Chapter 9 Trifas Section 6
"You see, Astolfo. A power I have is to find nearby Servants in a 20-kilometer radius of myself. But I can physically map that by using water. Now, it has to be holy water, but I can make that quickly."
Jeanne and Astolfo find a stream of water, and Ruler places her hand on it, beginning to pray.
Astolfo looks confused but still trusts her to do what she needs to. In a few seconds, she blesses the water and begins to write in the air like she's writing with a pencil.
"Okay, Rider. I don't know if you will be able to understand this, but here is a map of the Hanging Gardens, nonspecific of course but a general positioning of everyone."
"Hey! I'm smart!", Astolfo emotes with his arms in the air.
"Yeah, yeah. Anyway…Sieg, tracing Siegfried and Frankenstein's Spirit Origins, along with Amakusa Shirou are both in the center. I cannot tell whether it is inside or up top. They cannot be below as this does not have the range to track them. Karna is near there too. Semiramis is in the throne room as expected. Shakespeare is…wait, he disappeared? Someone must have killed him. There is no time to worry, we know where Sieg is, so how about I search up top and you search in the Gardens?"
Jeanne closes the board and faces Astolfo. "You want to save your Master, right? Let's get moving!"
Astolfo nods his head and smiles brightly. "Yeah!"
The throne room, along with the world is consumed by flames, and only a wasteland of endless swords remains. Blades of all sorts stick out of the ground like headstones in a graveyard, and gears descend from the dark sky.
The monster once attacking the two is instantly swarmed and pierced by hundreds of swords, shredding it before it could even think to kill. The poison is gone, and Semiramis stands surprised not far from Ritsuka and Mash.
"What the…I am…we are no longer in the Hanging Gardens. I get it, a Reality Marble…"
"So, you no longer get that massive power boost that makes you strong. Nor do you get any tricks with the terrain. In other words, your home base has been overwritten by Chaldea.", Ritsuka says with a small grin on his face. The battle is not won, not by a long shot. But, the scales are tipping in their favor now with the nameless hero's help.
"Master, your orders?". the man in the red coat asks without looking back. He keeps his eyes on the opponent and will not remove them.
"Win."
Emiya projects two blades of yin and yang and enters a dual-wielding stance with them. This fight will be that of attrition. As long as the Reality Marble is active, Emiya can win. But if it runs out, Semiramis has a massive advantage and the battle will be lost. Approximately five minutes are on the clock until Unlimited Blade Works fails and the battle ends in defeat, so until then, everyone has to do their best.
Mash stays by her Master's side as if left alone, he could be killed by the Assassin and Emiya will vanish along with him. Overall though, she wants to keep her Senpai safe at all costs.
"This isn't the first time I've fought a witch. Though, I'd imagine the one I knew from before was much more of a threat than you ought to be, Cas-no, Assassin."
Semiramis grits her teeth in anger and extends her hand forward intending on killing the cocky Archer immediately
Several hundred beams of purple shoot forward and obliterate the ground near the Archer. Several swords follow behind him only to be batted out of the air by chains.
Emiya maneuvers himself through the air and brings down Bakuya to slash the witch and kill her.
"Wall!" A purple hexagonal barrier blocks the attack and repels Emiya backward. He lands on the ground but doesn't stop moving, keeping his momentum alive as he repositions for another attack.
"Emiya!" Ritsuka shouts out and presses a button on his arm, boosting the Archer's abilities and allowing him to move faster and hit harder.
Swords fly above, left, right, all around him in front and in back. He tries to attack her from all angles, but even out of the Hanging Gardens, her defenses are strong.
Ritsuka on the other hand is quite the way away with Mash at his side. The two watch on as the battle unfolds, never a silent moment. The floor glows slightly, and Mash pushes Ritsuka out of the way as chains erupt from the ground, attempting to slice up the Master of Chaldea!
"Master!", Mash cries out as she continues to block the attacks on her own and her Master's lives. She swings the shield and slams it down to destroy the chains with a smashing noise. She turns to Ritsuka and immediately rushes over to ram the chains coming his way. Lastly, she defends him from the beams aimed at him and slides back in place slightly.
