Vengeful Demons wail at the Prison Tower: II
Being brought down to the infirmary having been informed that something had transpired with Ritsuka, there were many things Ash expected to see.
Indeed, he saw what he expected.
And there was much he did not expect.
This was one of them.
Neither he nor Bedric opposite him made any move the second they caught sight of one another in the hallway, Ash assumed a more neutral posture which was perfectly matched by the Lord of Cinder. Both expressions blank, they engaged in a contest of unblinking stares which lasted for more time than it truly should have done.
Ash was aware that there were many more important matters to be concerning himself with, but it was difficult to ignore what was in front of him.
He twitched, his eyes slid towards the door and then back towards the Lord of Cinder as he took the first step forwards.
Bedric matched it with his own step.
Ash moved again, Bedric copied him.
They both started to stroll onwards more confidently, aiming for the door which lay in the centre of the corridor and where their paths would intersect with one another. Or where the destination lay, he kept his attention split between the door and the Lord of Cinder. Much the same could be said of the burgundy haired man.
It was a relatively short walk before they were stood right before one another, whatever height difference there was between them did not matter much. Instead they just kept their eyes fixed on the opposite.
The door between them opened up, they turned as one and looked at the person who had welcomed them.
A brief flicker of annoyance crossed Olga's face as she looked first towards him and then towards Bedric. The annoyance and irritation only deepened as she stepped backwards and made a waving motion into the room. Choosing not to let her inner thoughts spill out, it seemed, but making them clear on her face alone.
Ash traded a glance with Bedric and was rewarded with a small but perceptible nod of the head.
Understanding was reached between them and they moved as one.
He cut just in front of the Saber, entering the room first and hearing the sharp intake of breath behind him from the movement. Ignoring it, he turned his head unto the bed which held the greatest number of denizens in the room.
Including his Grandmother and his uncle.
At least Mash was there.
Gwyndolin turned and took one look at him, face souring rather quickly before whirling on Velka with a growl. "I told you that Ser Bedric was capable of handling it-"
"And I believe that Ash is uniquely qualified for investigative measures in this matter, do you not agree?"
Whatever argument they held was shunted from his mind as he strode towards the bed, eyes narrowing further as he looked down at the boy. There was nothing visibly wrong with his appearance, he looked caught in the land of dreams. The noises were no more than background happenings by the time he came upon the bed and moved closer to Mash than anyone else in the room.
He just continued to stare down at Ritsuka.
The connection with the body remained but…
Ash thinned his lips.
Raising his hand and reaching down, he pressed his palm flat upon the chest of the teenager and kept it there, pushing just a bit further with his senses and leaning into it. A crimson glow engulfed his fingers and his palm as he pressed on the body, not too far but just enough that it would earn a reaction.
Should have earned a reaction.
But there was nothing, vaguely even a twitch.
His hand was yanked away just as suddenly, a tight grip on his wrist and he was spun around to face the rather incentivised face of Bedric. Eyes narrowed dangerously and a rather tight curl on his face. There was a definite call for violence in the expression but it remained that and that alone.
A face of warning.
Ash pulled his hand free and tilted his head.
"You saw it, did you not?"
Bedric's face slowly lost the anger and was replaced by unsettled acknowledgement. "...I did."
He admitted, then hardened his eyes once more. "Which could have been done without the attempt to thrust a dark hand into his body."
"I made an effort to touch and that alone." Ash defended rather staunchly, hardening his face into a scowl. "Had I sensed anything, I would have removed my hand from his body before any lasting damage could be done. Given you do not even know the spell save for what wraiths used for murder, I believe I am more uniquely qualified than you for how it works."
Bedric tightened his face, pulled back and folded his arms.
The sound of someone clearing their throat caught his ears, he turned his eyes and found Romani with a fist in front of his lips.
"Right…" The doctor lowered his hand. "What happened and what were you doing that had him so worked up?"
"I called upon the memory of a Dark Wraith and attempted to touch his soul."
