I do not own Fate/Stay Night nor any other Servants depicted here.
Destiny
Noel grit her teeth as she shot forward to meet his challenge.
"Ooh, very eager, are we?" Shinji sneered as he did the same while drawing a knife out.
Her swords slashed out in unison, only for the attack to be parried. Tumbling forward, she struck out with her feet and jabbed upon landing. Sending out another slash, her swords glowed and disappeared into a circle behind her. That same circle appeared right in front of him and all eight blades poked out of it.
"You have to catch me first," he taunted as he parried the swords, save that last attack. He was now traveling up a tree thanks to the chain snake he caught on to.
"Strike."
A white orb appeared and shot at the grinning boy, who let go and the beam passed harmlessly over him. He summoned another chain and he shot down towards her.
"Lost Dreams."
His foot connected with the red barrier, electricity arcing in between the two. He grunted and launched himself off the trapezoid, landing on his feet.
"Foolish. Release. Blade of Light."
The previous orb dissolved and four others appeared around her. She dashed towards him as they fired, every beam specifically aimed to make sure he stays on the ground.
"Clever girl," he snarled out with a frown. He lashed out with his knife but she ducked under the blade and grabbed his throat.
Noel lifted him up while the swords radiated around his head with the blunt end aimed at him. Letting go, they crashed into his throat and threw him into the air. The swords went back to her as he rose. As he fell, she spun around, the blades slicing the air in front of her and his back. She then flipped back, kicked him and jabbed him with a sword. As his body fell to the floor, she spun around the other way, the blades slicing upwards and sending him airborne once more. She jumped after him and spun in the air, the blades slashing in two pirouettes. She spun forward, going head over heels as she slammed the blades into him and sent him crashing to the ground a second time.
She landed gracefully. Keeping up her guard, she slowly walked over to his unmoving body. She quickly pulled a sword in front of her face when she noticed a portal forming over him, the snake chain clanging against it. Batting it away, she saw that he was now on one knee... looking at his watch?
"Hmm, it's time," he announced while looking up and giving her a malicious smile.
"Chains of Torment."
She was surprised to find yellow glowing chains bursting out of the ground and binding her whole body. Struggle as she might, they would not budge.
"Darn... these look like Caster's chains," she recalled with worry, "And with that book... how could I have forgotten..."
"Yes, it is time," he said as he balanced his knife on his pointer finger. As he loomed over her, he tipped the knife off and grabbed it while declaring, "Time to remove some mud."
The knife fell.
The Masters froze upon hearing its words. The fact that they could feel the hatred and malice already in the air intensify when the Will of the Grail made that announcement didn't help. It was only due to the light of Excalibur washing over them could they steel themselves against it. Saber tightened her grip on the Sword of Promised Victory warily.
"What are you..." muttered Rin, expressing the question in their minds.
"I see you left someone alive," it stated as it waded nearer to them and stepped out of the mud, ignoring her question, "Did you have trouble with her?"
"A minor flaw that will be rectified soon," he replied as the shadows engulfed him again.
"Good," it replied as it made a cursory glance over the Masters, "Hmm, I suppose I shall choose the one in the suit."
"You will not lay a hand on them," declared Saber sternly, "I will defend them with my life."
"Bold words, Saber," sneered the heartless priest, "What can you-"
Suddenly, the Will of the Grail lifted its hand. It looked towards the forest as it muttered, "So, the Archer dies. A pity."
"Impossible," retorted Saber quickly, "Noel is stronger than that boy. There is no way-"
"Her body was created in the mud," the dark being interrupted as it turned its head to her, "Granted, she had an... unusual resistance to my influence. Even so, I will know."
"What are you!?" repeated Rin loudly, her sudden anger throwing her caution to the wind.
"I am the Grail. I am Avenger of the Third War," it growled out in reply, its voice full of scorn, "I am Angra Mainyu."
