I do not own the Fate series and Tsukihime. The credit goes to Kinoko Nasu, Kagetsu Tohya, TYPE-MOON, and Aniplex. I only own the OCs. Please support the original works.
"Please… wait, I can give you whatever you want! Do you want money? Resources? It's yours?"
The terrified man spoke, pleading to his assailant, hoping that money or resources could sway their minds.
The assailant in question was not human but rather an oni by the name of Nekketsu whose demonic eyes were gazing into the man's soul.
"How much are you offering?" The oni decided to play along with his plea.
The man smiled slightly, the chance of not dying by this oni's hands feeling him with courage. "You can take 20 no 35 percent of my assets, including the trade deals I get from the Night Kingdom."
"Hmm, it sounds like a good offer. What do you say, Mortem? Sound good?" The oni spoke to a small device she held in her hand.
"It does sound, but there are a few things wrong with those promises," the small radio came to life—a light buzz with each word.
The man had a look of terror.
"Oh, and what could that be?" the oni smiled. She wouldn't join him anyway but wanted to see how much he would give in return for his pitiful life.
"The promise of money and resources? He doesn't have a copper worth sparing. Those 'deals' of his are nonexistent. He hasn't had any connection to the kingdom in over a year. Also, our employers are the non-negotiable type of people."
"Wait, is it those… Things! They aren't human. Did they bewitch you? I knew those kitsune were inhuman. They trap people with their charm to make others do what they want," the frantic-looking man babbled on. "That's why I killed that thing playing the role of a loving spouse. I chopped her limbs as she cried out in pain. I watched the life fade from her eyes and experimented on the remains."
The man kept babbling like a man while describing the horrific deeds he committed to his spouse. Nekketsu saw how humans can act. They didn't notice how deep the depravity could be. She knew some humans were indifferent to demi-humans, but most were hated or viewed as objects. However, this man in front of her wasn't human in their eyes but a monster wearing the skin of one.
The man kept going about how he pretended to like his spouse only to kill her at her most vulnerable. The only reason why he was with her for so long was because he wanted to see how a half-breed between a human and a kitsune looked.
It was at this moment she cut down the crazed man down. Slicing his neck effortlessly as blood started spraying from his neck. The cut was quick and painless. The man's face was still the same—one of a hysterical grin and eyes that were maddening.
"Mages, man, I'll tell you… Mortem, you there?" the demonic woman asked.
"Yeah?"
"I wonder what he would have said if he found out I'm an oni," her horns appeared on her head with the help of shapeshifting and illusion. "Do you know what he's hiding in here? There's no way he's hiding a child down here, right?"
"Yeah, it's probably research of some kind. Can you come down to the basement? I found the target. Or what's left of them."
Mortem walked down to the basement, disarming the traps leading down. He found the target or what was left of them. The clan of Kitsune hired him to get one of their own in exchange for some of their history books and knowledge.
However, he was prepared to see something. This wasn't the first time I'd gone into someone's basement. Being a merc makes you see things ordinary people shouldn't have to see.
Though nothing can ever prepare for seeing a person in a sorry state of disrepair, what the boy saw in the basement of the house was a girl tied up to bed.
The girl, around the age of 12 or 14, was lying on the bed and was lying limply. The girl's hair was dirty and red from the blood that clung together. Her face was sunken, and her eyes looked dead, but when she looked at me, I saw a faint light in her eyes. Her body was malnourished and emaciated. She had a large stained cloth covering her thin body.
He could have many theories about the stains on the cloth, but he wanted to make sure the girl was fine. "Blink twice if you can hear me." the small girl blinked twice. Mortem nodded as he spoke and went closer to her. "You're safe now." he took the binds off the girl's wrists and ankles.
The girl, whose name he didn't know, cried tears and wanted to hug her savior but couldn't because of the wounds and muscle damage. "Here, take this. Make sure to drink it slowly. It should help with the injuries," he unplugged a small vial of purple liquid and lowered it to her mouth. She looked at me and the small vial and reluctantly sipped the liquid.
