Disclaimer: I do not own the Fate franchise it belongs to Kinoko Nasu and Type-Moon.
Purified by Fire, Dancing with Fairies
Epilogue Part 1
Saber raised Excalibur with both hands in front of him, the point held towards the sky. And then one by one, the thirteen Restraints of the Round Table unlocked as their conditions were met, granting the Once and Future King the power to pass swift and final retribution.
The enemy must be more powerful than oneself.
The battle must be one-on-one.
The enemy must not be an elemental.
The battle must be one against evil.
The battle must not involve personal gain.
The battle must not be against Humanity.
The battle must not be inhumane.
The battle must be for truth.
The battle must be to live.
The battle must be to save the world.
One's comrades-in-arms must be courageous.
The battle must not be against one pure of heart.
The battle must be an honorable one.
"The evidence presented is beyond doubt." Saber proclaimed, as Excalibur shone with pure, unsullied light. "The time for final judgment has come."
Taking a single step back, Saber raised his sword overhead with two hands, the light slowly building to blinding. "In the name of all that is good and just," he proclaimed as fairies flickered into existence around him, swirling and dancing in the air as they bore witness to the Once and Future King's justice. "For the sake of the future and the promise of the Human race, disappear, unto the ends of eternity! So I declare, by the power of the holy sword: EXCALIBUR!"
Then Saber swung down, blinding light lancing up and away, towards the void hanging high in the distance. The void swallowed the light, and then shattered as though it were made from glass. Liquid corruption seemed to spill as though from a broken container, then ignited on contact with the air, before the golden light of the Sword of Promised Victory wiped it clean.
Shimmering waves of light in all the colors of the rainbow erupted outwards across the sky, blowing the clouds back, even as the heart of the void collapsed in on itself, and plunging downwards, shattered the tower beneath. Unreal matter and imaginary substance crumbled and burst into flame, before they too were cleansed, exploding outwards not with fire and ruin, but with golden motes of light dancing on and riding the waves of the wind.
But the cleansing fires of Excalibur didn't stop there. It followed the paths that ran through the earth, cleansing the land as it went, until it reached the heart of evil.
There, deep beneath the earth, in a cavern untouched by the Sun, lay the Holy Grail. A great orb of rock, carved open on one side and with its innards sculpted into a statuary of three women huddled imploringly around a single point, glowing with unholy light. Then the cleansing fires of Excalibur erupted from all sides of the cavern, and struck the Holy Grail.
An unearthly scream echoed through the ether, as cracks opened up across the Holy Grail, black lightning dancing and arcing back and forth over it surface. Then with the roar of breaking stone, the Holy Grail broke apart, collapsing and falling from its moorings to the bottom of the cavern, which in turn began caving in.
Corposant burned in the dark, the unearthly screaming persisting for an instant and an eternity, until it faded away into the distance. Then the corposant too was gone, snuffed out as the last dregs of the evil which had dwelt within the Holy Grail were consumed, and the broken remains of its evil were entombed once and for all beneath the earth.
Atop the mountain, amidst the ruins of Ryuudo Temple, Saber slowly relaxed while catching his breath, letting Excalibur fall into a relaxed grip in one hand. Looking around him, Saber saw the assassin had gone, while Lancer was taking his leave, his spear held relaxed against one shoulder and with a hand raised in farewell.
Saber looked after him for a long moment, and then nodding once, looked to where he knew Ayame to be. Then looking down, took a deep breath, and turning away, walked away as well.
"…I'd have expected you to be gone after you fired Excalibur off." Ayame softly said, as she joined Saber at the edge of the mountaintop.
"…I thought that might be the case." Saber said with a smile, looking out from the mountaintop and across the land. "From the feel of things though, I'll be around until the Sun rises."
"I see…" Ayame said. "…well…I…guess…this way at least, we can give each other a proper goodbye."
"Hmm…after fighting together in this war…" Saber concurred. "…it'd be a shame if we couldn't have that."
"Yeah…" Ayame agreed.
For several minutes, they stood together in silence, even as the eastern horizon began to grow lighter. "…I guess this is goodbye, huh?" Ayame asked.