"Mash! Are you okay!?", Ritsuka runs up and places his hand on her shoulder, her body stiff from the action and her breathing heavy.
She looks back at him. "Yes, I'm fine. You?"
"Yeah, thanks to you. If you hadn't saved me there, I'd probably be dead."
Mash smiles to herself and nods. "That's why I'm here, Senpai!"
Emiya projects his bow and launches Hrunting over her head, and secondly fires Caladbolg II at her front. Caladbolg is a sword that Emiya can reform into an arrow shape. On contact with a surface, it explodes. The size of the explosion depends on the amount of mana he puts into it.
The arrow impacts the wall and explodes, not phasing the witch as she smirks. "Is that all you have, bowman?"
But what Assassin didn't realize is that Hrunting as an arrow acts as a homing missile. No matter how much you dodge or even strike it down, it will continue to follow until it hits or is destroyed. So, with her back turned, Hrunting turns around mid-air and flies toward the back of her neck at rapid speed!
She hears the noise it makes and quickly turns around to block it with a wall, and in that instant, Emiya flies in and slashes her body which is half-turned with Kansho and Bakuya.
"AHH!", she screams out as the dual blades cut through her side. And a second later, the arrow pierces her torso. Blood splatters on the ground and she falls to her knees. Without another word, Emiya raises Kansho and brings it down toward her head.
But, the sound of a Command Spell rings out, and instantly Semiramis is whisked away, saved by Amakusa Shirou.
"Sorry, Master. Her own Master must have used a Command Spell. I wasn't fast enough.", Emiya turns to the two watching on.
"No, Emiya. You did well. She's at least heavily wounded. You can go and rest now, we will continue to move forward until we find the Grail.", Ritsuka smiles and nods, affirming Emiya's actions.
Emiya nods and vanishes, along with the Reality Marble, and the two are placed back into the throne room.
"I guess the only way to go is forward?" Ritsuka asks Mash. The communicator beeps and Ritsuka raises his wrist. "I agree, you still have five summons left so you can properly defend yourself against Amakusa Shirou. There's been a big mana spike recently, I'd assume that means Amakusa has the Grail?"
Ritsuka and Mash nod. "You've got it, Da Vinci. Wish us luck!" And the two head forward to the final battle.
"AAAAAARRRGH! RULER! STAY BACK…GET AWAY FROM ME!" Sieg screamed and jumped away from Jeanne a few meters, far enough away where they could still talk but she wouldn't be hurt.
"Sieg-kun!? What is happening?"
Sieg's body glowed golden and a massive amount of energy seemed to either be coming out or going in, neither could tell in the movement.
"The Holy Grail? It's—something's wrong!"
Sieg closed his eyes and focused. He saw the wish of Amakusa Shirou, the erasure of humanity's physical bodies to "save" them in action as usual. On the Reverse Side, that wish would never come true, but this wasn't the same. The wish should've continued acting, trying to activate no matter where they were like a signal trying to constantly connect to a network even if none were around.
So why did the wish suddenly halt? The wish stopped and the mana used in its process was being returned, causing the mostly empty vessel to be refilled far too quickly to be held well, like filling a balloon with too much air all at once and causing it to pop.
Sieg's body began to glow green and he began to float. Transforming into Fafnir, the dragon roared, echoing throughout the whole Reverse Side. To contain a potential overload, he upped his mass and power with Fafnir.
"Sieg-kun!", Jeanne cried out as she watched the dragon go berserk. She went to grip her flagpole but remembered that her Servant powers were gone as she was removed from the throne.
The mighty dragon charged up a blast of blue fire and incinerated the blue flowers far away in a large explosion. Fafnir then fell to the ground and fell apart revealing the boy once again coughing blood on the blue flower bed.
"Sieg!" Jeanne ran up and placed her hand on his back. "My God, what was that?!"
"I seem to still be fine, but what caused this…?", Sieg sounded out of breath and coughed.
"Never trust a boy who says he's alright…"
"Yeah, give me a moment here…", Sieg caught his breath and sat down, Jeanne sat across from him with her hands on her thighs.
"Another vessel has just taken in the magical energy it was using for Amakusa's wish. Not all of it was spent, but most of it was. For the wish to be canceled, something might've happened to Humanity up above."
