Garden of Order: XI
He turned and dragged the sword across with both hands, flames poured from the metal and drenched the ground with heat and light, surging outwards as he completed the swing and set the forest alight with a mixture of darkness and furious pale white.
And yet that was not the lone source of heat that flew into the woods.
Bushels of heat were further fanned at the explosion of scarlet, Mordred's body snapped and crackled rather suddenly. A shockwave fled from her body which beat at the black flames and sent them further across as well as sending burning embers of the leaves soaring upwards into the sky above them.
Ash stepped forwards and pushed, clearing a distance and thrusting forwards.
The wraith, the translucent ghost adorned with a veil, howled and tried to catch his sword with fingers that were more like daggers.
It was a futile effort.
The sword, still glowing hot with cursed fire, pierced right through and shredded the fingers from the body, he twisted and yanked upwards in the same motion and wrenched the limb away from the spirit. A brief howl was all it managed before he brought his left arm forwards and caught it by the chin and then squeezed inwards.
It was indeed a soul, or perhaps the memory of one.
The mere second he came into contact, he felt his own essence snake forwards as unseen tendrils coiled around the spirit and prevented it from escaping. A desperate howl emerged from it as he pulled backwards and then collapsed his fingers inwards, the skull was crushed in a heartbeat and the body imploded into a thin mist.
Ash breathed as the mist flowed into him, seeking out the cracks and gaps in his armour or just fading right through and finding a new home within his own body. He twitched for only a moment at the intake of the soul before he held out the flat of his left hand and released a burst of flames.
The dart of magical energy crashed into his own attack and broke apart, the wall of fire collapsed and he lowered the hand, twisting on his heel and dragging the sword down as he spun, the tip of the blade glancing over the edge of scorched grass and dragging behind it a trail of dust as he completed the twirl and swung up.
A veil of ash mixed with flames, the sword howled as he unleashed a river of flames right towards the direction of the spirit.
It vanished under the blanket and in the next moment he intook again, more of the essence flowed into him.
Fragmented and far from complete.
Avenger had spoken truth.
All that remained seemed to be the essence of anger, the lone emotion which had anchored them to the world.
…How pitiful.
And yet, their anger had been enough for them to linger in this world in some capacity, even if nothing more than the anger itself.
It was a testament to their endurance and the strength of that fury.
A flicker of movement removed him from his thoughts and he leaned backwards as claws swiped past the front of his armour, narrowly missing him. Peering down at the ghost, it pivoted through the air and thrust a clawed hand towards his gut and speared its fingers.
The thrust was parried aside, he cleaved away the limb and followed through by pulling the sword back around and decapitating it.
He started the fight by setting the damn woods on fire.
Nevermind whatever else she thought about the guy, he was as utterly stupid and careless as Gawain could ever be.
She would be that when pressed about it, he wouldn't even look as if it had occurred to him in the first place and would then just say he would think about it later. Because that was exactly the sort of thing that Gawain would say.
Well.
At least they both had the common sense to point their flames away from their allies, but it was rather too close for comfort for her. The mana burst had been mostly to try and fan the fires away from her before they could reach her because those black flames of his were seriously messed up.
Yeah, cursed would have been the right word for it.
She knew a little about curses to recognise them.
Whatever.
Most of her thoughts were on smashing up these wraiths that served as little more than a nuisance for her. With a click of the tongue, she turned and hefted her sword about, hurling it forwards and then chasing down after it, the blade pierced through the chest of one and she caught it by the handle before it dropped, pulling up and then sweeping straight down across the chest of the ghost beside.
Both howled and vanished into white mist.
If this was the best that coward could conjure up, then it would be a short fight when they all caught up with him.
Mordred wasn't sure if she should have been disappointed or not with how easy this was, for a guy who talked up so big and ranted about grudges, his little pack of feral cretins were nothing more than gnats flying into her face.
She turned and dragged her sword about, the forearm raised to block her attack didn't last so much as a second as it punched clean through and tore the wraith in half, another crackle of mana scattered the remains as the ground churned under her boots.
Another shadow moved between the fire and the smoke, clawing its way out and towards her.
Mordred scoffed and then shouldered her sword once again, glaring from under her helmet as the shambling body stalked closer to her and marched right out of the thicket of flame and straight towards her. Briefly she raised a brow at the state of this one, different from the others, and holding a more crimson hue about it's body.
Also it had legs.
Without a word it charged towards her and hefted up a rather large greatsword with both hands and swung down.
She brought her own sword across and braced it, grunting as the pair collided and her feet dug into the earth to anchor herself there.
This one felt a little bit stronger.
Knocking the sword aside, she slashed up.
The veiled head leaned back and deftly avoided her slash, then countered with a lunge of its own which had her step to the left to avoid it, slashing down and knocking the sword to the floor, Clarent glanced along the surface of the translucent blade as she swept across and up towards the neck.
The crimson spirit pulled the sword up and yanked both weapons into the air.
Mordred fell back a step as it charged towards her once again, another clash rang loud in her ears as she stomped down and caught the sword in her guard, narrowing her eyes and then shunting the thing backwards, hefting up Clarent and holding it in a highguard, she paced around to the side and watched her opponent closely.
It was hard to say if they were mad or not.
She would equate them to a Berserker.
'Oi, Master.'
The message sent through the link as she shot forwards and crashed into them, hammering away at the wide brimmed sword and throwing the wraith onto the backfoot.