"Ack..!" she choked and coughed.
"I know it tastes and smells terrible, but this is what usually qualifies as a healing potion around here. I recommend drinking it in one gulp. I'll make the process faster."
The potion worked magic as the wounds on her arms and legs closed. The girl made a grunt noise as the wounds were healing.
That was one of the few things that Mortem didn't like about low to middle-quality potions. Their effectiveness varies, but they are slow-acting and don't heal instantaneously like the Stim shots he had back home.
"Hey ya, I'm back!" the oni appeared from the doorway, looking at me and then at the girl healing from her wounds. "So's this is the girl they wanted us to find? She doesn't look all that important. I say we kill her and say to those cowardly foxes that we couldn't find anyone alive."
The girl visibly flinched when Nekketsu brought up killing her. Mortem gave her a look that said, "This isn't the time for jokes!" as he looked at the girl holding his sleeve.
"Just kidding! You know I was joking. Right?" the oni said while in a surrendering gesture. Mortem highly doubts that her body language and mind were saying two different things. "I'm going to go fetch a cloth for the little fox. Be right back," leaving to get a cloth for the young girl.
"I-I don't like her…" the girl muttered in a low, hoarse voice.
He laughed. "You wouldn't be the first, but she means well… er, some of the time." he went to pick the girl up in a bridal carry. She yelped at the close contact. "Sorry, I know you are still recovering, but we have to get out of here so I can bring you to your family. By the way, what's your name?"
"M-My name's Keiko…"
"My name's Mortem…"
"So, what's up with the sudden question about my world? Not that I don't mind talking about it. But what's with the sudden interest in it?" Mortem asked.
"I'm sorry, Senpai, for the sudden question about your world. But Da Vinci never properly documented your world and wanted it on file. Also, the Director wanted to have it documented as well."
"Okay, but we should record in a more secluded area before we start."
"Does that mean Mother won't be able to follow you?" a soft voice asked behind him.
In Mortem's room, they were known as the stalker trio. Kiyohime, Raikou, and Serenity. The Assassin uses their class skill [Presence Concealment] to hide in the corner of his room, especially when Mortem knows she is there. Mortem was in a lap pillow given by Raikou while the dragon gave her a fiery glare. The Berserker chooses to ignore the girl's burning look while she focuses her attention on her child. Mash walked in and wanted to discuss my world timeline in the middle of this invisible fighting match between the two Berserkers.
"I'm sorry, Mother, but I'll be back soon. I don't want to fall asleep during a critical discussion." She nodded understandably while fighting back the tears in her eyes. "Maybe I can get some of Mom's food when I'm finished." Her demeanor changed instantly when he mentioned eating her food.
Mortem left with Mash and a stalking Serenity on his heels to one of the vacant rooms in Chaldea. They ran into a few Servants on the way there and exchanged pleasantries.
When they arrived, the room had the standard table and chairs. They sat by the table, and Mash began to organize papers and pull out a tape recorder.
"Oh, before we start. Where Ritsuka? She's always with you or the other way around."
"She is in the middle of a training regime by Leonidas," Mortem visibly shivered. He remembers some of the rough training regimes some of the Servants did to him. Shishou is a slave driver who pushes me to my physical and mental limits. The last time that he fought all out, it ended up with a destroyed simulator, a badly hurt Master, and Servant and a long lecture.
"Well… I hope she's having a better time than me," she nodded in understanding.
Mash finished putting everything in place while they sat in comfortable silence and had a minor conversation with the Assassin who was lurking in a corner.
"Alright, Senpai, we ready whenever you are," Mortem nodded, and the purple-haired girl pressed the 'Play' button on the recorder.
"So, what you like to know about my world?"
"Let's start with the things we can compare with our world and yours until 2015 AD."
"Okay, so I can't speak for the Age of Gods. I think everything was about the same as yours till around the 1800s. There are a few inconsistencies between your timeline and mine. The first of these is the figures in history. Not to say they weren't there, but another figure has negated or changed their impacts."