Jeanne's face got a confused expression. "What are you talking about…?"
Sieg looked down to his lap. "I'll check it out. Using the Grail's power, I should be able to manage getting myself onto the surface and check things out."
"Wait, you can't do that! What if the wish resumes when you step on the surface!? It's too reckless!", Jeanne hurriedly grabbed his hand and drew his attention to that fact.
"You're right. We can't be too reckless…I know what else I can try.", Sieg stood up and his body began to glow in his chest.
"Sieg-kun?"
"Don't worry. I'm going to use a bit of the Grail's power to create a spare body. A Terminal of sorts. I'll be able to act independently of myself and I can check things out. My body may fall unconscious here so I need you to catch me."
Jeanne confidently smiled and nodded. "Of course! I shall protect you with my life!"
"There's little danger in a place like this one anyway…I'll be back in a moment, my Dear."
Everything was in flames, the city of Trifas Sieg went to was in flames as if the entire Earth caught fire. No humans nor animals remained.
"What? What happened…?"
Sieg hurriedly looked around but still, no one was in sight. He transformed into Fafnir and began to fly around, and still, no one could be sensed. He flew across the entire world and didn't sense even one living being, except for one place in a snowy tundra. Due to a strong barrier, he couldn't access it, but there being a few humans left on the planet made him curious.
After returning to the Reverse Side, he informed Jeanne of his findings and they began to think.
"I'll access the Grail to see if anything can be done."
After connecting with the Greater Grail, he scans for traces of other Holy Grails all over the world, and lucky for him, he finds seven of them scattered. But it wasn't by location, it was by time period. He thought it was strange, but what was even stranger was that one Grail was located during the Great Holy Grail War, well, just after it.
He informed Ruler of this too and they talked.
"I should check that out, there's no way it can be good."
"What? No, I will not allow you to go alone!", Ruler retorted. She knew how stubborn he could be when it came to this type of thing, so she knew she wouldn't win, but she wanted to try anyway.
"Don't worry, it'll just be a Terminal like what I just used. That's all. My real body, the one here, will be fine."
"Well, I am coming with you!"
"But, you're not a Servant anymore, not as you are now at least.", Sieg brought up a valid point. When she came here, she lost the ability to use any powers of her Servant form. She was alive, with unending lifespan and youth just like Sieg.
"Would the Greater Grail which summoned me not have any information on me? The Throne is like a computer, it must have a 'backup' of sorts or a record of me. You could turn me into a Terminal like you are going to do for yourself."
Sieg thought for a moment and realized she did have a point there. As the Greater Grail's owner, he might've been able to extract that data and turn it into a physical thing to give to Ruler.
"Okay, I'll see what I can do for now. First, though, we should find a safer place for our bodies here to rest. That forest over there should work.", Sieg pointed toward a forest nearby just as he said. It was incredibly dense and had plenty of spots to hide in, so the two went over there to keep their bodies safe from the creatures on the Reverse Side. Sieg would be fine, being both Fafnir and having the Armor of Fafnir, but Jeanne had none of that, so he wanted to keep her safe no matter what as attacks have happened in the past.
They lied down in the grass next to a tree, staying as close to each other as they could. While Jeanne faced away from Sieg, he carefully slid his two arms just under her chest and pulled her towards him. They were now comfortable, and Jeanne wouldn't have to worry about getting her back struck by anything with Sieg protecting her, as if she was his Greater Grail. Jeanne and Sieg closed their eyes and entered a sleep that only they could wake up from.
Time for us to return to where it all started…
A few days before Chaldea's arrival…
"So this is Trifas? It is no different than I remember.", Jeanne said while looking at the city with a wall surrounding it.
"Yeah…I'm not quite sure if something is supposed to be off here or not. Everything seems okay. There is a Holy Grail somewhere though, but it's not the one from our war, it looked more conventional when I saw it. Sorry, I don't know how to explain."
Jeanne shook her head. "Do not worry, Sieg. Let us head into town. It is still daylight and maybe we can investigate there."
"Oh, also!", Jeanne turned to look at Sieg before continuing to move forward and enter the rustic looking town.
