CHAPTER 18:

THE END OF SHINJI MATOU

Harry was walking through the park, intending to head to the school to help the others, when he heard Medea's voice in his head. "Harry! Listen to me very carefully. You're being stalked by Rider. I'm almost certain that she is Medusa of the Gorgons."

Harry stilled. "How do you know?"

"Educated guess. I managed to keep tabs on her through a link to her Noble Phantasm. Get out of there now!"

Before Harry could Apparate, though, his instincts screamed at him, and he leapt to the side, in time to dodge something very sharp and pointy, on the end of chains. It looked more like an oversized nail than a dagger. "Hey, watch it!" he snapped. "You could poke someone's eye out with that thing!"

The softest of chuckles, sibilant and quiet, echoed from nearby. "You have good instincts," a woman's voice said, the voice having a vaguely lyrical hiss to it.

"I'm full of surprises," Harry hissed in Parseltongue.

A soft gasp, and then, he heard the same voice speak in the same language. "You speak the serpent tongue?"

"As do you…Medusa," Harry said.

As if in answer, the slender figure of a woman in a dark, violet-trimmed dress, stockings and gloves landed in front of him, wielding the nail-like daggers, chained together. Violet hair reached down to her ankles, and a rigid blindfold covered her eyes. "I see…so the Caster was yours."

"And your Master is Sakura, only that blue-haired shit has you under his thumb," Harry responded.

"So you know. You should also know that aforementioned proxy Master has used a Command Seal to force me to kill you. Even now, I am barely holding back the urge. I'd suggest you start running. I think Shinji will enjoy watching me drain you dry in front of him, so I will herd you to him. You'd better take the opportunity when it arises."

Harry got the hint, and turned and started to run, allowing Medusa to 'herd' him using her daggers. "Medea! Where are you?"

"I'm on my way!"

"No, Medusa is herding me towards Shinji! Just get ready to kill the little shit if things go tits up!"

"Got it!"

As they ran through the park, Medusa hissed, "Sakura told me you can summon objects to you! Do it to the book in his hand! I'll leave one of your arms free! Play along!" With that, she tripped him up, causing him to sprawl to the ground. She was on him in a flash, pinning him beneath her, but one of his hands was still free.

Harry heard the unpleasant sound of Shinji Matou chuckling, as he walked out from behind a nearby tree. "Oh, how the mighty have fallen," Shinji sneered. "Looking down at me for not having any magic…well, look who's laughing now?"

"Fuck off you rapist scum," Harry snarled, not needing to act. "For what you did to Sakura, you deserve to burn in Hell."

"Oh? And who's gonna stop me? Not you. Can you feel her pinning you to the ground? Even a Servant as weak as her is far more than a match for a human."

"And what gives you the right to murder people to feed her?!"

"I am a Matou!" Shinji snarled. "Those peons should be honoured to be sacrificed for my ends! And I wouldn't think of trying to summon your pathetic Caster. I'll have Rider suck you dry the moment you try."

"You're nothing, Matou. I'm going to kill you…and your grandfather will follow you to Hell."

Shinji cackled. "Really? Pinned beneath a Servant? You should be grateful your death will come at the hands of such a beautiful woman. Nothing else to say? No famous last words?"

"Actually, I do. Accio, book!"

The book leapt from Shinji's hand, and into Harry's. "INCENDIO!" he snarled, and the book was consumed by magical fire. Medusa got off Harry without being bidden, and Harry brushed his clothes down. "That's the thing about people like you, Shinji. They gloat when they think they have the upper hand. I've met my fair share of megalomaniacs and insane murderers…and you don't even make the Top Twenty. Not by a long shot, not unless it's by sheer depravity. I've been wanting to pay back the pain you caused Sakura for some time. I can't say I won't enjoy this." Harry pulled out his staff, and pointed it at the retreating Shinji, focusing on his sheer hatred and wrath towards Shinji. "CRUCIO!"

