Chapter 26
An Inconvenient Truth
As I came to, I found myself in a strange red flat. "Huzzah wha?", I asked. Looking around the flat, I felt that my trauma was now gone. "Huh. Wonder why I couldn't overcome it before.", I said whilst looking at my right hand. "Well, we wanted you to feel at home.", a voice said. Turning around, I saw Shadow, Himari and Kiritsugu walk into the room. "You know who we are, don't you?", Shadow asked. "Beings who exist beyond the World. Why am I here?", I asked. "You wonder why you can't properly control the power of darkness within you?", Shadow asked. "Well, I thought Odin was just being unruly but maybe my trauma had something to do with it. Maybe he thought I was an unworthy Dominant.", I said. "Well, that's certainly not the reason why.", Shadow said. "Come again?", I asked. "To understand why you have very loose grip on the power of darkness, you need to first understand your origins and then why you inherited a power most would kill to have.", Kiritsugu said before my vision became blurry.
When my vision returned to normal, I saw a strange void. "Our story begins before you were even born, when the Eikons were created. You see, long before you were born, there was a tyrannical being of light named YHVH who was very angry that not everyone in the Multiverse was worshipping him specifically. To that end, he attacked novemdecillions of worlds and killed even more people, apparently under the belief that he could just rule through fear and purge those who he didn't like. In response to his very first attack, the being Ultima created 9 Eikons: Phoenix, Warden of Fire; Garuda, Warden of the Wind; Ramuh, Warden of Lightning; Titan, Warden of Earth; Bahamut, Warden of Light; Shiva, Warden of Ice; Odin, Warden of Darkness; Leviathan, Warden of Water; and Alexander, Warden of the Void. Those 9 Eikons, when they first manifested in the continent of Valisthea, gave rise to 9 tribes known as the Motes; the Motes of Fire for Phoenix, the Motes of Wind for Garuda, the Motes of Lightning for Ramuh, the Motes of Earth for Titan, the Motes of Light for Bahamut, the Motes of Ice for Shiva, the Motes of Darkness for Odin, the Motes of Water for Leviathan and the Motes of the Void for Alexander. Moreover, to unite the Eikons's powers, Ultima created a being named Ifrit who has the power to absorb the other Eikons's powers and subsequently empower his Dominant, the Mythos.", Kiritsugu's voice said. "The purpose and role of the Mythos is to absorb the power of the 9 Eikons and then the power of Ultima himself, becoming his most holy vessel. Now, the other 9 Eikons's Dominants fought against YHVH during his rampages only to later fight on his side during the 7 Crusades…except for the Dominant of Odin, who kept fighting against YHVH and his forces even when all else sided with him. Incidentally, the current reigning Sovereign, Alphen, has the power to manipulate Ifrit's power somewhat but even that is not enough to stand up to Clive Rosfield, the current Dominant of Ifrit and thus the current Mythos.", Shadow's voice said. "But what does this have to do with me?", I asked. "Well, even though Clive awakened as Ifrit's Dominant, things were not planned that way. In order to escape YHVH's attacks, many of the Motes used the technology left behind by the Fallen in order to flee throughout the Multiverse, breeding with the people of the worlds they fled to. Within the Motes, it is random chance whether or not a person awakens as a Dominant or not and if a Dominant whether or not they'll be the Dominant of Ifrit. Though Clive awakened as the Dominant of Ifrit, you were intended as the Mythos instead due to Ultima's very long term planning with him carefully breeding people together with very powerful magic and very diverse magic, hoping that eventually someone would arise with both traits. And someone did: you.", Himari's voice said.