Romani blinked once, then twice, then gaped at him. "Yo-you what?"
"Touch." Ash repeated with a pointed look at Bedric, which did nothing to cow their own face. "And nothing more…but there was nothing there to touch. His soul does not exist in his body and what remains on that table at the moment is a husk and nothing more. His essence had been lifted from him and it is meat."
He waved towards Ritsuka as he spoke, then stopped and caught the slight stiffening of Mash's shoulders, her eyes climbed to meet his own.
There was a wetness in them, the way her lip wobbled and she looked almost broken.
Ash held his face and turned from her after a moment, looking back across the room to the others.
"Why is his soul missing?"
Romani looked like he was going to answer but then stopped himself.
Olga did in his stead. "We don't know."
Ash raised a brow and Bedric, fortunately, looked away from him and looked just as dubious about the answer as he was.
"You have no leads?" The Saber inquired with a tilt of the head, lips pulled into a frown directed at none of them. "That can prove…problematic. Was there anyone who discovered his body that could shed some sunlight upon this?"
The gaze of the room fell upon Velka.
Ash did not try to be surprised by this development, he turned on her and stared.
She held her hands in surrender. "I was speaking to him and little else. Even before he darkened my doorway, he had been suffering in secret from the effects of the tower of damnation you had toured…carrying something back which I had since lifted from him, to which the doctor can attest."
"I…was there, yes." Romani supplied with a strained look. "Not that I can really claim what she did worked or not but Fujimaru-kun did at least get up and start moving around after she was done with him…though given where he is now…"
Velka frowned. "I did nothing to him that I was not requested to do. There was a curse on him which drained his strength by burdening his mind with his sins and that was all I removed from him. If there was something else tangled around him, I would have noticed and inquired about it."
She waved a hand dismissively.
"Not until he had parted from my room did he start to suffer from fatigue, he collapsed and I brought him here. So truly, unless you have some evidence which can speak certainty of my guilt, I would prefer you cease with the claims based on nothing more than personal bias."
Ash assumed that was aimed at Gwyndolin, especially from the way his Uncle looked rather sour at her words.
But he looked back at Ritsuka and frowned.
Lifting souls from humans was not a very bloodless affair in his experience.
More than that it was a clean separation, and from what Velka had inferred - if she could be believed - it had happened quickly and without anyone knowing what transpired until the very last second when it took effect. The point being that he was not aware of very many that could accomplish such a thing.
And yet there were some who could do such.
He knew from his memories that there was a few individuals who were capable of influencing souls with great experience.
"Velka might not be responsible." Ash said to the quiet room, turning on them and frowning. "We are not so lacking in enemies who would benefit from seeing Ritsuka reduced to this state."
Olga straightened, she caught on swiftly. "...You assume this to be an attack from an outside force?"
"Perhaps." Ash nodded his head slowly, then he frowned. "But the method of attack is curious. If we were to find and reclaim his soul, Ritsuka would likely recover without suffering lasting effects. Unless we assume his soul has been taken and already consumed by whatever-"
There was a wet gasp behind him, Romani was sending him a disapproving frown and shaking his head rather slowly.
"...We shall assume the young man alive." Bedric said, looking at him with pointed stare before he turned away. "Or at least that his soul is being preserved by whomever took it. If it was an effort to take his life, then there could be many ways of it being done…mayhaps this was a strategy forced by desperation?"
"Desperation indeed."
They turned to the door.
El-Melloi II strode into the room, eyes fixed on Ritsuka. "And yet there could be something more to it. I have been informed of what happened already and shall offer my own assessment on the situation…"
Stopping, the Caster looked across the room and added as an afterthought, "Speak up and correct me if I should make a mistake."
From the way he spoke, Ash doubted the man was going to make a mistake.
"Fujimaru Ritsuka returns from this attempt at making 'Hell' with some manner of curse lingering within him. To our knowledge, the Avenger who orchestrated the situation remained alive and was able to escape. During his return to Chaldea, he is afflicted with, evidently, several days worth of fatigue before we take notice."
