Fate Zero Worm Alter
Disclaimer: I do not own Fate Zero or its characters, it is owned by TYPEMOON and written by Gen Urobuchi with guidance from Kinoko Nasu.
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Prologue
A sickly man wearing a greyish-purple hoodie limps toward a dark and foreboding basement.
The sounds of insects crawling grew louder.
Kariya Matou drags his breaking and burdened body to the accursed basement.
His hair has turned white and one of his eye no longer function.
He thinks back to Sakura. The once gentle and black-haired girl now has the purple shade of the Matou family. The girl has undergone worse than him both as a person and little girl.
He has no right to complain. He will see this through.
So that Sakura can smile again, within a home where she can safely grow up in happiness.
So that her elder sister Rin will play together with them again. Sakura, Rin and Aoi.
In order for Aoi to truly be happy and be free.
He needs to see this through. He needs to obtain the Grail.
He will.
Walking this path a year ago he grew to both dread and despise growing familiar and used to the sight.
Looking at the little girl with dead eyes makes his heart hurt that he had to look away. Glancing upon something that he did not notice before. A lump of broken rock that is loosely shaped like a sword.
"An idle and failed project of mine."
The sounds that insects make seem to come together to eerily imitate human speech.
A figure of a wrinkled old man appeared before him, forming from countless worms. His eyes were nothing more than a lesser imitation of a man.
"Get to the summoning. You should thank me. I have procured a catalyst for you. A fragment of the round table. A place where fools gather. You best not squander this opportunity, Kariya."
He can simply grind his teeth before thinking nothing of it. He needs to preserve his strength.
Make best use of his limited time as the worms both eat and keep him alive.
Just like his "grandfather".
Kariya can only put one foot in front of the other. For Sakura's sake. For Aoi and Rin.
"Add the incantations I asked you to. Incompetent as you are, you need every advantage."
He walked a bit faster toward the altar, wanting to start and finish as soon as possible.
An altar is set in a circle. An intricate pattern is engraved upon the ground.
He stretched forth his right hand and spoke. He triggered his magic circuits to activate.
He began to chant.
"Shut and Fill
Shut and Fill
Shut and Fill
Shut and Fill
Repeat five times
Destroy each when filled"
Power and light began to envelop the circle. A flicker at the edge of his vision in which he quickly went back on the summoning after a brief glance.
Just for a fleeting moment, Kariya thought he saw light coming from a different source than the Servant Summoning Ritual.
A light formed from a myriad of colors like that of a rainbow within a childish fantasy. No. Perhaps his eyes really are playing tricks with him.
He quickly put it out of his mind and focused. Trying to shut out the haze of pain and anger at the cruelty of his and Sakura's situation.
He has gotten used to it.
There was someone I loved. The knight of the Lake mad from guilt and love seeking atonement in judgment will answer the call. To be magus is to walk with death.
"Let silver and steel be the essence. Let stone and the archduke of contracts be the foundation."
She was warm and kind. Aoi did not want Tokiomi killed. Doubts and distractions can lead to fatalities in spell casting and rituals.
"Let rise a wall against the wind that shall fall. Let the four cardinal gates close."
I wanted her to be happier than anyone else. Some part of Aoi knew what living as a magus is like. Remember the words to be said next.
"Let the three-forked road from the Crown reaching unto The Kingdom rotate."
For her, I would lay down my life. Acting like a mad dog akin to a moth to the flame, like the worms he sent to kill the magus, Tokiomi. Ignore it.
"Let it be declared now; your Flesh shall serve under me, and my Fate shall be with your sword. "
That's why, I have endured this pain until now. Zolgen once sought utopia for mankind and his own unrequited love. Don't think about anything else.
"Submit to the beckoning of the Holy Grail. Answer, if you would submit to this Will and this Truth."
Endured, The worms ate at his mind and body. The honest desire to save Sakura tainted with something else. Focus.
"A pact shall be sworn here. I shall attain all virtues of all of Heaven; I shall have dominion over All Evils of all of World."
Endured, Convicts, Humans that could've lived and led better lives as nothing more than fuel. There is no other way.
Endured, People with families of their own. Sakura must be free of Zouken.
"Yet you shall serve with your eyes clouded by chaos. For you would be one caged in madness. I shall wield your chains."
Endured, As Berserker's rampage causes his body to bleed and rupture at random from the strain. This is nothing.
Endured, As his body grows weaker and his mind grows duller and cloudy.
"From the Seventh Heaven, attended to by three great words of power,
Endured, as Zouken gave him that disgusting worm that took his daughter's purity just to survive. All for that wish and Salvation.
