98: Gilles de Rais
The city of Orleans has been made a scene of horror. Anywhere one looks, a fresh atrocity can be seen - burned husks perched upon wooden stakes, bodies torn open and left to rot, the occasional wandering corpse - but this alone is not enough.
"Oh, Francois, my friend, why did you have to be summoned to the other side?" I bemoan God's cruelty once more as I tighten my grip on the boy's head. His screams echo wonderfully. "I trusted you, even though you were summoned by the Planet! And yet, and yet, and yet!"
Brains and bone splatter across the yard, and the three sea fiends at my disposal fight for the right to slurp up the mess. I throw my arms up in a surge of passion!
"And yet, how cruel! Our friendship was not enough - not enough to defeat your nature as a servant! Oh, what sweet atrocities we might have created together…" My sorrow brings me to tears. I toss the corpse onto the pile and gaze at the small, shivering forms that remain. "I wonder, just how many more can I create?"
"Two-hundred thirty-seven." A girl's voice calls. "I counted! Atalante was able to hide three-hundred and seventeen, and when I found them yesterday I took fifty for my own use - that's the twentieth you've gone through since I handed them over to you, Gilles."
"Ah, Francois - no, you said it was Francesca in that body, correct?" I ask.
"That's right! Remember, Francois was killed by Jeanne Alter right after you summoned her - if that grudge goes back to being unfulfilled, I could be in trouble," Francesca says. "Anyway, that girl's getting ready to have another meltdown, so why don't you go comfort her?"
No! This cannot be! My Jeanne cannot be allowed to suffer! "I'm coming, Jeanne! Your Gilles de Rais shall be right there for you!"
I sprint back to the castle as quickly as my ungainly limbs can carry me.
"Alright!" Francesca claps her hands, and a misshapen form materializes in the courtyard, even as a horrid tome bound in human skin appears floating in the air in front of her. A tendriled mass, lined with bulging diamond-shaped eyes that spasm madly this way and that - but with a distinctly humanoid implication at its center. In that place, there are two human - or perhaps feline - eyes, from which tears of blood flow. Some of the bound children in the courtyard go mad from the sight of it - and others because they realize the truth of the abomination.
"Sorry, sorry! I really had no idea you'd wake up when Ley died. But, like I said, I'm not bluffing. I really did find them all - I was going to use them as a bargaining chip with Subaru, but he went and ignored me, so I handed them over to Gilles." The creature's gaze turns towards Francesca as she speaks - ineffectually stitching a tendril towards the alchemist. "Oh? Oooohhh? Was that an attack? Did you try to attack me? That's adorable - but I don't think you'll achieve much! There's way more that went into that infant star-spawn than just you. I can still make you do anything I want - why, even if I ordered you to kill them, you'd be forced to do it. But that's trouble, and it means you won't be following my orders exactly - so what do you think of a deal?"
A moment of silence follows. Something seems to break in those two eyes.
"You mean it!?" Francesca grins madly, clasping the creature's still outstretched tentacle in her hands. "I'll take everything, you know? Absolutely everything, body and soul! I'll stain you darker than black - and don't expect me to leave that 'chastity' you're so proud of on the table. I have my ways, okay?"
Another short silence. One of the children starts to cry - and the "star spawn" collapses forward - to its knees, or perhaps into a bow, or a prostration.
"Ahahaha! Amazing! That's perfect - that's just perfect! Just to save these kids you barely know, you'd go that far - that's a heroic spirit for you!" Francesca wipes a tear from her eye.
The abomination gazes at the bound children of Orleans, and what remains of Berserk Archer resolves herself to her course of action. The crying pauses for just a moment, as somehow, just barely understanding a nonsensical one-sided conversation, those poor children begin to understand that they have been saved once more by the mad whims of a berserk huntress. A single spark of hope begins to rise in their hearts.
"Okay, for my first order, go ahead and kill them all!"
Naturally, Francesca Prelati kicks that hope screaming into the abyss.
Tentacles surge towards those hapless victims. Their intent is to crush, to destroy.
Atalante cannot prevent it. There are no heroes in this city to prevent it. Not even Natsuki Subaru can prevent it, because this is a tragedy that he will never learn of. In that moment of total despair-
"[La Grondement du Heine]!" Cursed flames fill the courtyard.
In the depths of the Château Royal de Blois, a beautiful voice cries out in anguish.
"Bullshit! It's not fair! It's not fair at all!" Jeanne wails.
"There, there. This is not the end, Jeanne!" I whisper, stroking her hair.
"But it's not fair! How does he always see them coming!? How did he counter every single one of them so perfectly!?" She moans.
"Jeanne, my precious witch - do not worry! Your Gilles has just the answer to your woes!" I say. "We will just summon more!"
"But he'll see those coming tooooo! It's not fucking fair!" She moans.
"It's fine! Do not worry, Jeanne - we simply need to summon someone strong enough that it will not matter if the master of Chaldea foresees them!" I explain, and I'm glad to see the despair start to leave her eyes - and even more glad to see anger begin to take its place.
"-That's right! This is all Francesca's fault, that bitch!" She shouts, leaping to her feet.
"J-jeanne?"
"She's the one who told me to send Chlodovech to the coast instead of Paris! Who cares if Napoleon comes back; he'll just propose to me again or some shit!" No, that was the most offensive of all, Jeanne! "I'll fucking kill her!"
"Wait, Jeanne-!" I shout, but she races away, leaving me in the dust.
The unthinkable monster recoils, letting out a horrible wail as its flesh boils with the stench of a rotten tomb. Jeanne d'Arc Alter, against all force of reason, positions herself between the children of Orleans and the monster.
"Oh? Oohhh? You're saving them Jeanne?" Francesca asks, tilting her head. "Even though it goes against your existence?"