'Got a bit of a tough one here.'
A slash glanced over her shoulder and sent sparks flying, she drove an elbow into the underside of the sword and slashed in the same motion. Clarent scored a large gash across the side of her opponent, another grating of metal as she landed only a scratch against the red hue.
Masters voice filtered back a moment later.
'Forlorn, by the looks of things.' There was an undercurrent of a grimace in his words. 'You're not alone in that. Others have emerged. Fall back to our position and try to keep them all in front of us.'
So they had met these things before had they?
Arms blurred as they collided once more, the speed at which this wraith moved the greatsword was rather impressive, as was the skill they wielded it with. Her initial assessment as a Berserker might have been giving them too little credit, but at the end of the day, she was always going to be better than some spooky looking knight wearing a rag over his head.
Stepping back, she skipped away and predictably enough the wraith gave chase, stepping after her and lunging towards her with a rather obvious overhead slash downwards. The sword fell like a hammer and she watched it do just that, narrowing her eyes and counting until the very last second.
Mordred stomped down and halted her movements, then span on a heel.
The sword passed close enough to glance across her breastplate, she turned and swung her arms over the top as well as stamping down on the sword and forcing it further into the dirt, the wraith leaned forwards as it was jerked in the movement, a perfect position for her to drive Clarent's pommel right into their head.
Snapping backwards, they lost their hold on the sword as she followed through and continued the strike, twisting her sword and slicing upwards as she did so.
The armour, however, served its purpose and she felt Clarent grind to a halt as she bit about an inch into it, but not so shallow as she did not meet something softer underneath. She frowned as the hands fell down to try and grab her sword.
A boot to their chest pulled her weapon free and sent them sprawling to the ground where she might have pursued to finish them off.
That was, if a scythe taller than her hadn't suddenly entered her field of view and forced her to step into it just past the blade, raising up her forearm and catching the pole just underneath the head and meeting the gaze of yet another of the crimson wraiths. She scowled as it hooked the curved weapon across her right side and started to pull.
Mana swirled around, lightning crackled about her.
A ball of fire crashed into the side of the wraith and staggered it away, she used the distraction and stomped down onto their knee. The scythe loosened its hold and she followed through with a headbutt, gripping the blade and pulling up and over the top of her head.
Clarent opened up along the side of the right knee and then trust into the gap under the arm. She twisted the sword and pulled it out, tearing the scythe away from their hand and hurling it towards her previous attacker.
The scythe went flying as it was slapped out of the air, the wraith yanked the sword from the ground and then made it all of a single step.
Lancer just appeared by their side like a comet of fire.
Spear alight with dull orange flame, he thrust it straight down and into the earth, the wraith hopped back to avoid the blast and Lancer had barely pulled the spear from the resting place before he was spinning around and trailing fires all around him, making it hard to see where he began and where the flames ended.
It all ground to a halt as Lancer jerked to a still movement and swung out his left hand, throwing out a wall of fire right into the face of the wraith to obscure the movement. He thrust right through the flames and then pierced the chest of the wraith, pulling forwards and yanking them right over the top of his head before slamming them into the ground in a single fluid movement.
Though she saw nothing else at the echoing clang from behind her, she turned and jumped towards it.
Shieldy blocked another of the greatswords and then pushed back, catching it with the cross of the shield and spinning them both over.
Mordred landed down and barged into the side of the wraith with a shoulder tackle, knocking it into a further stumble.
A high kick from the girl landed into the face of the red ghost as another one in the form of a roundhouse hit their side and hunched them over.
Clarent raised high and then fell down, cleaving through the hood and neck both.
The body crumbled like dust and vanished into nothing.
Mordred turned and levelled the sword to the burning woods once again.
Though she saw nothing to direct her anger to this time.
Only the fading remains of what had once been their enemies, the last of which suffering only a single blow.
The woman with the knife, the one with Mystic eyes, flipped over the top of them and landed down, reversing the blade and then driving it down into the back of their neck and deftly removing it. Nothing more than a quick thrust without resistance and the body collapsed like all the others.
Mordred swept her head around and frowned.
"Looked like the last of them, Master."
"For now."
She was rather surprised by the hint of…she could not quite say what it was but there was a sadness in his voice. Turning about she raised a brow at him under her helm and though he could not see her face, he must have figured out what she meant.
Master exhaled and shook his head. "Gael, one of the Servants we met a while ago, told us about the Forlorn…they were just people who got abducted from whatever world they were from at random and then experimented on."
Oh.
Well.
Mordred shuffled about and glanced down to the spot where she had slain the last one and frowned.
That sounded rather unpleasant.
"They are dead now so it's probably a mercy for them."
"She's right on that front, Master." She jerked her head to the Shiki girl and nodded along with the stray comment. "Besides, we lost track of that other ass."
Master straightened and frowned. "So he was an Avenger and if he's gathering grudges…"
There was a brief silence before he turned about and looked past them all. "Ash? How many Forlorn exist?"
"Hundreds."
Mordred blinked and turned her head about, the blonde guy whipped his sword to the side and extinguished the flames before slotting the sword back over his shoulder and mounting it to his back, he turned and levelled them with dull green eyes as he spoke further.
"Perhaps more. They were abducted from alternate timelines. The only ones that I would know about are those who directly knew of their abduction. Aldia was secretive in his research and if any ever saw it…they are not among those who I have access to, it is unfortunate to say."
