes, we could have waited until-"

"There's no time..."

"No time?"

"Haven't you noticed, idiot? With each passing day… her condition is… getting worse. None of Nightingale's treatments… are going to work. I needed to… do something drastic… so I came up… with this. Feh… Aren't you supposed to… be happy instead? You'll finally be rid of… the monster that… terrorized this land. What more… could you ask for?"

"No…" Rama moaned. "Not like this…"

"Save it. I've made up my mind. Before I go, though… I have a request…"

Edison frowned, then firmed his expression as he said, "You want us to take care of the young lady for you? You didn't even need to ask. All of us will make sure she lives a fulfilling life as one of this country's Servants, and is celebrated as a national hero."

Cuchulainn sighed in relief. "Thanks…"

He stroked Connla's head and whispered in her ear, even though she was in a deep coma and could not hear him.

"Sorry about this… but I've got to go now. Don't be sad though. I'll be much closer to you… than you think. I'm giving everything I have… so you can be the normal girl… you always wanted to be. You be good… and listen to what everyone… tells you to do… okay?"

His body could no longer resist Gae Bolg's curse as it encroached upon his face and extremities with vicious prejudice. He gave up resisting and closed his eyes, allowing his form to disintegrate from the feet upward. As his arms and head vanished, he murmured his final words to Connla.

"… I love you."

Finally, he was gone. The Mad King that spread chaos and destruction across America, eventually tamed by his own loving daughter, had vanished like a bad dream. Edison and Rama were left standing there as witnesses to the man's death. They approached the bed and examined the girl's extensive injuries.

"Edison, get the others right away," Rama said.

"Got it," the lion-man replied and hurried to inform everyone else. Rama remained by Connla's side holding her hand. He was so worked up from witnessing Cuchulainn's suicide that he had to take many deep breaths to calm down. Soon, Edison returned with Nightingale and Helena in tow so they could get a look at Connla.

"What happened here?" Nightingale asked.

"I'm not sure," Edison grumbled hurriedly, "but Cuchulainn killed himself just now!"

"He committed suicide!? What for!?"

"I'm not sure. He said something about some 'gus' that he was using on her."

"You mean a geas," Helena corrected him. "My god, what was he thinking? What kind of vow did he bind himself to that required him ending his own life?"

"I really don't know…"

"Hmm… Oh!? Hey, look!" the occultist exclaimed, directing their attention to Connla.

Everyone else glanced over at the sleeping child, and they suddenly shared in her astonishment. A series of marks nearly identical to Cuchulainn Alter's tattoos appeared on the sleeping girl's face and body as glowing red glyphs. They could sense an extraordinary amount of external mana flowing into her scars and missing limbs. Slowly but surely, her left arm and both legs formed into existence thanks to the glittering energy. The marks shone until the healing process was done, then disappeared so she could return to normal. Connla didn't look to be in pain anymore as she slept, and the color to her skin appeared much healthier than before. It was as if nothing ever happened to her.

"What in the world was that?" Nightingale wondered as she hurriedly examined her patient's new limbs. "They're warm… There's definitely blood coursing through them. It's as if she had a successful transplant."

"Those were Runes," Helena said, holding Connla's wrist to analyze the spell. "We can't see those marks on her right now, but they're still there providing her with mana."

"You mean they're invisible?"

"Yes. I'd need to study this further, but this is definitely Cuchulainn's geas. He must have needed time to construct these complex Runes required for it to work."

"So that's why he didn't want anyone to bother him."

While Helena was examining the spell, Connla began to stir awake. After a long moment, her tired eyes finally opened. Her normally soft brown eyes had now changed to a bright ruby red color. She looked around at everyone blankly, then put her regenerated left hand on her head to help cope with a dizzying headache that struck her.

"Uuunh…"

"Connla," Nightingale said, resting her hand on the girl's forehead to feel her temperature. "How are you doing? Does anything hurt?"

"My head… feels heavy…"

"Take it easy. How about your arms and legs? Do you feel any pain?"

"… No, not really. They're kind of tingly though…"

"Can you move them much?"

"A little bit," the girl moaned and shuffled her legs beneath the blankets. She looked down at the sheets and noticed the large bloodstains. "Ah…? W-Where did this blood come from?"

Rama frowned hesitantly. "It's Cuchulainn's."

"Father's!? Unnngh!"

"You need to relax," Nightingale ordered the worried girl.

"Where is he? I know I rescued him from that Demon Pillar. Why did he bleed so much on my bed?"

Edison grumbled pensively, then explained everything that happened, from how she destroyed Halphas, to Cuchulainn rescuing her from certain death, to him tending for her for the last three days, ending with how he killed himself to transfer his life essence to her.

Nightingale wasn't too impressed as she scowled, "That's where this blood came from!? That's no good! I must change these sheets and blankets immediately!"

As the nurse departed hurriedly, Connla sighed forlornly, "I see. He did that for me…"

"I'm sorry," Rama murmured. "I wish I was able to stop him."

The girl became quiet for a long while. She had every right to be sad, yet the tears weren't coming. She felt strangely comfortable as she said, "It's okay. For some reason, I feel like he's a lot closer to me than I realize. I don't really understand why, but it's like he's standing next to me all the time."

"Right," the swordsman nodded, gazing into her red eyes. After how Sita gave up her body for him, he could strongly relate to Connla's woes. "He'll always watch over you. There's nothing to be sad about now."

"But… I just wanted him to live… to atone for his mistakes…"

"He's very much alive, honey," Helena said, rubbing her head. "He just shed his body and placed his spirit inside you. He considers saving your life as his atonement – he'll continue living through you instead. I'm sure that some day, you'll find happiness knowing that you were loved so much."

"You think so?"

"Of course. You just need some time. Don't feel guilty anymore, okay? He wouldn't be happy if he saw you anguishing over his death."

"Mm…" Connla nodded, feeling utterly exhausted.

Edison said, "You should rest. Once you have fully recovered, we will have a lot of work ahead of us. Normally we would have returned to the Throne by now, but this nation still needs us to help repair the damage. It is very weak and fragile, and needs loving care to regain its strength if it is to restore the Human Order Foundation on its own."

The child nodded, then closed her eyes. Nightingale returned to change the blankets, and the other three left to allow Connla to get some much-needed sleep.