"Is something wrong, Ruler?", Sieg asks her, confused on her course of action and why she'd stop.
Gently, she embraced Sieg, letting her arms slither around his back. Jeanne really had changed so much from when she was still a Ruler tied to the Throne of Heroes.
"I didn't have the time to say anything when we were in that beautiful forest…but thank you for keeping me safe then, holding me as close to you as you could. Being in love is a new experience for us both, but you're getting better at it, Sieg-kun.~"
"Ah, that's no problem at all, Ruler. If it's in my power to do it, I'll never let any harm come to the girl I love most.", Sieg responded to her kind words, just before planting a kiss on her head. Not bad at all for Sieg's very first kiss.
"And I believe you, Sieg-kun. But…please kiss me when we're back in our real bodies next time.~", Jeanne beamed a warm and honest smile at Sieg.
"Do expect it. Now, let's go."
The two headed into the city and began to look around. As they expected, it had a lot of people walking around young and old, all living their lives. No one seemed to recognize them, which they didn't think anyone would.
To blend in, Sieg wore the normal attire he had worn his whole life, while Jeanne wore the white shirt without the school uniform jacket on top as she wore in the Great Holy Grail War.
Jeanne laughed to herself slightly and looked at Sieg. "Do you remember? We went on a 'date' just like this while luring Jack the Ripper out. I don't even know how long it has been, we should have had more time back then."
"Well, you have been by my side ever since I woke up on the Reverse Side, so is a date like this so special?"
"Of course it is! Any time I spend with you is special, my dear.", Jeanne tilted her head, mildly scolding Sieg.
Sieg touched his hair and looked at her. "Yeah, I was waiting for so long after all. So I truly am happy to spend this time with you, regardless of what we do."
Jeanne blushed, then began to hear a church bell in the distance. "Sieg, do you mind if we go there really quick? It has been some time since I have been able to pray at a church."
"Of course, let's head right over."
The two took their time heading to the church, observing the environment but also enjoying themselves as they walked. After reaching the church, they headed inside and Sieg took a seat at one of the pews, while Jeanne continued forward doing normal prayers in various spots around the church.
It's not as if Sieg didn't believe in the Lord, but he simply wasn't religious. There was no need for a homunculi without a soul to believe in such things when after he died, he would simply fade away. But, he was happy Jeanne could do what she desperately wanted to do.
The church had other people in it as it seemed to be a day off, so Ruler wasn't the only one in the church praying, nor was he the only one sitting down in a pew. The church was dim inside, but even normal people would be able to see just fine.
There were no special events, at least at that time in the church, and the two left after a while longer.
"Now that that is done, what now, Sieg?", Jeanne covered her eyes from the sunlight and then adjusted as she spoke.
"We find this Holy Grail. If we can make it to a leyline, I can try to seek it out."
So, the two went off to the nearest leyline outside of town and used it. Sieg focused long and hard and noticed a strange energy not too far away. The two then followed it on foot which led them to a dense forest.
"Watch your step, Ruler."
"I know, Sieg. Thank you for your concern. But you forget that I can take a beating if I fall?"
"That doesn't mean I want to see you fall, even if you can take it."
Sieg ducked under a branch and continued forward, Ruler doing the same.
"Wait, Ruler. Just as a precaution, can you use that ability of yours to seek out Servants? If there are any enemies, I'd rather not be ambushed."
"Gosh. I have not used that for so long that I nearly forgot. Yes, I will use it right now." She focused herself and scanned the area, and to her surprise, one Servant did pop up. One of the Ruler Class, Amakusa Shirou Tokisada…
Sieg's eyes open and he looks around. He is sitting at the top of the Hanging Gardens, and both Amakusa and a wounded Semiramis are in front of him not too far away.
"You-! What did you—"
Sieg tries to get up but falls and begins to cough, and that's when he notices the familiar cup in Amakusa's hand.
"Finally awake, Homunculus?", he says in a not at all concerned tone of voice. "It took me a while, but using both Evil Eater and Xanadu Matrix, I was able to extract this Holy Grail from your body. It's not the Greater Grail, but it'll do."
"No, don't use it! I checked its contents before you captured me, this Grail will grant you no wish!"