Master smacked his lips and nodded.
"Alright, we'll have to pick up the pace then and rush to the top. That's probably where the Avenger is and he indicated he would be waiting…but if Forlorn are crossing over now then we probably won't have much time before we get overrun with them."
She was inclined to agree and while she was confident they could fight through all that a lot, it would probably take time and someone would get hurt during all of it. Not to mention it would doubtless spill out of where they were.
Master stepped to the side and held out his hand.
"I'm bringing in specialists for this."
Mordred raised a brow and would have otherwise commented on the idea that she thought they needed more help.
She bristled at the implication she wasn't enough.
"Rider. Ruler."
Two Servants flashed up and in moments, a pair of women now stood bathed under blue light.
Ah, suddenly it made sense why he'd bring them.
She could excuse that.
"Master." Jeanne was the first to greet them as she stepped forwards, then frowned and glanced about with a sudden sense of unease. "...I can guess why you would have called us. There is something that lingers in this place that is rather…unpleasant."
Beside her, the violet haired woman wore a much deeper frown that looked almost disgusted as she aimed it towards the burning woods.
"...I heard word spread through Chaldea about lingering wraiths and yet…I can sense them clearly. Restless souls who should have never been forced to remain here. It goes against…no, I can focus only on bringing them peace."
Martha turned to Master and frowned.
"Though with this number of Servants…"
"It'll be fine until we get to Avenger." Master responded quickly, perhaps a little too quickly.
The dark haired boy set his sights upon the apartment. "We're going to march back up and clear that entire thing out as we move. It'll just be for the undead and the wraiths, perhaps some of the Forlorn are starting to cross over as well and there is the potential for other Servants so if that happens I'll have to send you back to Chaldea."
Yeah.
Because he'd never be able to support the amount of Servants all trying to fight properly unless they all suffered for it.
Mordred stopped, then sent a sour - and definitely not envious - glare towards the green eyed blonde out of the corner of her eye. Because it definitely wouldn't have been a problem if she had some sort of magical energy conservation like that guy over there.
As one, they all turned to the apartment once again.
Mordred felt a grin slowly crawl across her lips as she nodded her head forwards.
"What are we still pissing about out here for?"
She took a single step forwards-
"Language."
-and almost landed flat on her face.
Her head whipped around so swiftly she almost felt like her bones cracked and she levelled a baffled stare towards the speaker.
Martha looked utterly without shame at having said something so damn stupid.
Rather, the Saint was looking at Mordred as if they were the one who had just said something wrong.
"...Are you serious?"
Martha, if anything, looked more resolute. "There is no call for crudeness."
She had no words.
Genuinely no words.
It's a thrum of light and a gentle warmth, the spirits don't even make a single sound before they just vanish into nothing.
Martha's cross shines with a brightness to it which is both blinding and comfortable to gaze upon, but Ritsuka does not hold the contradiction in his mind for very long.
His hand raises and commands chant through his mind, Mash flies over his shoulder and crashes right into the thick of the undead.
The floors had returned to being full during their brief absence, he suspected it was motivated by Avenger in order to delay them. Something that perhaps would have worked on any other day, if only for a time.
But not today.
And certainly not now.
The chaos of Mash serves well.
Ash launches himself just above the Shielder and down into the mass, a swing swing of the sword spreads a wave of fire across the length of the walkway and burns the bodies to cinders, just as swiftly the flames are extinguished and drawn back into the Servant, he snaps his fingers and heralds another explosion.
He summons Mordred forth, appearing in a flash of light and a bellowing cry of excitement as she plummets down and upturns the concrete underfoot. Her moves are faster than he can follow and she just vanishes from one spot to another with a flicker of red light as the only warning, sword twisting as a silver streak and leaving bodies behind in their masses.
"O'Lord."
Jeanne's voice echoes around them.
"Let these souls find peace."
It's a gentle prayer and as one, the undead start to break apart.
"Amen."
Blue flames sweep over them, or what remains, and they crumble away into dust within seconds.
They pass through the first floor.
And on the second they are met with nothing but scorch marks and slashes through solid stone.
It is a sight that Ritsuka can only account for being the work of a sword, the marks along the walls and floors are jagged and rough. Not any flame but something hot all the same. It is a thought that is answered when he finds the door to Verndari's room burst wide open, the door shattered from the inside out and nothing remaining behind.
"Senpai, does this mean-?"
"I certainly hope so."
And it is something he means, not simply because he believes it will reassure Mash but also himself as well. There is no ignoring the evidence of a fight before them and the patterns of attack are familiar enough with him that he can account for it being Verndari. Especially as they pass through the second floor without ever once encountering a single undead or spirit.
But it is as they come to the third floor once again that Ritsuka finds himself to a halt and frowning deeply.
The doors peel open and within moments, Lancer has appeared and rendered a corpse in half with a flourish of his lance, drawing it back in the same motion and hurling it straight forwards and through another several more, it impacts the balcony with a burst of fire and smoke, the explosion snuffs out the view of the dozen among them for a moment.
Lancer strides forwards and holds out his hand, the spear emerges in his fingers once more under a cloak of fire, the orange peels away like a blanket and shows the darkened metal once more.
The bodies are returning again, it seems.
"Martha."
He steps to the side.
"Hmph."