"Avenger? Third War?" repeated Luvia, wracking her brains to where she had heard of that before. Her eyes widened at her recollection, "You! The elder told me about this. You were that Servant that died early in the War."
"...Irrelevant. No more delays," it announced. Turning to the fake priest, it continued, "Kill Saber. Capture the Masters. I will have my vessel."
He nodded and proceeded to glide over to them. Saber tensed up and took a step forward.
The priest chuckled and said, "Do you truly think that-"
"Chains of Torment."
Yellow, glowing chains burst out of the ground and entangled both of them. A second later, maniacal laughter rang through the clearing.
"Hello! Did you miss me!?" Shinji called out as he stepped into view of both groups.
"What is the meaning of this, Matou Shinji?" asked the fake priest calmly while Angra Mainyu began struggling and thrashing around, trying the get the chains off.
"This? Why, to destroy you, of course," the boy said with an unnerving smile.
"You trusted this boy? You fool!" shouted the Avenger.
"He was instrumental in bringing you forth. How could I not?" the shadow priest rebutted.
The transformed boy cackled as he looked over to the shocked group and Saber. "Well, what are you waiting for? Do you need an invitation to use your Noble Phantasm?" he asked mockingly.
Saber glanced back to the others. "Do it. Whatever Avenger is doing comes first," Rin told her, the one to break out of her shock.
The Servant nodded and turned to focus on the great monstrosity on the lake of mud. "I hope this is enough," she muttered as she readied her sword above her head, though the intensity remained the same.
"You will," spoke up Shirou weakly as he lifted up his arm that had the Seals, "By my Command Seal, I order you to destroy the Grail, Saber!"
Upon those words, the light of the Sword increased as the power of the Seals poured into her. All struggling from the muddied Avenger ceased as he and the fake priest stared at its brilliance.
"Indeed. Thank you, Shirou," she stated with a small smile.
"Ex-"
"NO! I will not be vanquished again!" roared Angra Mainyu as he thrashed around with renewed vigor. The shadows on Kirei's body started lashing out and a dark figure tried to slip past the chains but failed. As it writhed and squirmed around, it left the body behind trying to escape its impending doom.
"You think you can escape? You can't escape your fate, fools!" gloated Shinji amidst his cackling.
"-calibur!"
The sword came down.
Noel's eyes flew open as she sat up, air being sucked into her lungs at a quickened pace. Gingerly, she felt her neck. Nothing.
His glinting eyes as he stabbed her.
The feeling of disintegration.
As she calmed down, she took stock of her surroundings. A forested area. Shinji left her there? No sign of him and his fedora was gone.
Where did he go?
She had a sinking feeling as she got to her feet.
The others might be in...
She stopped in her tracks when a huge pillar of light rose and fell. It wouldn't take long to get there if she hurried. And so, she started running.
That looked like Saber's Noble Phantasm. Was she successful? Maybe, Shinji was delayed long enough for her to either knock out or... kill Assassin. Perhaps... she destroyed the Grail.
She kept her hopes up as the trees flew past her. Eventually, she burst out of the clearing as the light faded away. Much to her surprise, there were five Masters there. Obviously, Saber was there, slowly lowering her sword to survey the destruction that was inflicted on the land. Then, there was a grinning Shinji standing off to the side.
"What a marvelous performance," he stated as he began to clap, "Thus, ends your part. My turn now."
"What do you-"
A furious roar erupted as Angra Mainyu's figure burst out of the lake, interrupting Saber's question. It was thinner compared to what it took on earlier, now looking like an emaciated person rather than a humanoid looking animal. The darkness on it was also dripping away at parts of its body.
Impossible. Her noble Phantasm should have destroyed it.
"Damn you, Saber! I will not be stopped! Not this time!" it bellowed out, "I still have enough power from that to deal with you. Then, I shall drown the world in curses! You will-"
And it wasn't able to continue its rant as a book slammed into its head. Shinji's book.
"What is the meaning of this!?" it shouted as the book fell open as its spine hit the ground.