Shinji convulsed, collapsing to the ground, mouth open in a silent scream, all that was coming out of his mouth being a strangled rasp. "DO YOU FEEL THAT, SHINJI?!" Harry roared. "THIS IS ALL THE PAIN YOU PUT MY SISTER THROUGH! YOU DIDN'T JUST DO IT ON ZOUKEN'S ORDERS, YOU DID IT BECAUSE YOU'RE AN ENTITLED LITTLE FUCK WITH AN INFERIORITY COMPLEX! YOU DID IT BECAUSE YOU ENJOYED MAKING HER SUFFER! YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT IT'S LIKE TO BE TREATED AS SCUM BY YOUR FAMILY, BY THE VERY PEOPLE WHO SHOULD PROTECT YOU!" He released the Cruciatus, and said, "What have you got to say for yourself, you miserable puddle of vomit?"

"P-P-Please d-d-don't kill me…" Shinji whimpered.

"Oh, Shinji, Shinji, Shinji…I was going to kill you the moment I learned about what you did to Sakura. The Grail War just gave me an excuse. I used to be a better man than this…but the thing is, I will do a lot to protect my sisters, and dealing with you isn't going to give my conscience so much as a pang," Harry said. He was about to continue, before a thought occurred to him, and he looked at Medusa. "Your eyes…can they petrify, but not kill?"

Medusa raised an eyebrow. "Why do you ask?"

"Have you ever heard of the supposed criminal execution method known as concrete shoes?"

Harry had taken Medusa and Shinji to the docks where the Mion River met the ocean, currently neglected since the previous Grail War, erecting a Privacy Charm as he did so. He remembered Waver speaking of this place, where the first major clash between Servants in the previous Grail War took place. A moment's uncertainty took him: he would actually be murdering someone, or at least very close to it. But then, he reminded himself that Shinji had set Medusa onto him, that Shinji had raped Sakura, abused her, that he was willing to sacrifice high school students to fuel Medusa, and was gloating about how they were less than him.

"He's all yours," Harry said. He stepped behind the Gorgon as she unclipped her blindfold. Shinji tried to shield himself from the gaze, only to quiver, and then freeze in place, effectively becoming a statue.

Medusa replaced the blindfold, and said, "It's done. He's alive, and aware, but he cannot move or die."

"Thank you," Harry said. "Do you want to go back to your true Master?"

Medusa nodded, turning back to Harry. "Thank you for helping Sakura. She…warned me you might do this."

"I'm dealing with Zouken next, once Caster is ready," Harry said quietly, as he levitated Shinji's body, and began floating it over to the water's edge. I'm more like Medea than I thought, Harry mused to himself. Maybe that's another reason we're so compatible.

Once Shinji was several metres out into the water, Harry let go of the Levicorpus spell, and Shinji's petrified body dropped, and sank like a stone into the murky depths. He would be aware, at the bottom of the harbour, half-buried in silt, petrified, impotent, and alive. Even if by some fluke, he was retrieved, he would be driven mad by sensory deprivation, unable to function.

Harry didn't feel much actual regret. The thing he regretted most was not taking action against Shinji sooner…

Harry reconvened with Medea and the others (Medusa having gone back to Sakura) at Shirou's house. An air of solemnity hung over them, especially when Harry had Archer's true identity explained to him, as well as the presence of Gilgamesh. Already, the Grail War was crazy enough, why not an alternate future version of Shirou? He explained what he did to Shinji, though he kept Rider's identity secret for the time being.

As they ate their food, Harry found that Arturia's gaze kept coming back to him. "Yes?" he asked.

"Forgive me, Harry, but I need to ask you, was it necessary to subject Shinji Matou to such a cruel punishment?"

Harry closed his eyes. "Necessary, maybe not. But…Arturia…when I think of what Sakura went through at his hands…what he was willing to do to empower Rider…what would you do for your own family?"

Arturia looked away. "I do not doubt that I would have been consumed with a desire for justice, but this cruelty…"

"Arturia…I get where you're coming from. I'm a little disturbed about it myself. But I regret more than anything else not dealing with him sooner. What about with Mordred or Morgana?"

Arturia wouldn't meet his gaze. "True, I would deal with them sooner had I the opportunity…or at least with Morgana. Mordred…I wonder, could I treat her any better? I never hated her, despite her thoughts. I just did not believe her to be a suitable king. And yet, that refusal spurred her to lead a revolt."