And the Saint steps forwards with only a fleeting look of disdain on her face as she gazes down at the undead and the sprits, all of whom are appearing out of both the air and the ruins of the apartments they had once cleared. The Saint twirls the cross within her hands and then grips it tight with both and thrusts it down.
There is only a fleeting moment of nothing.
But then Ritsuka sees it.
From in amongst the horde, they shamble forwards but then light forms in the epicentre of them, a mere flicker no brighter than a candle but they turn as one at the sudden sensation. It is a swift thing as the light bursts out like a balloon and quickly consumes them all, their forms turn to silhouettes as they mutter out cries which are abruptly cut short.
Ritsuka is once again greeted by the blinding light that does his eyes no harm.
Martha raises her staff and then steps backwards, he notices the flicker on her eyes as she stares to him.
His confusion lasts until he realises he is heavily leaning on the side of Priscilla, he didn't even notice how exhausted he might have been until this very moment. Looking down at the hands which keep him upright, he draws in a breath and then steps away from her, eyes hardening as he pushes onwards.
Because he needs to keep doing that.
Because he can't afford to stop.
"Come on."
He announces as he strides forth, ignoring the numb feeling in his fingertips or the itching on the back of his hand.
"There's still more to do."
And there might still be other Servants of Chaldea who remain here.
So he kept walking.
Fourth floor.
Forlorn made their appearance once again and in greater numbers than below them.
Ritsuka ducked down to the side as Mash appeared before him, the thud of metal against the shield as he placed his hand against her shoulder to brace her. A shudder ran down his arm from the pressure and he felt his teeth tremble in his jaw, for a brief moment it was numbness again.
His hand came up and he activated the mystic code, a surge of strength flowed into Mash.
She stepped forwards and countered with a roar, a jerked movement of the shield parried the greatsword directly into the wall with a crack, leaving an opening long enough for Mordred to charge in, the Forlorn turned too slow for brace and the knight drove him into the wall, folding his body to a curve and then driving Clarent through the chest before tearing it free.
The same movement spilled brick and mortar across with dust thrown up by every impact.
Ritsuka ducked out and shouted.
"Shiki, get ready!"
His hand flashed and though they had barely a contract between them, it was still more than enough.
To her credit, she looked utterly unphased as she all but appeared behind the lines of the Forlorn in a flash of light, and she took advantage of it swiftly.
In the same movement, she buried her dagger into the throat of one of the Forlorn as Ash charged right into the thick of them, crashing into them with a thunderous echo and knocking them off their feet with a burst of magical energy. A thunderclap rolled over him and he brought up his arm to wave away the cloud of dust.
By the time the smoke settled, his vision was instead consumed with jets of flame and the sight of Lancer turning into a vortex.
Despite that all, he never once saw the rather gangly man lose control of himself, hitting the ground and then charging forwards like a spear and launching himself into a corkscrew, stopping and twisting about, the spear alight with serpentine like fires which billowed out and honed in right towards the enemies.
"Mash!"
He pointed rather than speak.
Mash saw it and gave a grunt of affirmation, stepping forwards and launching herself towards the frontlines.
With a mighty swing, she caught the head of the falling scythe before it could meet Shiki.
The woman slid underneath Mash and slashed across the knees of the Forlorn, it dropped down and was met with Clarent across the kneck, sending the hooded head flying into a wall. Not even a second later was Mordred attacked by yet another who threw her onto the backfoot with what could only be described as an assault of pure chaos.
The walls and pillars offering little in the way of resistance as the crimson wraith just smashed through them all, twisting on its heels and barging its shoulder into Mash when she flanked around and throwing her backwards.
Ritsuka flashed his arm, Mash vanished as the Forlorn staggered as it lost it's sudden opponent.
Ash's fist crashed into the side of its head and knocked it away, right into a thrust from Mordred which opened up the breastplate.
Despite that, the Forlorn countered with a backhand to the sword and a thrust for the knight.
Mordred ducked and avoided both before throwing herself back in.
Ritsuka narrowed his eyes and pointed down, turning towards Martha and gesturing with his head.
He wanted to speak, but he felt a wave of vertigo that robbed him of his words, so he instead swayed and fell back into the waiting arms of Priscilla once again and he was left briefly thankful that she was ready to catch him just as before.
But the recollection that she was blind had him stall for a moment.
How bad must he have looked that even a blind woman could tell?
His mind focused a bit more from the crashes and thuds, the glimpse of light and the burst of noise in his ears brought about a discomforting hiss. Turning his head to the forefront as he watched a rather hefty kick from Mordred knock a Forlorn to the ground where it was then skewered by Lancer and its remains flung over the balcony to sights unseen.
It was a brief reprieve, but he noted how the silence lasted longer this time.
"Right." His throat made it hard to swallow, much too dry and he was still feeling a little dazed.
Briefly he was reminded of Fuyuki.
He managed all of a single step before a grip on his shoulders suddenly held him in place, Ritsuka blinked before suddenly a weight forced him down and he dropped to the floor.
Or something just above the floor, his legs were swept out beneath him by something long and tensile, yet very soft and warm, his back was embraced by the same cloud like texture and the grip on his shoulders yanked him back into it with just enough firmness that it removed him of the chance to escape.
Eyes blinking, he slowly looked up and found the blinded face of Priscilla all but glaring down at him.
No, that wasn't the right word for it.
It was an expression of disappointment rather than an outright glare, all too soon he whipped his eyes away from it. Though it proved pointless as he could still feel the gaze on the top of his head boring down into him, and turning his head only brought him into the line of sight of everyone else.