Endured, as Tokiomi burned him without much effort. A Servant to win the Holy Grail.
Come forth from the ring of restraint, protector of the Holy Balance!"
Endured, it all to give little Sakura peace and Aoi her share of happiness.
And all for what?
There was someone I loved. She was warm and kind. I wanted her to be happier than anyone else. For her, I would lay down my life. That's why, I have endured this pain until now.
Endured, endured, endured, endured, endured, endured, endured it all.
Those thoughts ring inside his head.
"Bye bye, Kariya oji-san. Sakura." His daughter in all but blood stared as his body gets eaten by the worms from the pit. Her eyes lost even more luster and will.
His life and its detrimental effect on all those he cares about. Looking from the outside in, akin to a Greek Tragedy.
Aoi is assaulted and nearly killed by his own hands.
Sakura lost the will to even have thoughts of fighting against changing her circumstances. Against Zouken.
Rin is simply left without a mother. Alone and left with a malicious priest.
All because of Kotomine Kirei's desire to revel in other people's pain for he finds pleasure in nothing else.
Because of Tohsaka Tokiomi's negligence and incompetence in giving away Sakura in order to "protect her".
Because of Zouken Matou's cruel machinations and his true wish for immortality in order to behold a utopia on Earth, forgotten, twisted.
Because...
Because of him. By his own hands he held her tight by her nec-
My thoughts and my life. From the outside looking in, from a television screen.
Like texts in a book.
How it will end. I can see it happen. How probable it is.
I can only stare at Zouken. Mounting horror of what I cannot deny might transpire. The Servant that appeared is a knight shrouded in shadows.
I recognize the Mad Knight of the Lake, Lancelot.
My mind was clearer than it had ever been after training with the old man from the constant pain. As if operating by the thoughts of another.
The life of a man from a peaceful more mundane world. Memories too inconsequential to the current events will be reviewed later.
I felt it.
This chance will no longer happen again. I knew this in my bones. Should I back down now, my mind will degrade further and my way of thinking even more twisted and lacking in proper planning and judgment.
I saw the splinter at the altar.
A table in Camelot. A place where Heroes gather.
A pure girl with nothing but a year left in life dedicated herself for Humanity's Future.
A Castle of Chalk that defends against a Beast of Humanity.
Lord Camelot.
I don't have something like that Shield but a fragment remains alongside a True Name anyone…
Anyone can call upon.
Even by a man not of this World.
This part of Human History is a constant even here. As sure as the Era's name came to be. The Origin of the Holy Grail.
Ano Domini.
"He who restores all wounds. He who forgives all sins. All who call upon the Name of the LORD shall be saved." I whisper to myself and the World.
I activated my Circuits. Maybe nothing more than a paltry placebo but at this time I'll take all I can get. If you truly are listening, then show yourself.
I am offering you all that I am. My body and the power within my Circuits. Hear the cry of my very soul!
"As you abide by your Word and Reason then answer me, help me in my time of need, [LORD, YESHUA]!"
A brief silence envelops the basement and I felt my cheeks grow red and pale. I snapped myself out of it and simply chose to believe. No other option and reason not to.
The old man spitefully laughs. Save for flaring and wasting what meager power I manage to have, it serves no other purpose.
I doubt my mind will be as clear as it is now if I let this night pass before doing nothing against that monster.
"What is it you accomplish to do? You of all people?" The mass of worms smiled at me indulgently.
"Just psyching myself up, Zolgen-, no, Zouken." for a brief moment confusion then rage came to be within the worm's eyes.
I began to recount the facts. A haphazard scheme. Let's believe for a miracle then.
Berserker is freshly summoned. The Mad Knight of the Lake's Noble Phantasms and Abilities are new and hidden by For One's Glory.
Zouken does not hold all the Cards.
For a magus, their Circuits are tools and their relic to pass on as Crests. Magic Crests are a culmination of their research and life's work. How they do battle against the order of the World. They're way of life and means to enact Mystery.
They are the weapons of Magi. They are tools of subjugation by the monster known as Zouken Matou.
"BY MY COMMAND SEAL, TAKE CONTROL OF THE WEAPONS KNOWN AS CREST WORMS BY KNIGHT OF OWNER!" At the pulsation of my Command Seal, black mist erupted from the Knight and enveloped the household.
Even as the worms squirmed and pain erupted within my body, I felt slightly detached.
As blood dripped from my mouth I kept myself standing by sheer will. Sakura let out a few tears and then all of it stopped.