"So it would seem." Saber agreed, turning to face her with a smile. "But…it doesn't have to be forever."
"What do you mean?" Ayame asked, only for Saber to poke her on the forehead.
"Avalon…you've seen it…you've even used it…" he said with a smile.
"…I…yeah, I have…on both counts…" Ayame said with a sigh. "…I'm not sure how or why…but…do you really think that means anything? That it'll go as you say it is?"
"Yes, I do." Saber said. "Otherwise…it wouldn't really be a utopia, would it?"
Ayame chuckled and shook her head. "Guess I can't argue with you there." She said. "Still…we won't know until I actually get there."
"True," Saber agreed. "But remember, it's not the destination that matters. The journey…the way you use to get there, is what's really important. In fact…yes…unless you walk the right path, you'll never reach Avalon."
"And we'll never see each other again." Ayame said with a nod. "Prove myself worthy of utopia, huh? That's fine…no point in getting something or somewhere if you don't earn it. Just you wait, King Arthur. I'll be seeing you again, one day."
"I'm sure you will, Ayame." Saber said, holding out a hand. Ayame took it, and both squeezed reassuringly. "Until we meet each other again."
"Yeah…until then, Saber. And thank you, for everything."
Saber smiled, even as the first rays of the Sun broke over the horizon. "You're welcome, Ayame." He said. "And goodbye."
"Goodbye…" Ayame whispered, even as Saber turned into sparkling motes in the morning Sun, until that too was gone. The Once and Future King's duty had been done, and so he returned to Avalon once more, dreaming in restful slumber until duty called once more, or Britain had need of him again.
Alone amidst the ruins, Ayame let out a breath that she didn't realize she was holding in. Then holding up her arm, she regarded the faded symbols of her command spells, and then shaking her head, smiled sadly.
"Like all wars," she thought to herself while turning towards the dawn. "The Holy Grail War's just a sham. But…even if the prize is just a scam…even if the reasoning behind it isn't worth listening to…yes…I wasn't wrong to fight in it. I might not have won…but I didn't lose either…"
Ayame smiled wider as the thought trailed off, looking out over Fuyuki City, unscarred and untouched by fire and ruin, unlike at the end of the previous war.
"Unforgivable…"
Ayame paused, stopping at the very threshold of what had once been the temple gates. And then letting out a resigned sigh, turned and looked behind her. There, standing several meters away, was the dirty and battered form of Rin Tohsaka.
"…absolutely unforgivable…" she gasped out.
Ayame stood silent and still, regarding the last of the Tohsaka before her. Gone was the cool stoicism and aloof beauty that had enthralled so much of their generation. Dark circles rested heavy beneath Rin's eyes, which sported a crazed and maniacal cast to them. Her mouth worked and chewed on air, wordlessly and spasmodically, as did her right arm and leg.
Her right leg in particular looked monstrous, flesh and bone alike swollen and twisted unnaturally from healing too quickly, and leaving Rin ever so slightly unbalanced on her feet. No doubt, she would have a limp for the rest of her life, unless an expert looked at her leg.
Her right shoulder too was probably more of the same…
…but Ayame didn't care at all for any of that. Here and now, in this place where Rin had once killed so many people in pursuit of an insane dream of setting things right, through doing the impossible and erasing the past and with it, the present, Ayame could only stare.
She should be angry. She should be hateful. She should be vengeful even.
The people in this temple didn't need to die. They knew nothing of the war, much less had participated in it. But because Caster and Assassin had hidden among them, as though wolves among sheep, Rin had slaughtered them all, simply because they were in the way.
And then there was Illya too, Ayame's older sister. A woman who by the cruel greed and ambition of her family, had had her future sacrificed by being turned into the vessel for the Grail's power. As more Servants fell, the more power filled her. And as more power filled her, the closer her mind and soul would be subsumed by the Grail.
Perhaps there was something Ayame could have done to help her, or nothing at all.
She never had the chance to know. How could she?