They all watched in silence.
A wet squelch echoed as Ash tore his sword from a fallen foe and then turned and looked, being the last of the group to bring his attention towards him.
"You look sick."
The very first words out of Ash's mouth had him flinch.
"It is to be expected from supporting as many Servants such as this. Especially those with as great power as that of Sir Mordred."
Jeanne moved forwards next and she crossed the distance between them, it was odd that he felt as though he was sitting on something and yet he remained and eye height with the Saint as she leaned forwards and pressed her hand against his temples, it stayed there for a moment and her expression started to shift into something far more troubled as she pulled it away.
"A brief rest is needed. Myself and Martha will need to return to Chaldea while you recover."
Head back?
Ritsuka frowned and made to shake his head.
"Senpai."
He stopped and winced at the tone, slowly he glanced towards Mash as she appeared just above the shoulder of Jeanne.
"You…" Mash looked at a loss for words. "...I think it would be better if we rested. If you try and fight Avenger like this then it…won't go well."
The words sounded strangled, as though she didn't want to say them.
…And she was probably right as well.
Another shadow appeared and stepped into the light.
Lancer, this time.
"Thy determination is to beest commended." The words began smooth at first, the barest hint of a nod from the tall man.
However, before the expression even had time to settle it quickly vanished and was replaced with a frown. The serpentine head draped across his shoulder reared upwards and started to close the distance between them, hovering right in front of his face with the head bobbing up and down.
Looking him up slowly before Lancer continued out.
"Though thy want of preservation is a beshrew upon thyself, rather than a blessing."
The head drew back as Lancer stepped away from them, voice echoing as he wandered off.
"Taketh the word of thy allies. A true campaign is better served with rested soldiers headed by a mind cleareth of distraction and sharp with rest."
…It seemed as though everyone was going to gang up on him.
His eyes slid towards Martha as she silently watched him, face devoid of emotion.
Then she angled her head. "I believe the others have made the point rather clear. If you still need further arguments to take a moment to gather yourself, then I shall provide them for you. Yet I doubt you are so dense as to avoid the pleas of your friends. We have done as we bid and are ready to return."
Martha's lip twitched down for a brief moment. "And I shall hear of whether you granted yourself the needed rest. I understand the drive to put an end to this foul place, but there is no need to destroy yourself in the process."
Ritsuka lowered his eyes down and nodded his head slowly.
It was clear he wasn't going to win.
And the moment they'd all stopped and he was sat upon…
He leaned to the side and stared at the furred branch which had coiled around under him and swept him off his feet, further turning his head to the origin and blinking several times as he found it connected with Priscilla.
Ritsuka blinked once more, then turned back to the front.
He was sitting on her tail.
…It was really comfy.
"Alright…"
He breathed at last and nodded his head, turning to Jeanne and Martha. "Thanks for the help."
Jeanne responded with a smile and a nod of the head. "We are ready for whenever you call. Should you need us, do not hesitate…But I would ask you not to make a repeat of this again. It is rather depressing to see you pushed so hard."
Now he felt even more guilty.
The only one who had rest was Ritsuka.
Even then, Ash doubted it was anything like what one would expect.
He could hear the conversation behind him rather clearly.
"You're being too hard on yourself, lad."
"She was right there and-"
"My boy…" Siegward sighed, his voice sounded different from normal. There remained the light tone about it and yet it was not much like the other times.
He recalled the tone of voice.
When he spoke of Yhorm.
Some forlorn sense of sadness.
"What happened is certainly no fault of yours nor is it hers. Though she will likely blame herself when she returns…You wouldn't let her start doing that now, would you?"
"Well, no but-"
"Mmmmmmm." It was a trademark of Siegward for the long and unbroken hum. "And there we have it! There is no blame to be had for this rather cloudy day! None that neither yourself nor Boudica can lay down at your own feet and I say, I shall hear none of it from either of you if I have my way!"
He supposed Ritsuka sounded rather flummoxed.
Ash assumed there would be further arguments, but he tuned out the remainder of the conversation.
It was not for his ears.
More than that, there was something strange about it now.
The context of this building.
Where once he had felt revulsion and anger directed for it now he experienced only some strange sense of apathy. It was the words of Avenger which had provided a clarity and it was…odd.
He would remove this place, it was their duty.
Duty.
A word like rust and yet still so welcome within him.
He doubted he would ever be rid of it and he was unsure if he even truly wanted to.
But no, that was not what his mind sought.
It was instead something else, something different.
…Was Avenger right?
Ash was no fool and he understood that not everyone had the same capacity for storing grudges and memories as he did, a repository for hatred, but that was something unique to him. Were he to perish - and he could well do so - then that knowledge would all be lost. The proof of existence that all those souls would fade with him.
Their lives, fleeting as they were, would be forgotten.
It would be as though they never existed in the first place.
Perhaps it would be better but they had wanted to live as well, did they not? They had been the same as Ritsuka.
So it made sense to keep some memory of them around, even if it was not of their best.
As long as it was something.
In which case…did he think that Avenger's goal was wrong?
…He did not know.
He was neither disgusted nor pleased with it when the thought came to him again and again, there was nothing but a muted silence in his mind. They were not people who had yet to end, they were those who had failed to pass on. In which case, was it wrong to ignore that determination?