Medea scoffed. "Our adorable King of Knights here wished to use the Grail to undo her reign in favour of another who, supposedly, would rule Britain better. How farcical."

"And how is such a wish farcical?!" Arturia demanded, glaring at Medea. "By what right, Princess of Colchis, do you have to deem such a thing farcical? You who betrayed your own family? And then the man you loved?"

"The first betrayal, little girl," Medea growled, "was caused by Aphrodite indoctrinating me! The second was Jason discarding me like trash! I loved him, Arturia Pendragon, even if that was inflicted on me by the gods, and he treated me like excrement! I may not have your magnanimity in, say, forgiving Lancelot and Guinevere for their affair, but I at least never strove to be perfect, merely worthy of a love that was treated as utterly disposable! Whereas you strove to be perfect, and failed miserably, if only because perfect is inhuman, and your subjects could not relate to that! Better to have used the Grail to give you a second chance at your reign, to correct your mistakes."

Arturia controlled herself with an effort, before she said, "Your fellow Greek was not as generous. My original wish during the previous Grail War was just that, to go back in time and relive my reign in order to correct my mistakes. But Iskandar saw that as spitting on the sacrifices of my men. He had points about how my ideal of being a king was flawed, but…"

"You wished they weren't sacrificed in the first place," Harry said softly, in sudden understanding. Arturia's emerald eyes met his own, and then she nodded.

"Wouldn't you?" Arturia asked quietly. "I know a little of your story, thanks to Shirou. Those people who died in your name…would you not rather they had lived instead?"

"Every day," Harry said, his tone low and soft. "Hell, the temptation to win the Grail is pretty big. But…even before I learned about the disturbing things around it…I thought it was a monkey's paw, something that could go wrong, knowing my luck." He shook his head. "I understand that wish. Not the one you want now. You were probably a better king than most before or since. As for Shinji…I'm sorry if I disappoint you in any way, Arturia, but…Shinji hurt my sister, hurt her repeatedly, made her suffer when he should have helped her. He wanted to kill all those people, didn't care about what happened to them. If killing him saves many people, I'd do it. I'd prefer to save people's lives rather than take them, though."

"I understand. I do not like it, as that philosophy is too close to Kiritsugu's, but I understand," Arturia said quietly. Shirou nodded in agreement.

"Incidentally, shortly after you freed Rider, her sigils were removed completely, presumably by her," Medea said. "Given her Master, Rider should not be a problem for now. Our main problems, then, are fourfold. We have Berserker and his Master, Lancer and his Master, Assassin and their Master, as well as Gilgamesh."

"Yeah," Harry said. "The way you described him, Arturia, he sounds like a Malfoy who could put his money where his mouth is."

"I do not understand the reference, but I will assume you mean someone with a gargantuan ego and sense of entitlement," Arturia said.

"That'd apply to Shinji if that was the case," Harry said. "But still…could we beat him?"

"I honestly do not know," Arturia admitted. "Gilgamesh did not take me seriously during our battle...and he was still ludicrously powerful. He makes Heracles pale by comparison."

"Yeah, speaking of which…I saw Illya earlier today while getting the shopping," Harry said. "And I've learned a couple of things…"

In a dark and dank room beneath the Matou Manor, a man toiled away at a cauldron. The door to the room opened, and the figure of Zouken Matou limped through. "Well, it seems that my useless grandson is dead after all," Zouken remarked. "Or near enough. That fool allowed Tohsaka to destroy the Book of False Attendant."

"That brat always had the devil's own luck, like that adoptive father of his," the man stirring the cauldron sneered. "And your brat should have known better than to let his guard down. He should have had that Servant tear his throat out the moment he appeared."

Zouken laughed. "Well, Shinji had the barest minimum of uses. I still have Sakura, and even if Rider has returned to her service, there is nowhere she can go now. Regardless of what tricks they have, I win. I always win in the long term. So, how is your little project coming along?"