It began glowing a bright purple and then a bright reddish purple orb bled out of the pages. Without warning, red chains flew out from its center and wrapped themselves around the Avenger. Then, they dragged him into it, slowly at first but moving faster and faster.
"No! Release me!" it roared as it tried to claw away from it but to no avail. The chains were now being reeled into the orb at a great pace, the glowing sphere eventually swallowing it whole amidst its cries of enraged protest.
This stunned everyone save for a snickering Matou.
"...Shinji, how... what..." stammered Shirou, unable to believe what just happened.
"Nii-san? Did you... plan all this?" Sakura said hesitantly, a little wary of this incident.
"That isn't him," determined Luvia, narrowing her eyes, "The grimoire has overtaken him."
"Well, she's not wrong," he admitted freely, much to the shock of the Masters.
"When?" pressed on the former.
"After the explosion," the latter explained with a smirk. To further shock, his face and clothes began peeling away, the blackened flakes flying towards the glowing orb. "I offered to seek revenge for him after telling him that he was dying," he told them further, the flakes getting absorbed into the sphere, "He agreed to the deal after I said Caster will die an extremely horrible death. Strangely, he also made me promise not to harm his stepsister. I do wonder why..." As he said that, he took on a thinking pose.
"So, he did care for you after all," Rin muttered with a hint of relief.
"Anyway, thank you for helping me with this fool," he declared with a smile as his face slowly changed, becoming move bird-like as his hair and skin fell off and flew towards the orb, "It would have been very annoying trying to get it to off itself or make stupid mistakes. Very convenient, Saber's sword."
"What are you?" Noel asked, unable to shake the feeling that this was more than just the will of a book.
"Oh... well, I represent someone who wants that idiot out of the way," he said with a sneer as he walked towards the globe, his clothes now replaced with a plain blue robe with an eight-pointed star on the back that had an outline of a flame in the middle of it, "Not to worry, my lord is simply happy enough to just let the world continue turning without anything wanting to destroy humanity."
"Are you a Guardian as well?" asked Bazett.
"One of those? Don't make me laugh," he replied contemptuously as he withdrew his hands into his sleeves, "I am much more than those cleaners. Much, much more." He then shifted his sleeves and glanced at his watch, which somehow survived, "Well, my time here is almost up. Goodbye, you lot."
He stepped on the orb and swirled into it, giving them a wave as he went. Then, book closed and disintegrated into motes of purple light. As if on cue, the sun began to peek over the horizon, faintly lighting up the sky in preparation to rise. The four younger Masters and Noel let out a collective sigh of relief they never knew they had.
"That was intense, to say the least," she thought to herself but was thrown a loop when she saw herself slowly melting away into azure lights, "Wait, what is going on?" Looking around, she saw that Saber was facing a similar fate, dissolving into golden fragments of light.
When did I...
"Noel... you... you're a Servant again?" said Rin, faltering over her words as everyone turned to face her.
"I... I guess I am," the remade Servant replied in disbelief.
"So that was what Avenger meant," realized Luvia, "It used the mud to make your body and corrupt you at the same time. Yet, somehow he was never able to get a hold on you and you were just... Incarnated."
"I guess so..." the former replied, mentally thanking Mu for saving her from that fate ten years ago, "I don't suppose one of you could tell Waver that? He was just a puzzled about it as I was."
"We could do that, at least," said Rin as Saber moved in front to stand before her, despite being halfway gone.
"Do you still think I should change my wish?" she asked.
"Yes," the old Archer replied without hesitation. For a moment, the both of them stared at each other, eye to eye.
"Unfortunate. I still stand by my decision, even if your reasoning is sound," the Servant of the Sword reaffirmed, her eyes full of resolve, "However, I suppose I should open myself to alternate suggestions should the right one comes along. If the reasons hold merit, I shall consider that too."
"Then, I guess I shall settle with that," Noel said with a sad smile, "Farewell, Saber."
"Farewell, Archer" was the reply before the Servant fully disappeared.