It was not as though it was an existence forced upon them like the undead curse.
In some way, the corpses and spirits wanted this existence.
For whatever reason.
Ash closed his eyes and rested his hands atop the pommel of his sword.
The thoughts were becoming confusing to him. It was not a way of life that he would find himself agreeing with, subjected to this existence, and yet he could understand the drive from Avenger to ensure the grudges - the essence - remained because surely those had value merely as an existence.
And yet this place was a threat that needed to be removed.
The death of Boudica and the corruption of others had demonstrated that this was not so close to what he wished. For those reasons alone he would admit that this apartment complex needed to be purged.
But that was instinctive of the Chaldean objective.
…What did he want?
His eyes opened.
And he found himself staring at a dust filled landscape once more, the burning ring hung in the skies and bore down upon him.
Oh.
So he was back here.
Which meant…
"As always, this landscape remains wretched."
"It is as I remember the world."
"That makes it all the more hideous that this husk is how you recall what was once your home."
Ash turned slowly to the direction of the speaker, they stood right beside him with their eyes pointedly facing towards the brand carved into the sky. Disdain briefly written across their face before it slowly evened out and was replaced by something that he would merely describe as apathy.
Though he was sure that was not the feeling they were experiencing at this time.
His attention turned to the brand next, a silence falling between them.
Without even the whistle of a breeze, it was a true and pure nothing which filled the void between them.
Ash broke it first. "I was not expecting to see you again until we fought."
"I was not expecting to see you at all." Solomon responded with a blunt coldness about him. Reading between the lines was simple enough.
"That is a fast dismissal."
"You are free to make such claims because even now, you are ignorant. I remain as above you now as I did when you were unleashed in London. Not even at your height could you challenge me."
It might have sounded like a boast to someone else.
But Ash was not sure.
In the brief time he had spoken with Solomon, he was sure it was not boasts the man made but statements of facts. Whether they were utterly true or not was irrelevant, it was something that Solomon believed without any doubt.
Whether it was arrogance or truth, it did not matter in the end.
"Perhaps." Ash admitted, not caring much for an argument in who would win in a battle between them. "But I am not the only one you will be fighting."
"Still you speak with the belief that your allies shall even catch a mere glimpse of my Temple and put a stop to me? Did I not make the gap between us clear enough already?"
"You did. I did as well. That does not seem to matter to them."
"Because they are fools."
"Yes."
Solomon turned his head and looked at him, Ash turned and met his gaze.
Angling his head, red eyes narrowed upon him with a frown emerging across the lips. "You would accept this as truth and yet you would still stand beside those of Chaldea who would seek to right the history I showed you? Has it become less hideous to your eyes?"
No.
No it had not.
He doubted it ever would be anything but ugly to him.
Solomon clearly saw the same answer and sharply turned his head away, the silence falling on them once more.
"Are you disappointed?" Ash at last asked.
"That would imply I held a vested interest."
"You were interested enough to approach me in the first place." The reminder was met with silence, but there was an overhanging pressure upon the conversation now. If he were to give it a word, he would have called it frustration. "Are you vexed that I wasted your wisdom?"
"I offered it freely. What you did with it after the fact was no concern of mine. It would be inevitable that we would clash. Though, as I said, it remained nothing more than a whim which first brought us together in that manner and it shall remain a whim even now. Akin to spotting the same insect still buzzing around in a room weeks after last spotting it."
The comparison was rather peculiar to him.
But that was not what he wished to know.
"You aided Avenger."
"I summoned Avenger." Solomon corrected, there was an edge in his words which had not been present before, but it just as swiftly faded away as if it had never been there before. "I summoned him for a purpose which he has since rejected. His reasons were utterly without logic and based entirely upon his own sense of morals. In essence, he proved himself to be the same manner of blind fool which occupies the Throne of Heroes."
"Ah, I see. His tower was not what you desired?"
Solomon was silent for a moment.
"It was to be a singularity, and yet he formed it into a hell that would never burn out. It is deeply unpleasant to gaze upon, even you must admit that."
Deeply unpleasant.
That was something he was having trouble coming to terms with.
"Am I not the same?"
"Is that an answer to my question?" Solomon queried "Is there something to be found valuable as you behold the very worst traits of humanity? The anger? The hatred? The violence and deprivation? Sorrow and desires for salvation that went unrewarded? Is that truly what you believe should be allowed to exist?"
"If they did not exist." Ash replied with. "How would any know they existed at all? What legacy will they carry if their final pleas are removed?"
He turned to Solomon at that.
It was the question that came to him.
Perhaps it was preferable to remember otherwise, but that might be averting one's eyes to the truth of the situation.
Humanity was ugly.
If they were remembered as anything more than being ugly, then it was not humanity.
It was the best and worst.
They were not good or evil.
They had duty and they had blindness.
It was a mess of contradictions.
Yes, he did find it ugly.
But perhaps that was the point.
Solomon turned his head slowly and stared at him, face blank. "Tell me then, Ash. What is it that you currently seek with these things that you find so ugly? What meaning can you see within the depths of the repulsive creature you call humanity?"
He did not know.
"...I have not found it yet. I do not know why they keep driving forwards. I do not understand why Ritsuka wants to live. I simply do not understand how they can exist. I have made efforts, I have copied those around me, and yet I find myself feeling no different than before. I do what is expected - what is right - by all standards of humanity and yet…nothing."