El-Melloi II stopped and moved his hand towards his inner coat pocket, pawing away at something before it emerged empty handed. A faint grimace played on his lips, waving a hand for a moment and exhaling.
"Not commenting upon the boy's refusal to immediately flag this as a concern, one should add. Though I doubt he suspected it until the matter was truly presenting itself as something more alarming."
The man turned, then raised a single finger.
"To the original point, we shall assume this. The Avenger responsible was never slain and a part of his design remained within Fujimaru Ritsuka until it was removed. We do not know the full extent of what it was capable of or even if the supposed 'weighing down of sins' was the intent or merely a byproduct of the true nature of it."
He frowned.
"We must not forget that Avenger was, for a brief time, in league with the King of Mages. There can be no underestimating what such a man is capable of when he has the backing of one such as that, or even if the King of Mages did not take advantage of Avenger's inadvertent goal."
Ash tilted his head.
"He made it clear that we did not warrant his attention." Pointing out the words of Solomon, he assumed nothing of the man and did not doubt they spoke the truth. They had both been honest with one another in the times they had spoken. "And if he was to consider Chaldea - or even Ritsuka - a threat, then he could have interceded during any of our expeditions."
El-Melloi snapped his fingers, pointing towards Ash. "And you make a valid point. The King of Mages could likely find us right now if he considered us a threat. Clearly he does not and if he did, there would be no reason to stop at one of our Masters. There is still another that remains even without Fujimaru Ritsuka."
Olga was rubbing her brow at this point.
Bedric spoke up. "So you claim that it is the Avenger of our previous encounter who is the probable cause of this?"
El-Melloi inclined his head towards the Saber. "Given what Fujimaru Ritsuka had been suffering from and the nature of the distortion, we can make assumptions but we lack concrete proof. Committing ourselves to nothing more than a convenient answer will reward us with a fumbled plan at best."
Hands slipped into his pockets, the Caster stepped forwards with narrowed eyes.
"...I believe that Avenger is intrinsically linked with what has become of Fujimaru, but whether he is the cause is an entirely different matter."
Caster frowned deeper still, brows pinched.
"It could well be the King of Mages took advantage of what remained behind or perhaps did not even realise what was happening. No different than one would set up an electric fly trap and then have it accidentally kill a bug. There is no physical effort required on your part and you do not even realise what is going on."
That sounded like Solomon, if Ash was asked his opinion.
"Amusing as this game of pointing fingers might be," Uncle drawled with a rather unsatisfied face. "it does nothing to change the simple fact that Ritsuka is still lying on that bed without a single feasible option to lift his soul back to his body. What good does it do us to understand who was responsible for it?"
El-Melloi flicked his eyes, then shook his head.
"Lord Gwyndolin, if I might interject." Bedric stepped to Uncle with a hand raised. "I believe that Baron-" El-Melloi mouthed the word "-Melloi is supposing that if we can discern the one behind the assault, we can determine their motivation, it would aid us in understanding if there is a chance for the young man to return to us."
Uncle frowned but said nothing, Ash assumed him satisfied with the words of his sworn knight.
He glanced the way of the door as other Casters entered very slowly, but he doubted many of them would be able to render much aid.
But there was something else.
Something that occurred to him.
He turned towards Olga.
"The armour."
She blinked and looked at him, brows furrowed and confused. "What?"
"The armour which is linked with you." He went further. "It has no soul of its own and is nothing more than memories."
Olga kept silent and looked at him without comprehension.
"It takes after you because your minds are linked."
More silence.
El-Melloi rose up, eyes flashing to him and suddenly filled with some emotion he could not quite discern.
"Are you suggesting a temporary contract transference?"
Ash nodded his head.
El-Melloi pursed his lips. "I am hesitant to say such a thing is possible, but if nothing else then the memories of the armour would flow through the link and perhaps follow Fujimaru to wherever he currently resides."