"Rather nicely," the man stirring the cauldron said. "Creating a poison that can emulate that of a mixture of the blood of a Centaur and a Hydra is an interesting challenge, and having this as a skill of a Heroic Spirit…" An unpleasant grin appeared on the man's face, unobscured by his skull mask. "I doubt Heracles' Noble Phantasms, neither the Twelve Labours or the God Hand can stop it. This was what killed him originally, or near enough. The mixture of the blood of Nessus and the Lernaean Hydra. In myth, it was Heracles' own wife, Deianira, who gave it, unwittingly, to him via a poisoned shirt, deceived by the dying Nessus. I intend to be somewhat more direct. Given my reconnaissance of the Einzbern Castle, I can certainly do that."

Zouken cackled in sheer malicious glee. "Oh, you are a vindictive man, Assassin! I can't wait to see what you have in store for Harry Tohsaka!"

The grin on the man's face widened, framed by greasy hair, beneath a hooked nose. Pitiless black eyes, like the event horizon of a black hole, peered back at his Master with malicious mirth. "Believe me, Zouken Matou," Severus Snape, the Assassin of this Grail War, said, "he has never known the meaning of suffering like I have. But he will, rest assured he will…"

CHAPTER 18 ANNOTATIONS:

So, the big reveal! Well, not that many of you guys already didn't know this was coming, but still...

And Harry has indulged his darker side. Let's face it, Shinji richly deserves an end like this. Okay, Harry needed to be called out a little, and Arturia is right to a degree (she probably would have preferred to run Shinji through with her sword if she was to kill him), but, well, there you go.

Now that the cat's out of the bag, I'm going to mention some of Snape's skills as a Servant. He definitely has some small-ranked Independent Action (despite not being an Archer), Item Creation of a high rank (for his potions), Presence Concealment of a high rank (he's an Assassin), and Eye of the Mind (True) (due to his Occlumency and experience as a spy). He may have others, but those are the ones I'm naming for now.

As for Noble Phantasms, aside from Potterverse-style magic, ramped up to Noble Phantasm levels, he has at least two. The first, and the lowest-ranking one, is the Half-Blood Prince's Potions Kit, which gives him access to ingredients not available in the Nasuverse. More highly ranked, though, is Mind-Flay, basically Super-Legilimency that allows him to attack his opponents' minds. Of course, things get troublesome when Reality Marbles get involved…

Anyway, the next chapter will be a little while coming. I've written a lot for this story, like in a marathon…

Review-answering time! Bisaster: That would be a hilarious harem, but I ain't doing it. I'm not sure how I'd even arrange such a thing…

Dericof Diname: I've no idea whether there are all-Greek Servant stories. Given the sheer abundance across the various Fate stories, I wouldn't be surprised (though this is due to the sheer abundance of mythic Greek heroes). And thanks to Fate/Grand Order, we definitely have a Greek for every class. Hell, you could fill nearly half of them with just the Gorgons…

Thunder Dragon: Agreed there. Casters have to be more cerebral than other classes due to their (usual) lack of physical ability. Normally, anyway: I could not call Gilles de Rais cerebral. In canon, Medea is one of the more cunning opponents, and does things on her own initiative (she's the one solely responsible for coming up with the scheme to drain people of their mana, though Souichirou doesn't care). If she was more proactive and out in the field, I would imagine she would be a bit more creative. Given how she managed to summon Assassin in canon, I would imagine that it's not wholly out of the question for her to 'hack' Medusa's Blood Fort Andromeda sigils as a means of tracking her. My invention for this story, while contrived, is logical.

merendinoemilianio: As antagonistic as Archer is, especially in the Unlimited Blade Works route, I'd like to think that, if he thinks Shirou has a good chance of being diverted enough from the path leading to him, he'd refrain from killing him (I'm pretty sure this happens in Heaven's Feel). His complexity as a character in terms of motives is why I wrote the prologue from his POV. I intend for him and Harry to have a discussion in the next chapter about the nature of heroism, now Harry knows who Archer really is.

TheB: True, but given his actions in the various routes of Fate/Stay Night, I think that his claim to having his memories scrambled may be given some credit. Otherwise, he'd be more proactive to help stop Angra Mainyu.

ABYSSALISKS: I have heard of Gold Diggers, but sadly, despite knowing of it for years, have never read it. I know it's basically a science fiction series about a pair of space archaeologist sisters…one of whom is part-cheetah or something.

No numbered annotations this time.