By striking down Caster and Assassin, and then Berserker soon after, Rin made sure everything that Illya was had ceased to be. There wasn't even a body left to bury.
But despite all that, Ayame wasn't angry. She wasn't hateful. She wasn't vengeful.
Not when she looked at the madwoman in front of her, and realized the truth. This wasn't Rin Tohsaka anymore.
It looked like her. It spoke with her voice. It even bore her name.
But it wasn't her anymore.
No, what stood before her was Magus Tohsaka. A being that had cut out its own heart and burned it as a sacrifice on the altar of ambition. A being that would not hesitate to kill and torture as many innocents as needed to achieve its goals, to pay any price to reach its desired ends, and if need be, burn the world itself to claim a blood-soaked prize from the ashes.
And Ayame could only feel pity and resolve at the sight.
Pity, because Rin Tohsaka could have been so much more. She could have kept her heart, stayed Human, stayed herself, instead of becoming as more machine than man, twisted and evil. She could have become a loving wife and mother, atoning for the crimes of her family's previous generation by raising the next pure and truly noble, free of the darkness and corruption of the past.
She could have used her brilliant mind to better Humanity, society, the world even. Maybe she could have been a lawyer, a public defender who stood and spoke for the rights of and justice for those persecuted by the rich and powerful. She could have been a scientist and inventor, unlocking the secrets of nature and enriching Humanity's knowledge and ability to govern the world around them.
She could have been an astronaut, and joined the ranks of those brave pioneers who walked the first steps of the path that led to the stars.
She could have been so much more, and it was a pity she chose not to be.
But Ayame felt resolve as well, the resolve to end this madness which stood before her. End it, before it could claim more innocent lives, ruin so many more bright futures, and spread evil and corruption even further.
It had to end here. The evil of the Tohsaka may not have started with them, but it would not spread even further through them.
It would with the Tohsaka, here and now.
"I'LL NEVER FORGIVE YOU!" Rin screamed, clumsily charging at Ayame.
CRACK! HISS! THUD!
Ayame lowered her hand, looking on sadly at Rin's headless corpse as it lay on the ground, shattered bone, pulped and half-cooked brain mixed with boiling blood splattered across the ground behind it. Then Ayame took a deep breath, and turning away, began to walk down the stairway.
"Dad…" she sadly thought to herself as she walked down the steps. "You once told me that when you save someone's life, you fail to save another person's life. Even though I've never forgotten what you told me, it looks like I never really understood what you really meant back then. I saved the people of the city from another Great Fire. I saved them from being turned into food for Matou's worms. I even saved them from the evil of the Grail. But…I couldn't save my sister. My sisters…Illya…Sakura…even Rin…I couldn't save the people in Ryuudo Temple. So many dead…even my friend…Issei Ryuudo…we were never close…but he was still a friend…"
Ayame paused in her thoughts, and looked up at the pearl skies of the dawn. For a long moment, she just stared in silence, and then smiled in resolve. "But," she thought. "Even though I now know and understand what you meant back then, I'll still fight. It's like you said, dad. Magecraft is a tool, but it's a tool that shouldn't exist, so I should keep mine as harmless as possible. That's why…I'll stand, and face the world and all its evil wherever and whenever I find it. I'll do it not as a Hero of Justice, or as a magus. No, I'll face it as the Black and White Magician, until I'm called to face justice myself, or my time comes. So until then…please watch over me, dad…Illya."
Closing her eyes and wiping at them with a hand, Ayame let out a long, shuddering breath, and leaving behind what regrets and hesitations she might still have, continued on her way. No longer merely as Ayame Emiya, but as the Black and White Magician.
A/N
One more chapter to go.
How do you people think the rest of her family, whether Emiya or Tohsaka, would see Ayame's final resolution here?
Kiritsugu, whether as the Magus Killer or his worn, postwar self. Shirou, whether as himself or as OG MF EMIYA. Illya, whether the murderous, bloodthirsty Master of Berserker or a happy-go-lucky magical girl. Rin and Sakura, the sisters marked by fate. And of course, Ayame's biological – and unacknowledged – father, Tokiomi Tohsaka.