"Wait, what?" Olga made a noise, now understanding what he had been implying. "How could that work, his soul has apparently already left his body? Even if Stahl could somehow make a journey, what good would it do?"
El-Melloi II looked down at her and put on a face, opening his mouth and then closing it after a few moments.
"Think, Lord Animusphere." El-Melloi II urged her with some strange note to his words, eyes narrowed but in thought alone. "Neither the armour nor Fujimaru have a true soul. One has a spirit core and is composed of memories. It would flow to where those memories reside when it makes a link."
Olga made a face, then she stopped.
Eyes wide she looked right towards Ritsuka.
"...The soul houses the records of the body." She said slowly, in an almost hushed tone. "The body is empty, so the spirit can't form a contract with the body. It would flow immediately to where the souls reside to form the link because it's…its a terminal."
El-Melloi said nothing, but there was a slow bobbing of his head as he watched her.
Olga paced, hands on her chin and moving her fingers to her teeth before drawing them away.
"They are different from traditional Servants because they're memories given form and seem to link with memories. Other Servants are records unto themselves but Stahl, builds from a template. Copies from the blueprints and the blueprints aren't here…"
Stopping, she turned on El-Melloi II.
"...Would it work?"
The man remained stone faced, then inclined his head. "There is precious little that can be lost in the effort."
Olga's face cycled through several emotions, then she dropped her shoulders and shook her head.
"No. I suppose there is not."
Her eyes came up, shining with determination.
"Romani!" She barked out, the doctor snapped to attention. "Get Da Vinci down here and tell her to prepare for a contract transfer!"
"R-right!" Romani scrambled away and towards the monitor behind him.
Ash watched Olga for a moment, as she turned towards him and inclined her head.
"...Good idea."
Ash grunted. "It has not worked yet."
And he did not know it was going to work either.
Ritsuka strained against the door, putting his entire weight into pushing it.
He was hardly surprised when the door did not immediately give way, it was making him work for every inch. Every loud, groaning, inch of space he won felt as though it was quite literally reaching into his body - or soul? - and just dragging away whatever strength it could get for him to force the doors open.
It held the appearance of some cast iron gate and if it looked as such, it weighed about that as well.
And Avenger?
Avenger was just content to watch him, the silent eyes of the Servant burning holes in the back of his head as grunts of exertion forced their way out from between his teeth.
Ritsuka stopped and drew air into his lungs, or perhaps mimicked the sensation of doing so. He tried not to think about how real any of this was all too hard, then pushed forwards once more. The resistance of the door gave way, the gap where the two slabs of metal joined together grew wider with the next push.
Once more, the creaking and groaning sound of metal met his ears and Ritsuka pushed his fingers through the gap and curled them around the frame. Pulling in one more sharp intake before pushing with all his might and hearing the final screeching of the door against his strength.
The resistance grew lesser, the rattling groans of the door lengthened and he stomped forwards and through the gap as it was finally wide enough for him to enter.
He panted once, standing up straight and glancing around.
Hall of Judgement indeed, it was certainly wider than his prison cell had been.
And it did look like some sort of hall, or a gathering spot. A big circular expanse which covered at least two large rooms? He was basing this off the command centre of Chaldea. He could likely run a circuit in this place before he started to feel it, but he squinted all the harder at the torches which lined the walls at regular intervals.
The hall was brighter than what lay behind him.
Flickers of light produced roaming shadows across the ground and underfoot, he glanced down at his own distorted shadow as it writhed back and forth from whatever lighting was behind him. Except he wasn't quite sure that was how shadows worked in the first place.
He distanced himself from that thought and looked back up-
The screech of the door had him jolt, whirling around from the sudden noise.
Avenger pushed one of the doors open without showing the same level of strain he did, rather he opened it as though it was just an ordinary door, and then just walked in side with only a side-eye as a note of acknowledgement. Ritsuka wasn't sure if he was supposed to take that as challenging, mocking or even appraising.
Instead he just lowered his arms and looked around the room.
Nothing seemed to happen, and he wasn't truly sure what he was supposed to have been expecting.