"Shut it, bitch! Don't act like you're some ally of mine, not with Gilles's stolen book right there in front of you! All these brats… are mine to kill." The Dragon Witch retorts, and with a flick of her sword, fire scorches away the children's bindings. They begin to flee the courtyard, and the witch makes no moves to stop them. "I won't let you have a single one of them!"
"W-wait, really?" Francesca asks, a wide grin on her face. "There's no way, right? You're a fake! You're barely even an image of the holy maiden! For her pure heart to shine through in you, even like this…!"
"Shut up and die!" Jeanne Alter roars, hurling cursed fire at Prelati.
"-I really wish I was a man right now." A sea fiend erupts from her spellbook to intercept the attack, and when the ash clears, Francesca's hands are resting on her flushed cheeks. "I want to violate you, Jeanne."
"You're disgusting." The witch grimaces.
"I am!" The alchemist chirps in reply. "-But, you know, Jeanne, I'm much better to you as an ally. Shouldn't you be willing to do anything, even degrade yourself, to get me on your side?"
"Shut up, shut up, shut up! I'll kill you! I'll kill you until you're dead!" Berserk Ruler roars as the 'Star Spawn' lunges for her and she burns away tendril after tendril of its squamous form.
"Seriously? Is that really your answer, Jeanne? Didn't you know, though?" Francesca says mockingly. "The grails that Demon Pillars hand out, are also ours to take back."
Jeanne Alter screams as a golden crystal tears its way out of her chest, sailing to the hand of Francesca Prelati. An instant later, the crushing coils of the Star Spawn are upon her, drawing her into its putrescent mass.
"Gilles-" Jeanne Alter's last words are a pathetic cry for help, and Francesca can't help the grin on her face as she hears them.
"-Jeanne?" The broken voice of Gilles de Rais behind her does absolutely nothing to diminish her good mood.
I don't understand. I don't understand. I don't understand.
Why has this happened? The Servant Francois Prelati betrayed me. I understand that. But the living Prelati is still my friend. Francesca said she was still my ally, even after Jeanne killed her previous body.
So why has my friend killed my beloved Jeanne?"
"Oh, Gilles, you're here." She says. Easily. Cheerfully. As if my thoughts were not already almost completely filled with murder. "Listen, the Jeanne you wished up was a bit defective. She was so mean to you, Gilles! And besides, she really went and saved those children - that's not what you wished for, right Gilles? But don't worry - I'll do it right. I'll make us a perfect puppet that will do whatever we say! I know enough about servants to do that. A differnet class, maybe-"
"...I see." Her voice is soothing. Her words are soothing. As always my friend knows just how to talk to me. But- "Francesca… how long have you known about Servants?"
"Hm? Since I was taught magecraft, I guess?" She says with a cheerful smile.
"Francesca… When you said you would help me revive Jeanne, did you mean you would summon her as a servant?" I ask. Something is looming in my mind. A horrible realization.
"I didn't actually make that promise - but the Servant me told me about it, so - yep! That was the plan!" She admits.
"Francesca… Those children we murdered together, all of those blasphemous rites - what part does that serve in summoning a Servant!?" Surely, this cannot be the truth. Surely, I must be wrong.
"Huh? Huhhh? Isn't it obvious that those had nothing to do with it?" She says. "But you suggested all that demon worship stuff, so what else could I do but go along with it? I'm your friend, so naturally I supported you!"
It was for nothing. I perverted my own soul, for absolutely nothing. I became a monster, for nothing. It was all a cruel joke. "Francesca… I'm beginning to think that you were not a very good friend to me at all!" I finally shout
"Pft." She lets out a small snort."Pfffft." And then another. "Pfffffft!" Her cheeks bulge. "Pffftahaha! Ha- haha-" She wipes a tear from her eye - and then, pointing at me, she throws her head back.
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
Everything goes red. I draw a sword I have all but forgotten. Sea fiends lunge towards me. Francesca is still laughing. I slice the starfish monsters to ribbons, but the Star Spawn is next to intercede. Francesca is still laughing. With my pathetic skills I reinforce my legs, leaping over the monster. My legs shatter. Francesca is still laughing. Tentacles try to intercept me, and I hack them apart. I'm screaming. Francesca is still laughing. My sword finds its mark, sliding between her ribs and tearing cleanly through her heart, and Francesca is still laughing.
"Haha, hah, ah - I love you, Gilles." She whispers, and then with a shudder, Francesca Prelati dies.
The next moment, the Star Spawn swallows me whole.
With a horrible squelching noise, a white-haired young man tears his way free of the Star Spawn's growing mass.
"Alright, okay, good job, everyone! Great performance, me! 'I love you' - hilarious!" He laughs, landing with a stumble. "Whoops, okay, new height! Wouldn't do to show up to the final fight as a kid, after all. That'd put me at a disadvantage."
He goes through a series of stretches, totally uncaring of his own nudity or the roiling mass of meat behind him. "Alright, let's see I think this body is - no, it's gotta be Francois, right? Even though I'd usually go with Francis if I'm this tall, this is gonna be my last meeting with Subaru, so I need to go as Francois." He rolls his shoulders, and with a gesture the Grail flies to his grasp. In a flash of light, he's clad once more in the usual garb of Francois Prelati. "Okay! Preparations done, except-" With a flourish, he extracts something from his spellbook. A churning black mass, which he examines hesitantly.
"This thing I picked up off Ley's body while he was dying… what is it anyway?" He contemplates for just a moment, and then, with a shrug- "Oh well! Into the mix it goes!" The Star Spawn and Witch Factor are both sucked into the grimoire.
And then, Francois Prelati holds the Grail aloft, a wicked smirk on his face.
"-Come forth."
The sky begins to ripple.