"An example of Proper Human History is Morgan, a witch who tempted King Lot and had Gawain, Gaheris, Gareth, and Agravain as her children, right? However, in my world, Morgan le Fey didn't have any children or plot against Authur in his round table. Though Gawain, Gaheris, Gareth, and Agravain all still existed, Morgan was not their mother."
"However, the stories still ended the same: Authur getting killed by their son Mordred and the rebellion happened, but Morgan had much smaller to no role in the Arthurian legends in my world."
"That most of the history in my world is almost the same, but the details are different. The presidents of the United States are slightly different from the government officials you've had."
"Alright, now back to what I was saying. Before the 1800s, the American Civil War was the same but had a few changes in industrialization. We were advancing faster than normal, and we as a civilization were more focused on space than global exploration."
"At the start of the 1900s, we spent people in space. Around the 1930s, we sent the first people to the moon and sent out drones. In the 2000s, modern medicine was advancing, and the human genome was being explored and tampered with to make space exploration easier for the human body. This made our lifespans last longer and continue to get longer as we improve our medical knowledge."
"We had a fascination with space or, better yet, an obsession with it. Because of that obsession, we had a World War 3."
"Wait, Senpai, a World War 3?!" she exclaimed.
"Yep, a world war. The main reason? Was because of resources, labor laws, and work environments worldwide."
"I see."
"So after a kill count of about 750 million people of a population of 8 billion and a war that lasted for seven years. We lost about 11 percent of the population in that war. Since then, scientists have been pushing to make a new, cleaner, and better form of energy and have focused on nuclear energy. So we can fix one of the burning issues in the world at the moment by making a new energy source."
"At around 2500 AD, we began expanding on the moon and colonizing it from overpopulation to have a status quo over people. This was around the time we began to start making androids. That's not to say we haven't been working on robotics at the time. Most, if not all, factories used robots, but they were more like machines. We wanted to make AI capable of learning and processing information better than people. They were made to help people. The cybernetic limbs started to become a booming business. Everyone wanted new limbs, which helped people who couldn't walk or see."
"Also, for a random plugin history, 2519 AD was the year the best card game came out. Magic the Gathering. Sorry, I had to spread that out there."
"Around 3000 AD, teleportation between the moon and earth was free and open to the public, and the Gen one androids were becoming a big commodity with the public. We began colonizing Mars and used the planet for its resources. We also started a mining company that mines asteroids for minerals for our space exploration and made plasma-powered weapons used for many purposes since modern ballistic weapons were becoming inert."
"At 3560 AD, we started another world war—the fourth. Like most wars, it had many factors leading up to a boiling point. However, the big reason was the conflict between humans on Earth and those on the moon and Mars. To make a long story short, the earth was getting hard to live in, but not because of pollution or waste; it was quite the opposite. The people were suffering from mana sickness. However, they didn't know that at the current moment."
"Wait," Mash, the ever-inquisitive Kouhai, spoke out. "So in the future, the earth will start generating mana? Was it becoming a new Age of Gods?"
"Fortunately, no. Unknowingly to everyone, a new age was almost upon man. They were getting extremely close. They were close to making the voyage among the stars, exploring that vast sea of stars and planets."
"I have theories on why the planet generated so much magical energy. One theory is that it was preparing for humanity's departure. In this world war, 37 billion people were killed, and the Mars and Moon civilizations suffered the worst losses."
"People on Mars were no more and became an abandoned civilization as they either returned to the moon or earth. This was the final turning point in man's fire for exploration."
"Right now, mankind was pushing for time. People couldn't live on Earth for long periods because of the rising mana in the air, and the moon couldn't accommodate a large population. So we did the next best thing we could do. Make spaceships to other planets outside of our solar system."
"Around 4239 AD, there was a sudden rise of people who had extraordinary abilities. This was the time when psychics were starting to become more obvious to the public. Sure, they noticed us psychics around 2000, but the cases were far fewer between. But when millions of people suddenly get headaches and can bend and twist metals as if it were paper, scientists began researching it further and pushing to see if the whole of humanity can get access to abilities like that."