Though he did look up, frowning at the strange nature of the blackness over his head.
As though the light would not penetrate whatever was above him, leaving only some painted darkness from which rusted chains and manacles fell down as if vines from a forest. He felt a mild temptation to lean in and pull on one of them, if only to see what would happen, but he quickly thought better of doing that.
Especially because he could not see where they were joined too.
And he felt more like a fish staring at a fishhook.
"...This is the first Hall, then?" He spoke after a moment, his voice echoed louder than he thought it would have done.
It cemented a feeling of isolation within him.
Avenger hummed and said nothing, stepping back and looking towards him with some sort of scrutiny in his eyes. Like he was just patiently waiting for something to happen and seeing what sort of reaction he would make at it.
The anticipation of the man made him feel more on edge.
But he figured he wouldn't get very far if he stood here and did nothing.
Taking a step forwards-
"This place will try to kill you."
Ritsuka stopped and turned, looking at Avenger and meeting their eyes.
"That is the single truth that you should hold in your heart." Avenger continued on. "If you should falter, you shall die. Regardless of whatever notions of peace you hold so dear, cling to this single truth. Your very life shall depend upon it. You must burn or you, in turn, shall be burned for hesitation."
He was reminded of some very old quote by someone.
"...We'll see." Ritsuka said instead, watching Avenger for a moment but unable to put the words from his mind.
Or dismiss them at all.
Fight and win or don't fight and die.
He would be lying if he said he did not find the whole ordeal to be unpleasant, but time would tell.
Though he really, truly, hoped that Avenger was wrong.
He stepped forwards into the room, the clack of his shoes serving as his companion, as he moved closer and closer to the centre. Eyes dancing all around him, the darkness above to the shadows upon every wall. There was little sign of anything else and the unease only built up stronger and stronger within him.
By the time his feet had carried him to the centre, his hands were half raised in some sort of posture.
Really, it just felt more comfortable to have them raised than to have them lowered down by his side, legs half prepared to send him sprinting in whatever direction he needed to run in case whatever happened just decided to happen.
Ritsuka stopped.
His eyes slowly turned left.
There was heat, it fell upon him in waves.
A sort of humid heat which was accompanied by a faint whooshing sound, he rolled his jaw and turned ever so slightly towards the noise and stared into the corner of the hall. Just near one of the torches where the light abruptly went out, plunging that side of the room into total darkness.
Though…it was not quite dark.
A single light burned from within the shadows.
It was a brilliant red, glowing like a gem.
Ruby red, he figured.
It seemed to fixate on him like an eye in the darkness, he took a half step back as the whooshing noise grew louder before it cut short and the heat receded in the opposite direction. There was a grinding sound, a scraping of something hard against stone and the crimson diamond rose up from its position.
He tracked the ascension until it was towering above him, Ritsuka felt his throat go more than a little dry as he stared at the shape.
A slight rise and then a fall of the eye, a shudder ran under his feet.
Then another with a similar rise and fall.
Ritsuka held his ground, tongue darting out to wet his rapidly drying lips as the eye moved closer and closer, the blackness seemed to stride towards him in a similar fashion to the shadow monsters from earlier, except this was different.
There was no shadow, instead it was as if the blackness took on a solid shape.
Emerging as though it sprang from water, he found his eyes first taken in by the head shaped like a spear or perhaps an arrow, the pointed features and then his eyes widened as he saw the rest of the figure. A great spreading of wings - like those of a bat - extended and pulled out of the darkness behind the muscular form.
And it was indeed a rather intimidating form, easily taller than him by a good margin and perhaps taller than the tallest in Chaldea, he figured.
Another shaking step drew the shape completely from the murky black.
Ritsuka found himself stumped.
He…he knew this shape, didn't he?
Or at least he knew the design of the armour, even if it was a completely different colour to the one he was familiar with…
A Black dragon...with an eye on the forehead?
"...Kalameet?"