"Why do you continue trying?"
Ash angled his head.
Why did he continue trying?
"...Because humans want to live with that ugliness." He simply replied. "...And I want to know why."
"What simple reasons." Solomon responded, a voice that betrayed neither disappointment nor surprise. It simply was what it was.
But there was a burning inside the eyes of the man when he turned on him once more, an intensity within them as he spoke the next words.
"And if you are unable to find that reason? If you fumble throughout all time and are left utterly unaware of why humanity continues its pointless and depressing struggle? What is to be done then? Will you forever strive in that bleak land until this comes to pass?"
The final words were delivered with a wave of the hand towards their surroundings.
"The humans here would have been much the same. Forever striving and forever slaughtering one another for utterly pointless reasons. Made all the worse as they failed to perish again and again. A tapestry of misery…can you grasp their motives? Can you understand why they would wish to keep the First Flame alight?"
"No."
"Even though you were to be sacrificed to it?"
"...It was my mothers design-"
"You know better than that."
He did.
Even without his mother, even without a single God, he had seen them sacrifice humans to the first flame.
Yhorm had done just that in an effort to save his people and instead killed them.
But that was beside the point.
"The price for protecting this revolting history is not one you should have needed to pay. It is unworthy of asking even a single soul to burn up for its truly deplorable state and it demands that price be paid again and again and again. Consider it."
Solomon stepped forwards and frowned.
"Until you. They had been throwing themselves upon this inferno with the full knowledge that it would not last. That it was nothing more than an extension that would come to fade. In sacrificing themselves, they doomed another to burn where they stood. You and Mash Kyrielight both."
Ash stopped at the mention of the Shielder.
"It is a humanity that demands you to burn yourselves up. For what purpose can you justify such an existence? Do you believe that your lives are somehow less valuable than others? Do you not wish to continue existing? They do not care for who you are. They care for what you can do for them."
"...Maybe."
Solomon blinked slowly.
Then he stepped back. "I did not come to involve myself in a heated debate with you. Your intentions have been made clear and though I will denounce your goals as foolish, I will accept that this is the path you take."
Ash blinked rather slowly at that.
Solomon, however, was not finished yet.
"I doubt we shall ever meet one another again." He continued, "But if somehow we should find ourselves standing before one another in person…Then understand that you will die for the humanity you are so desperate to fight for. Contemplate the inevitability of your fate as you, once again, surrender yourself to a goal that will lead to your death."
He sharply intook.
He was back in the apartments.
Snapping his eyes left and right, he found that Ritsuka was still speaking with Siegward regarding Boudica's fate.
Not much time, if any, had passed it seemed.
Ash turned his head back to the front and stared.
Still…
"Solomon just spoke with me."
Beats of silence followed his words, so long that he thought no one had heard him.
Then the strangled gasps from behind pulled his head about and saw the many faces, ranging from confused to perplexed horror.
Ritsuka was on his feet and the apprehension was clear on his face, the way his eyes narrowed upon him how his balance shifted.
"He just spoke to berate me." Ash clarified.
The apprehension did not disappear, but it did fall slightly. "...That was all?"
Ash nodded his head. "Though he did confirm he summoned Avenger. Who had turned away from his design."
Ritsuka remained silent for some seconds.
"And that was all?"
He nodded again. "...He does not expect to see us again and has informed me that should we cross paths, he will kill me."
Straightening, his Master slowly dropped his shoulders and nodded his head. "This happened just now, right?"
"I announced it as soon as our conversation ended."
"Good…" Ritsuka breathed out, turning his head and nodding. "Good…right."
Mordred brought attention to herself with a grunt. "Are we just acting like this is normal now? Ain't Solomon our enemy and he-"
Waving a hand towards him, he could feel her frown deepening.
He found himself more troubled that he could not argue against her logic.
"-just has him on speed dial or something?"
Ritsuka raised a hand. "Not the first time this happened but if Ash had any problem, we'd have known fairly quickly…Still, this is useful."
"How?" Mordred tilted her head. "Because the two bastards we're fighting currently aren't friends with each other?"
Mash raised her head. "King Solomon seemed to have some interest in Ash-san before but…I trust Senpai and Ash-san. He did tell us, after all. Didn't need to, especially after last time."
Ash kept himself quiet and his face even.
Mordred clicked her tongue. "Whatever. Your choice."
But he saw the way her head turned onto him and felt her stare on him.
"He mentioned another."
It took him but a moment to realise he had been the one to speak, but as the group fully turned to him, he continued.
"Avenger. He spoke of another who collected grief of others, did he not? Not like myself, but the one who controlled the creature."
"He did, yes." Mash was quick to nod her head, standing up and looking at him with something akin to concern and intrigue. "Why? Do you think that they will also try to stop us as well?"
"If that was their intention, then they have failed the numerous chances they have been given."
Shiki inclined her head next, turning sharply towards Ritsuka and raising a brow at him. It was an expression that expected some sort of response from the boy, though he could not be sure what she was expecting.
Ritsuka, meanwhile, bit his lower lip and leaned forwards. His attention briefly removed from the communicator.
"Collecting grief…He talked about mourning them as well, didn't he? How they mourned for everyone. Whether they were good or bad. We haven't encountered them yet, which means that they were either with Avenger personally or they are in one of the rooms we haven't gotten around to checking out."
Shiki leaned forwards slightly, hands tucked into her pocket. "And if you meet them…?"