She then turned to the gathered Masters. "Everyone, thank you for having me," she said as she bowed, "I will treasure this as long as I can keep it. And... can someone go to my house and get a letter under my bed. I had drafted something for my superior officer in case something happened to me..."
"Allow me to do it," spoke up Bazett, "Your superior shall get your message."
"Thank you," she replied, still smiling as she finished fading away, "Goodbye... everyone."
They stood there in silence, as if unable to figure out what to do. At first. Then, Luvia remarked, "I think now would be suitable to leave. It would be bad to be caught up here."
"...Yes. Yes, you're right," Rin muttered as she turned to look over Shirou, "Can you walk?"
"Yeah, I can," he replied as he gingerly got up, "I can move"
She nodded and turned to Sakura, "Alright. Bring us back to Shirou's house."
"Ok," her former sister murmured as she summoned her shadow with a wave of her hand, covering all the Masters.
A few seconds later, they reappeared in the courtyard of his house. Rin and Luvia took it onto themselves to escort Bazett to the front door while Shirou and Sakura took a slow walk back to the kitchen.
"So the War is over," he said after a moment, looking hesitant to speak anything. Then, he clenched his hands and turned to face her, "I... I'm sorry I couldn't save Shinji."
"...It's not your fault, Senpai," she replied after blinking, "There wasn't anything we could do. What happened to him in the end... was out of our control."
"I know. It's just that, I keep thinking that there was something I could have done. I just..." he began to ramble but was halted in his tracks when she suddenly held a finger up to his lips.
"It. Is not. Your. Fault," she repeated slowly with a hint of sternness before going back to her soft-spoken voice as she took down her finger and looked away, "Please... don't beat up yourself for this. If you have to blame anything, blame that thing that was in the book for taking advantage of him." With that, they continued on their way. Eventually, they entered the living room and he moved towards the kitchen.
He suddenly stopped, sighed and turned around, giving her a smile, "I guess you're right. Thank you, Sakura." And then let off a deep yawn. "I think... all that excitement... is..." he was able to get out before lurching over to the side.
She hastily ran to help him up but he was a bit too heavy for her and so she tumbled down with him. She was able to stop his head from hitting the floor at least. She stared at him for a moment, a blush creeping up her face while watching his rhythmic breathing before slowly moving up to his head. Steadily, she took a seated position and gently moved his head onto her lap. And then, she started stroking his hair. This was the scene Rin and Luvia came back too after seeing off the Irishwoman. The Edelfelt was about to make a scene before the Tohsaka dragged her off to give Sakura some much needed time alone. She did support her former sister, after all. Oblivious to what happened behind her, the sole surviving Matou continued caressing his hair.
"I need to tell him my feelings," she resolved as her other hand stopped on his chest, "Then maybe... no, not like that. I can't do that to him. I will tell him, but I won't stand in his way. I will find a way to be by his side. Then, he can keep his promise..." A lone tear rolled down her cheek as she stopped rubbing his head to clench her fist.
"I've already lost so much... and gained little..."
"I can't lose him too."
Commentary:-
Welcome, to the last chapter that details the Fifth Grail War. At that is left... is the epilogue chapter, and we're done. But, before that time comes, let's get down on this.
Noel. Oh, Noel. You forgot about the Book. Oh dear...
Angra Mainyu. Oh dear. He's going to get very intimate with Excalibur.
Shinji. Who would have thought... No one can predict what Chaos will bring forth. And now, we say our goodbyes.
Thus, our final scene. Don't think we ever saw how much Sakura went through, did we?
Still, did anyone foresee how this would turn out? Did anyone guess that fake Shinji would be the one to defeat Angra and imprison him? From the Grail to the book. Hmm, the big question is, where is he taking Angra exactly? Tune in next time in the epilogue chapter! Don't forget to leave a comment/review. Thanks.
PS: Unbeta-ed version. Will remove after hearing back from him. Still taking a while.