Kalameet did not respond as he stepped into the light, bathed completely in the flicker of the torches. A single huff and a sudden movement behind him drew Ritsuka's eyes, the sweeping tail which dragged along the ground and curled behind him, the wings that folded back and nestled themself around him like some sort of mantle.
Except it looked far from relaxed to him.
Ritsuka felt his hackles rise, turning his eyes sharply towards Avenger as he remembered their words from earlier.
Avenger, who just met his gaze with nothing more than a tilt of the head and a smile which just screamed that he knew what was going on here.
"No." Ritsuka declared, lowering his hands and clenching them into fists. "No, I'm not playing whatever sick game you think is-"
"Game."
Avenger's voice was flat, but his eyes were disapproving. "You trick yourself with such words, it would do you well to heed my warning. Everything in this hall and beyond, every image that exists in this tower, shall aim to take your life. This figure is no exception. Rather, they are the first true challenge-"
"No!"
Ritsuka all but roared at him, straightening himself up.
"No…"
Quieter, he repeated and clenched his jaw.
"...No. No, because you did this last time, didn't you!"
He slashed a hand through the air.
"Alright? I know it takes me a while to get things! I've been told I don't really act fast enough but not now! Because I know what you're doing because it's what you did last time. Does it make you laugh? Are you enjoying yourself by watching me fight people like him-"
He pointed in the vague direction of Kalameet.
"People that I happen to like on the say-so of someone who has outright said it is their mission to see me tortured here. So no. Whatever this is, whatever you think you're doing, I'm not going to fall for-"
Ritsuka felt his words trail away as he stared at the face of Avenger, and of the smile which had been steadily growing on his face. There was something about the way the Servant was grinning that was making him feel uneasy, as if he was making a fool out of himself.
Their eyes turned from him, to somewhere just over his shoulder.
He tensed.
Heat washed down his back and over the top of his head, he very slowly turned back around and gazed upwards.
Kalameet cast a shadow upon him, tall form blotting out the torches behind him. Ritsuka fought back a desire to swallow his fear and instead remained where he stood. Eyes tracking the wings on Kalameet's back as they slowly started to unfurl, then he found his gaze drawn back to the pointed head.
A large hand rose up, rather slowly, and then lowered itself onto him.
Clawed fingers pinched his collar together and gave a faint tug, strong enough to drag him but not quite enough to tear. Ritsuka stumbled for a moment, a sense of confusion ran through him at the rough treatment, eyes flicking to the hand on his collar and then to the face of the dragon, the gaze no longer on him.
"Kalameet?" There was no response, it only made the unease grow. "Kalameet? What are you-?"
"It's impressive, isn't it?" The words were a murmur, but even that mere slip of the tongue was still loud enough to be heard across the room. Kalameet tilted his head very slowly. "The lengths humans have managed to achieve. Clothes such as these…even clothes as they are…All so impressive, aren't they?"
His brows pinched. "Clothes? Wha-"
"So why…"
The fingers pulled tighter, Ritsuka felt his feet stumble under him as he was suddenly dragged forwards, the grip on his collar transitioned into a balled up fist. His eyes snapped down, hands flying up to the grip and pushing away at the wrist, an unconscious act but he was feeling more alarmed as the seconds ticked past.
"...Why?" Kalameet spoke louder, a growl reverberating in his words. "Why is it that you can have such things? Why are you allowed them but we are not? What makes you so special as to deserve such things?!"
The fist pulled upwards, Ritsuka widened his eyes as the tips of his toes scraped over the stone.
"Kalameet? What are you-"
His words cut off in a gasp as he was lifted off the floor entirely, the fist around his collar started to cut into his neck. His pawing at the arm holding him only intensified.
"Why is everything always about humans?!" Kalameet was snarling at him now, Ritsuka's eyes were drawn to the flash of colour - the yellow flames - which poured from his mouth with each word spat. "Always, always, always humans! Everything comes back to all of you, no matter what!? So why do you get everything and we get nothing? Why do my people get nothing?!"