"While at the time of building a grand arc for billions of people. The people of Earth were getting cold feet about space expiration on a scale of a considerable magnitude. So, the government on Earth started to make underground vaults for the people of Earth to get them to start buying entries because they were scared and paranoid about what was around them. However, those who bought underground vaults for their children and family were in for a rude awakening."
Mortem sighed when it came to this part of his history. "At 4899, this was the most crucial time in our history. The rising mana in the air was killing, on average, about thirty thousand a day, and 100,000 would be hospitalized on death's door. The population was dwindling, and the moon couldn't provide any more room for people unless they were planning on leaving the solar system. The moon would be the stronghold for androids that would stay to monitor the earth."
"While in this extreme time, the people of Earth did their dying gasp. World War Five was the war to end all wars on Earth. 4989, a bomb was dropped, and the explosion was so bright that the people on the moon looked in awe. That bomb was the start of a much bigger issue and tidally locked the planet. The war cost us a death toll of 8 billion people. The people of Earth were a skeleton of what they once were. The population of the Earth was less than a billion out of those billion, and only 10 million were able to enter the underground bunkers." Mortem darkly chuckled. "If only those fools knew what hell they were stepping into."
"This Mash is a fork in the road. In History, this is where we split two paths. The people who left their expedition beyond the solar system and those on Earth. So, which would you like to talk about first?"
"Wait, Senpai, I have some questions."
"Go ahead and ask away."
Mash looked at the papers with her handwriting, reading some of the few things she noted during my rushed lecture.
"Um, can you name the person who started nuclear energy?"
Mortem nodded. "The person who created and founded nuclear energy is the same as yours. I believe he goes by the name Enrico Fermi. The person who industrialized nuclear energy and made it available to everyone is named Alexander Bushi, born around 2187 AD, who made it available to everyone by utilizing the power of a singular atom for near-infinite energy and putting it in a fusion reactor to powerhouses and other home appliances. They used it to power cars, weapons, and armor."
"What's the next question?"
"You said around 3000 AD, your world started making androids. Who made them?"
"Ah, good question. I might as well bring the controversy around that time. Many feared the Android project, which was repeatedly scraped over the years. People with the money and resources feared a revolt against man and the androids. It took us over 400 years of debate because they were scared and paranoid."
"The blueprints were already in plain sight for everyone to see. I'm sure any kid with plenty of free time could make an android if he wants to. We already had AI that did most of the heavy labor but couldn't interact with the world around them. However, that changed when Mark Limousa was born around 2931. He began making androids for the public, called the Gen One version. They were the pioneers of the common androids we have now."
"The androids we have now are more humanlike and are almost impossible to tell from a person. There are ways to spot them. They don't age and have a nearly inhuman beauty, making them stand out. However, in the future, the Gen Ones were bare bones. They had a humanlike body and skeletal frame but no skin. It's similar to the movie Terminator if I think about it."
"Wait, so Senpai…"
Mortem and Mash talked and recorded all about his world while Serenity stood guard the entire time. The black-haired man pulled out water from his jacket, a Mystic Code made by Medea to have pocket storage in case of anything, along with other functioning utilities. He gave the purple-headed girl in front of him water as well.
They were in an vacant room, talking for almost 4 hours about most of his world's history.
When he finished his lecture, he soon had to deal with two Berserkers, making him a mountain of food.
In the middle of a forest clearing in the setting sun, a woman was training her spearmanship using a closed umbrella as a spear.
The woman wore an oversized raincoat that stopped past her knees and black rain boots. The coat was white at the top, black in the middle, and green at the bottom. An opening in the coat made her tail visible.
This woman went by the name of Keiko, which was the last gift her mother gave her.
If you asked the people of her village, most of the residents would describe her as the "Rainy Fox" because of the constant smell of fresh rain and her affinity for water-based magecraft.