Taking a moment to think, I then asked, "But how does me having very powerful and very diverse magic connect to me being the Dominant of Ifrit?", confused. "Well, when you were born, your awakening was a bit…rushed. Even if you were certainly delivered through c-section due to problems with your mother at the time, you would have awakened as the Mythos eventually…if it wasn't for you being born into the Motes of Darkness. The Motes are connected to a specific Eikon with your own Eikon being the source of the Motes of Darkness. Your parents, Ragna the Bloodedge and Velvet Crowe are also descended purely from the Motes of Darkness, with them only making sure to mate with other members of the Motes of Darkness, but certainly not their own families. Which is strange because magic exists that allows them to correct deformities caused by inbreeding, whether physical or genetic. The clans within the Motes of Darkness that produced Ragna and Velvet and eventually you are different subclans, as are the clans who produced Gilgamesh and Artoria and eventually your adoptive sister Mordred. Gilgamesh and Artoria are also purely descended from the Motes of Darkness themselves. Now, Ultima pushed for Ragna and Velvet in particular to have a child on the basis that he would inherit Ragna's very powerful magic through the Azure Grimoire and Velvet's very diverse and varied magic. And you did. However, it also came at the cost of you inheriting Ragna's Azure Grimoire and Velvet's Consuming Claw, both of which manifested within you as your right and left arms respectively. Don't you see? Your right arm is the Azure Grimoire and your left arm is the Consuming Claw, giving you the power of a therion and a Dominant in the same package. To be honest, we can't help but feel somewhat jealous. YHVH however felt quite threatened by you, a baby and conspired to ruin your life; Ragna and Velvet caught on to this and gave you up for adoption by Gilgamesh and Artoria only for YHVH to send his angels to kidnap you and trap you in an absolutely horrid situation; you were abused day in and day out. And the ones supposed to act as your guardians until Gilgamesh and Artoria could find you and properly introduce you to them were replaced by vile copies; that is to say, two of YHVH's angels named Adam and Lute disguised themselves as your guardians and locked your actual guardians away so they could abuse you without anyone catching on. It didn't help that the police forces of the world you were sent to were in YHVH's pocket, so to speak.", Himari's voice said. "I remember that when I wasn't working during my service to the government I was locked away in a cell, all chained up. I just couldn't move and I couldn't sleep either with the collar around my neck preventing me from doing so by shocking me. It was pure Hell.", I said. "Indeed, your previous incarnation Sigurd went through something very similar in his lifetime.", Kiritsugu's voice said. "Wait, I'm a reincarnate?", I said. "That's right. You are the reincarnation of the King of Warriors, Sigurd. Not Sigurd of Chalphy but the man he was named after.", Shadow's voice said.
Snapping back to the red flat, I then asked, "But how does this connect to me being an Extra Class Servant as well?". "In regard to that, we have something to show you.", Kiritsugu said before I found myself in an underground cavern. Walking forward, I noticed strange black and dark red growths on the ground as well as black and dark red goop that reminded me a lot of the Gloom outside Hogwarts. As I approached the bottom of the cave, I saw a most concerning sight- the Waxing Moon Vessel. "But I thought it was in Origin.", I said. "Don't worry. This is merely a facsimile we Negative Forces created. Don't be scared; walk up to it.", Kiritsugu said. Doing as Kiritsugu suggested, I then saw my Avatar appear. "I've been wondering for some time now. Just what are you?", I asked my Avatar. "That answer should be obvious.", Himari said. "Given that you are a therion, you are capable of drawing on demonic power and using it to give yourself a boost in power, something known as a Devil Trigger. Obviously, only demons such as therions can use Devil Trigger to its fullest extent and even then, only pure demons like you don't even transform when Devil Trigger is active. Beings like Charlie and her father transform because they are not purely demons- Charlie herself is a Nephilim, being the offspring of a demon and an angel and her father is a fallen angel though still an angel himself, being infused with demonic power when he fell. And Alastor, Husk and the Vees, being reincarnated demons, are former humans who became demons when they died. Even artificially made demons transform as they are not pure demons whenever they use Devil Trigger.", Shadow said. "The Avatar is a manifestation of your demonic power, hence why you entered Devil Trigger quite forcefully when you merged with it.", Himari said. "That's right. You created me as a manifestation when you were summoned to Aionios out of instinct. And now the time has come for us to reintegrate.", the Avatar said before it turned into red energy that made its way inside me, causing me to briefly flash red.
Turning my attention to the Waxing Moon Vessel, I reached out and found myself in a strangely dark room. As I turned on the lights, I then saw a strange statue had appeared depicting a bound and tortured prisoner. Suddenly, a black and dark red flame erupted out of me and formed into a card depicting that very prisoner too. "Wait, is this…?", I asked before Himari's voice said, "That's right. You are an Avenger-class Servant. You always have been from the moment you were summoned into Aionios.". Watching as the Avenger Class Card disappeared, I then felt a strong sense of anger as I saw a vision of the Chosen helping YHVH attack various people. "Wait, so the Emblems, Champions and Ouroboros were on YHVH's side the whole time?", I asked. "They are.", Himari said. "Seems like they need someone to stop them before the Ascension Project is completed.", Kiritsugu said. "And I will be the one to do so.", I said. Finding myself back in the red flat, I then saw Shadow, Himari and Kiritsugu facing me again. "You aren't Shadow the Hedgehog, Himari Akemi and Kiritsugu Emiya at all, are you?", I asked. "That's right. I am the Negative Still Force.", Shadow said. "I am the Negative Strength Force.", Himari said. "And I am the Negative Sage Force.", Kiritsugu said. Now finding myself in a desert wasteland, I then heard the Negative Still Force's voice ask, "Now, what will you do? Will you forgive the Chosen and help them complete the Ascension Project or will you seek revenge against them and destroy the Ascension Project?". "I'll kill them all.", I said as the Negative Speed Force surrounded me and coursed through my body.
The story continues in the next chapter.