Ritsuka froze as the dragon glared at him, the other hand was being pulled back.
He looked at it, eyes widening as his scrambling grew more frantic.
"Kalameet, wait! This isn't you-!"
It had to be Avenger.
Because of course it was.
Just like that hell he made before, it was just drawing up all the feelings of-
"No, it's you!" Kalameet roared, the hand not holding him burst to life with a brilliant haze of mustard fire.
"Always you! Everything is always you! So why can't I have any of it?! We aren't I allowed any of it!? Why?! Why?! Why!?"
Ritsuka watched the flames rush towards his face, his eyes closed on instinct.
A rush of wind beat against him, a grunt of pain and a sharp pull at his back and his eyes flew wide, watching the room blur around him and a strange lack of pain. It was a moment of rather unpleasant vertigo before he slowed to a half and felt the sharp tug at his back once more, staring across the room at the haze of blue fire.
It shrouded the black form of Kalameet, but he could see the wings beating furiously, a furious roar bounced off the balls all around, he saw the chains rattle above his head and felt the shock of it in his bones. His body locked up on instinct.
Then he was yanked again, moving and barely catching a glimpse of the yellow comet before it shot past him, a burst of debris and a cloud of smoke was thrown into the room, Ritsuka coughed out dust and struggled in the grip, feeling it go slack and then he was falling backwards, landing on his backside and scrambling up to his feet.
Coughing more, he felt the dust down his throat, and spitting out what he could.
The shadow closest to him stepped forwards, he turned and saw Avenger quickly.
Head tilted and face set in a minute smile but nothing else.
"You would have perished had I not intervened." There was a cold bluntness to his words. "Shall you argue with me further, shall you declare yourself unwilling to play this 'game' which you accuse me of setting in motion? Regardless of whether I am the one who is responsible or not-"
The roar sounded out once more, Ritsuka slammed his hands over his ears as a shockwave nearly threw him to the ground.
It was akin to a rough shove, he stumbled backwards and pulled his hands away from the side of his head - the ringing kicked in - and flapped them around to keep his balance from what felt like a hurricane. He looked across to see the vortex of dust thrown up and banished across all corners of the hall.
Kalameet wrenched a burning fist out of brick, casting rubble to the ground and dragging a molten claw slash across it.
The diamond eye found him and burned with a single clear desire.
Ritsuka gulped and took a step backwards.
Kalameet's hands formed fists and he could hear it, hear the crackle of bones as the knuckles of the dragon popped and the weight shifted from one side to the other. The tail which beat across the stone floor and left indentations with each slap.
"Kuhahahaha!" By comparison, the once boisterous and booming laughter of Avenger felt like nothing compared to it now. "Do you see his fury? His envy? Humans have stolen what he desires and he sees it with each instance he gazes upon you, the life that you lead and the life that he believes he deserves for his people?! Such a righteous envy indeed! Truly, he has become a human for such things already!"
Shoulders rolled, wings arched back, flames drooled from the mouth of the speared head.
Ritsuka stepped back once more, opening up to try and reason with the Berserker, to try and get them to understand that-
"This is no creation of mine."
His jaw snapped shut at that, he dared not tear his eyes from the dragon and instead shifted his ears to the Avenger, but it felt as though everything was moving much too quickly for him to even try to get an argument out of.
"And I have no control here." Avenger warned. "I have spoken only truth. Should you fail to defend yourself, he will kill you…What, then, shall you do, Master of Chaldea? This is the path forwards…is your freedom worth so little that you shall stand here and offer up your own life rather than bloody your hands?"
Ritsuka clenched his fists.
Drawing in sharper and sharper breaths.
Kalameet twisted side on, hunching his body forwards.
Ritsuka could see the tension in the posture, see the movement in his minds eye where the wings could clap and suddenly those claws would be tearing into him. The realisation was cold and numbing.
Kalameet was going to kill him if he didn't do anything.