He practiced against the tree that acted as her training dummy for the session. The tree's numerous scratches and cuts were apparent.
Keiko swung her umbrella like a veteran spearman. A dance of thrust and slices of the wind was sung using her technique. Turning an umbrella in a flourish of jabs, cuts, and blunt attacks seems like a dance.
A dance that only a few would live through.
When her dance was finished, she huffed from the abundant use of stamina.
"I have to get better," the kitsune huffed. "I know my technique can be better. There are too many vulnerabilities that can be exploited."
That was what she came to improve on. Her technique, for its passive nature, was an aggressive stance specializing in whittle-down defenses. However, it came at the cost of making her own defenses light.
The technique 'Rain Dance' depends on stamina to overwhelm your opponent; otherwise, it leaves them open. However, it's a perfect stance for her because of her inhuman endurance and constitution.
Leaving the opponent feeling like they're trapped in a rainstorm with no umbrella. The feeling of being stabbed from all directions and the user moving like a flowing river.
"So this is where you were," Keiko turned around to find the familiar voice. "You know I went to the village, and they said you weren't there. So I went here and found you tolling away."
The kitsune lowered her umbrella and sighed. "Hey Mortem. I take you. Don't you have that oni with you?" Mortem shook his head. "Good, that woman pisses me off. I don't know how you deal with her."
He huffed at the comment. "With lots of love and patience." You didn't have to tell Mortem that Nekketsu was challenging to get along with. She was similar to taming a hydra, a monster with many heads that could kill you in your sleep if not correctly handled.
However, the pros far outweighed the cons. She was loyal to him and would do most of what he asked if booze or food was involved. Also, the lifestyle that most Oni has makes her an outcast among outcasts.
"So, how is it going?" the raven-haired youth asked.
"It's getting better, but my stance needs improvement. But I get the feeling you're not talking about my training." This was something both she and he talked about. A body can heal, but a damaged mind and soul are much harder to heal.
"I understand if you don't want to talk about it. But I've asked your aunt and the chieftain about abnormal changes." Mortem saw the kitsune grip her umbrella tightly. "They both reported you becoming an outcast among your fellow kin. As an outsider looking in, I find your culture stupid."
Keiko laughed. "Mortem, you know my childhood and the struggles I faced. My village prides itself on beauty, and seeing a woman not meeting those beauty standards leaves most men to avoid me. They would see me as damaged goods on a good day and a bad omen on most days. The only ones to approach me are my aunt and the village elder. One does it because she feels guilty and the other out of obligation."
Mortem maintained eye contact with the kitsune. The Kitsune looked vulnerable despite her fierce appearance. "You remembered what I said about scars? They are representations of the struggles that you overcame." She rolled up her sleeve and looked at the scars running down her arm.
The woman nodded, trembling. "You want a hug?" the woman nodded.
Mortem opened his arms, and the kitsune dematerialized her umbrella into blue photons. Then she ran into his arms, getting a much-needed hug. She was lonely and wanted to be comforted. However, since Mortem only came to visit on a bi-monthly schedule, it was hard for her to express herself to anyone.
So, she did the only thing she could do to distract herself from the feeling of isolation.
Train.
She practiced the spear till her hands bleed. She worked on her body so she was strong enough to protect herself and not be that defenseless little girl from before. She shudders at the thought that if Mortem weren't there to help her, she would be hollow or dead. She begged her aunt to teach her as much magic as she could so she could defend herself no matter the circumstance. Now, she can use her water-based magic to protect herself and Mortem when the time comes.
Since then, she has vowed to be Mortem's spear when the time comes. It might not be now or never, but she will be ready when he calls for her.
AN:
I know I'm alive; something happened. Then school reared its ugly head and put me in a chokehold. It's been almost four months since I uploaded something. I wanted to try uploading at least once a week, seeing as I failed my New Year challenge. I still want to try to make up for that.
Enough with the ramblings.
If you like my content, please like or comment on it. Also, please let me know if I made any grammatical errors.