"Like I would believe you of all people. I saw it. God himself gave me this to carry out my will. If you were in the right…if the Lord willed it, he would've given it to you, no? But when I woke up in this world, the Grail was right next to me. It's mine!"
There's no reasoning with him when he's like this. Then maybe if I… Sieg raises his head and tries one last defense.
"Humanity is gone. In the real world outside of this one, something happened and they were all incinerated. The Holy Grail told me that this was a Singularity. A moment in time that was picked out and thrown unstable to end humanity in the current year out there. Your wish won't work, because it won't 'save' anyone!"
The two stand there with confused looks.
"Preposterous!", Semiramis shouts. "This is…"
"Semiramis, when Amakusa summoned you, did you not get any information from the Grail? You knew of Chaldea's arrival as I had learned when I inspected the contents."
"I knew…but…"
Amakusa interjects. "If humanity truly is gone, and this Trifas is fake, how can you explain Chaldea?"
Sieg rises to his feet slowly but surely. "I'm not sure. I never got the chance to ask, but they're here, no? I'd imagine they may have had some anti-magic barrier around their base?"
Amakusa's mind begins to stir as if he's considering what the boy is saying.
"Please don't kill us!"
"Give my child back!"
"RUN AWAY!"
"Your rebellion is over, Tokisada, give up."
"Any last words?"
"So, God. Give me another chance. Next time, I won't lose sight of the bigger picture. I will eliminate all obstacles, enemies, and hardships in my way. Next time, I will obtain all the good in the world. A world where everyone is happy, everyone is good, and everyone is perfect. I will exterminate all evil and create a new, pure world."
"No matter what, I will save humanity from evil. Sorry, Sieg. But I cannot just give up on a dream I've had for lifetimes. If what you say is true, then I will save everyone myself. If you want this Holy Grail, you will have to take it."
"Fine! Once I'm free from those chains, I'll give you a violent death again!", Sieg spouts in anger.
Even though Sieg is chained, he's not the only one that Amakusa and Semiramis need to concern themselves with. Chaldea and their allies from this Singularity have all made it to them, and will not leave quietly unless the Grail is retrieved.
"Tsk, all of you at once?"
"Yeah, Chaldea needs that Grail to put an end to the Singularity. Please just hand it over.", Olga asks Amakusa, taking a few steps forward.
"Hey, samurai. You can't win against all of us. And your woman isn't looking too good either.", Nick draws some blood and uses hemomancy, forming it into a sword. "I'll make this easy for you if you just give up."
I on the other hand would like to say I am helping, but I am hiding behind Alice. Amakusa Shirou is still too much for me to handle. As cowardly as it sounds, I'm afraid of him. Even though I should help, I just can't.
Amakusa closes his eyes momentarily and thinks, then opens them up again and looks at Semiramis. "Assassin, I order you with a Command Spell. Bind them all and don't let them go!"
Sieg begins to break free by using Siegfried's gauntlets and sheer strength, but his efforts are for naught, as he is immediately stunned and chained down by Semiramis. Nor just him, but all of us. Chains that I can't hope to ever escape from no matter what I did to break free.
"Heaven's Feel, activate."
The samurai's arms began to both glow. A massive amount of energy began to surge through the area.
"Chaldea, it's nothing personal, but I cannot let you interfere any longer. Your world, I'll save it for you in your place."
"Bring an end to all things…"
Something like a black hole begins to form. An inescapable death. My Mystic Eyes trigger and do indeed see that death. A large bang, and then everything goes black, finally turning white. No feeling remains in my body and I feel as if I'm floating, being pulled to something.
My mind cuts back to reality, but nothing can be done to save us. I close my eyes and accept that I'm about to die without doing a thing in my life.
"Stop! That is enough!", a voice calls out from…above.
Like a bolt of lightning, the figure slams onto the ground and disrupts all action. The man's hand is held out and the Holy Grail is pulled right to him and into his palm.
"What's the meaning of this!?", Amakusa yells at the figure.
Olga's eyes gain a look of recognition and a man she never thought she'd see again is standing in the dust.
"You're…?"
The man who stood there was none other than Lev Lainur possessed by the demon Flauros, the traitor of Chaldea.