I can feel a savage grin of a job well done at seeing that mass of worms panic and grow still within the ominous black mist.
Oh God, let this work.
"BY MY SECOND COMMAND SEAL, KEEP ME AND SAKURA SAFE WHILE DEVOURING AND BREAKING THE WORMS FOR POWER!"
Please work.
I did not expect Lancelot to simply take me and Sakura and booking it while the residence began to explode in a multitude of D- Rank Noble Phantasms in the form of Crest Worms.
Good instincts. A chill went down my spine as my ears keep ringing and a feeling of weightlessness overcame me as Berserker took us out of the house.
I felt the worms squirm within me before I felt a few pounds lighter.
I felt Sakura stir and have tears in her eyes. It must've been painful. Before her once lifeless eyes shake and look to me.
"You don't feel them moving or even alive anymore, do you?"
She mutely nods.
Because I can't as well. The numb areas are worrisome but I know for a fact that they are dead. Sakura would too.
Down 2 Command Spells with a Berserker for upkeep. Didn't think it could work. Lancelot is filled with power.
I quickly think of what I could be doing before reaching a conclusion of being a "neutral ground" with a possible Spiritual Doctor.
"Berserker. Take us to Church."
Time to procure both Grail and Blood in order to supply power for my Servant.
I have a hunch they have Bounded Fields capable of keeping that old worm out.
The Church in Fuyuki is surprisingly open to visitors 24/7. It must be because they are overseers of the War.
There is a possibility Zouken is still around although part of me doubts it.
I'm glad Byakuya drank outside that night. Thank God for small mercies.
We rode in an ominous black car with red veins. I told Berserker to cover us with the car as a 'shield'.
I mentally commanded Berserker to stop.
I looked at the Church. Honestly, it felt easier on the eyes when I knew orphans are not kept at the basement. I knew that it was also under constant surveillance from the other Masters yet I felt as if this was the only place I could go to.
They cannot move blatantly unless they want to tip off the other Masters.
Opening the wooden door, I let myself in first followed by Sakura.
I walked towards the podium where Risei Kotomine stood. An old man surprisingly youthful in his appearance. An 80-year-old man wearing black cassock and purple sash. His white hair went past his neck.
The priest before me clenched his fists seemingly going to a stance before thinking better of it. Simply giving a tired and aggrieved sigh.
"I come to introduce myself as a representative of the Matous." I try to speak in a calm and friendly manner.
Risei simply kept a frown on his face. A simple nod of acknowledgment. His body is tense. Probably from Berserker.
"I would... Also, like to procure your services." I spoke of the reason we came here.
"We are to be neutral in this wa-" he quickly starts before I cut him off.
"As a Priest serving the Living God Yeshua and a Spiritual Healer." I took some words from the foreign memories I received. He should know what I mean.
I held my purple-haired niece and presented her to the priest.
"Diagonosis for my niece. Please. Just to make sure." I showed as much sincerity as I could and bowed low while standing never keeping my eyes off him.
It was a painful silence before Risei talked, "Raise your head and bring her closer then. I shall do my duty both as a priest of the Church and as a Father."
"Thank you," I spoke in relief.
Just as Risei would gently pat Sakura on the head I told him my other reason.
"As the representative of the Matous, I would like for me and my household to be baptized. To enter and partake of a Blood Covenant with the Lord Jesus Christ."
Said household in this case includes the greatest Knight of the Round Table as our Servant but that can be for later. A way to mess with Tokiomi but there's no harm in making sure Sakura gets a proper patron in the Christian God.
For a fallen knight who seeks to atone and for Sakura and I who wanted nothing more to do with magecraft and to have a new start, this is a good ritual to do so.
Risei looked pleasantly surprised before massaging the bridge of his nose, remembering something problematic.
A tired and exasperated smile reserved to troublesome youngsters can be seen on his face.
Truth be told there is a risk of either Gilgamesh or Assassin coming to get us but I choose to believe in Risei both as an overseer and a proper father of Kotomine Kirei.
I want to believe in the Faith we shared if nothing else.
Worst case scenario, Sakura will not be killed but Risei will probably look after her due to diagnosis with me for a second opinion.
God be willing we get to talk to Kirei before the King of Babylon gets his hands on a prospective saint.
After all, Jesus came for the sinners, not the righteous.
I touched my scarred left eye.
"Only the sick need a doctor, huh?", I say to myself increasingly worried.
The mental pollution seems worse than I expected yet I am a bit thankful that Sakura and I managed this far.