Her question was leading by nature.
Ritsuka shrugged. "Then we speak and see what their role in all of this is. They haven't been fighting us directly nor have they come to see us. All we've seen of them so far is the monster they have which just…arrives when a Servant dies and collects them…If Avenger's words are any indication, then this servant takes them back to mourn…"
"And then…?"
Shiki prodded further.
Ash raised a brow at her.
What was she hoping to gain with this?
Ritsuka blinked, seemingly rather bemused by her continuous questioning. "Well. We ask if they want to try and help us out. Or at the very least whether they will stand aside and let us deal with the Singularity. There's also Verndari still out there for us to find and…"
The teen drew in a breath and fell backwards, leaning against the stone wall directly behind him. Eyes closed, he raised his hand and cradled his temples.
"...Figured you would say that."
For whatever reason, Shiki looked a touch smug.
"Meh." Mordred broke the short silence with a grunt and a rough shrug of the shoulders. "As long as I get a crack at the bastard then I don't care. That punk has a serious beating coming for him if he thinks he can get away with this cloak and dagger bullshit."
Ritsuka remained silent, then pushed himself up onto his feet.
"Right. We should probably start moving out again."
"Senpai." Mash moved forwards. "It is-"
"I've rested for as long as I'm comfortable with." The interruption was gentle and far from unkind, even Ritsuka looked rather troubled with his words. "With Avenger possibly bringing more of the ghosts here and Verndari on the loose somewhere, I'm not comfortable with waiting for much longer. I can move and the aches are manageable."
Mash remained stalwart with her discomfort.
She then looked towards him, perhaps in the hope that he would say something.
He just shrugged and turned away.
If Ritsuka felt comfortable then he felt comfortable.
At the very least he looked healthier then when he started resting.
"I'll try not to push myself too hard until we get to Avenger." He could hear Ritsuka offer reassurances to Mash.
"...Alright, Senpai." The girl in question sounded rather hesitant in her acceptance, but did so all the same.
"Come on then, lets-"
"Would I might speak a request, I would travel with mine younger brother."
Ash turned very slowly towards the speaker.
Priscilla kneeled where she had been in silence for some time, but now there was a twitch in her expression. Her eyeless face turned on him and fixed him with a determined stare as best as she might have been able to manage. Though it would not be one that he could quite understand.
Unless she sought the same reason as his other family.
In which case he could operate better without having to concern himself with the forced bonds they now perceived.
"Should we encounter danger, I would not protect you." He countered swiftly. "You are safer remaining behind Ritsuka and Mash…if it is still your desire to remain with either of them."
Priscilla looked unphased by his words. "Then that is how it shall be. I neither expect nor demand protection I am not worthy of."
He twitched slightly at her words, then shifted his eyes to Ritsuka. "...Is this an order?"
Without saying a word, Ritsuka shook his head.
He knew the futility of it though.
Priscilla had phrased it as a question, but it was truly a statement of intent. She would walk beside him and was merely doing him the small courtesy of just informing him before she appeared. It was as much a warning for Ritsuka as to her behaviour as it was to him to expect that she would arrive.
Ash turned slowly until his back was to her.
"If you accept that you might die, then that is that. Only that it would trouble others if you were to perish."
"But not you."
He turned and looked over his shoulder, staring down at her mangled features for a few moments.
There was only some pathetic smile as if she saw his answer.
Without saying a word, he started to move.
Ritsuka watched Ash walk off in silence, then turned his eyes towards Priscilla and winced.
Priscilla beat him first. "Are thou worried for me or for him?"
"Both."
He answered purely by reflex.
And it was true.
"I'm not sure what you're expecting from him." Ritsuka continued very slowly, standing before her as he spoke and leaning down, extending a hand which she gently took into his own as they both started to stand up. "But…I'd just rather that no one gets hurt because of this. Either you or him."
Priscilla just kept that sad but knowing smile on her face. "I fear I can compose no promises for such things."
He was afraid of that.
"Why?"
There were a few beats of silence as he assisted Priscilla to her feet.
The taller woman made a strange expression as if she herself did not know the answer, or was confused as to why he had asked the question in the first place.
But then there was a small sigh.
"I am unsure, but I feel as though I would like to know now." Priscilla murmured, taking tentative steps forwards which he guided. "And yet I have this deep feeling I hast done him some terrible wrong that was never made amends…if this is the only time I might doth such a thing, then I hope it is within mine power to aid. Or…at least confess to him that whatever i didst was wrong."
"You can't apologise for something another version of yourself did." They were words he said without even reflex. "They are not you and you are not them. You've already admitted it as such, haven't you?"
Priscilla just nodded. "That is, indeed, true. Yet I would hope this is one grudge that can be settled."
"And if it can't?"
"...Then I shall be at peace the attempt was made even if 'twere a failure."
Ritsuka exhaled and slowly nodded his head. "Alright, if you think this is something that you have to do then…but he's not obligated to-"
Priscilla silenced him with a hand upon the shoulder. "Thou are indeed kind. For bidding thou mine father. I am sorry. 'Tis an insult thou didst not deserve."
Ritsuka met her words with silence and stepped aside, letting her stumble forwards and feel her way towards the direction of Ash.
There was something oddly graceful about her even as she blindly moved.
As for her words…
"Kind, huh?"
"Senpai?"
"Nothing." He shook his head and started walking. "Nothing at all."