He couldn't draw help from Chaldea-
"Well?!" Avenger raised his voice, pressuring him. "What shall you do, Master of Chaldea? Faced with a foe who wishes only for your blood to be spilled, what is your desire!? What is your intention?! Tell me! Shout it loud so that all in the depths of this Hell shall know your intentions clear!"
The words slipped out before he had time to register them.
Because it was a single primal thing.
If he did nothing then he was going to die.
And he didn't want to die.
Anything but dying.
"I'll fight!"
They were blurted out loud enough to turn the room silent, he did not even realise he had said anything for a moment or two.
"Excellent!"
Avenger answered him before he could realise what was happening, a solid grip took his shoulder and Ritsuka was suddenly halfway across the room once more, sliding to a halt as the hand removed itself from his shoulder, the shockwave of an attack slammed into him, arms raised he buckled under the weight of the aftermath, lowering his hands as Kalameet turned from the cratered wall where he had stood moments before.
Footsteps met his ears, Ritsuka turned.
With an echoing advance, Avenger strode past him and brought his hands out from beneath his cloak, a wide and sharp grin spread across his face. Burst of blue flame engulfed his clawed palms, Avenger hunched forwards in a position almost mirroring Kalameets.
"Then take my hand, Master!" Avenger called back to him. "And we shall show this black dragon - this creature of calamity - a true dance of death!"
He could feel it in his nerves, the formation of a contract with the Servant beside him.
The only contract he could truly feel, something that had been missing but he never quite noticed until now.
Command seals flared red across the back of his hand, he spared them a brief glance at best before raising his eyes up once more and meeting the diamond eye of the dragon, watching as they turned on him once more, hands aflame with a brilliant and deadly yellow haze of heat.
His throat ran dry, but through cracked lips he echoed out his words.
"...Alright then." Ritsuka stepped forwards and right beside Avenger, looking Kalameet dead in the eyes and searching for any sign of recognition or hesitation. For any hint of the Berserker who had sat with him for nearly an hour trying to come up with a valentines gift for the Director.
He searched.
And found nothing.
"If that is how it is…"
Ritsuka clenched his hands into fists.
"...Then that's how it is. Avenger?" He saw only a twitch of the head in response. "Get ready."
Avenger only laughed, as though somehow pleased with what he was hearing, but Ritsuka barely noticed that laughter now. All he could feel was some cold sense of numbness seep into him as he knew - this time - he was doing it for himself. Whether Avenger was responsible for it or not…
…Whether this was truly Kalameet in the first place or not…
None of it mattered.
Because he wanted to live.
'He'll charge me.' Ritsuka sent the message through the mind and he was truly putting his life into the hands of Avenger here. Feeling acknowledgement through the link. 'When he does, I'm going to reposition you and you're going to have not a lot of time.'
'Then with those precious seconds you secure, we shall land our devastating blow.'
Ritsuka moved out from behind Avenger and started to flank around, putting distance between himself and Avenger. Just enough that it would draw the eye of Kalameet but if he fought anything like the Kalameet that he knew, the Kalameet that he had seen Olga fight, then he knew how to bait them.
Slamming a fist into his chest, he beat it twice and called out.
"Come on!" He bellowed, voice cracking ever so slightly, wetting his lips once more. "Don't you want to fight a human-"
'Emergency Evasion!'
It was a minute twitch which triggered the command and it proved to be more than enough for him. In the mere instant he had seen the twitch, Kalameet had gone from being across the room to being poised to blast his head clean off his shoulders with a punch.
Avenger flashed into being right beside him, right over his shoulder, and he saw the moment Kalameet's eyes moved from him to the Servant behind him.
Burning heat lanced over his shoulder, striking Kalameet's fist as he dove to the side, Avenger laughed as he charged forwards and right into close quarters.
Ritsuka hit the ground on his shoulder, rolling forwards and sliding to a stop, twisting onto his front and scrambling to his feet, he charged forwards and looked through the flashes of blue and yellow, spotting the blurred shapes of Kalameet and Avenger fighting one another, the larger Berserker chasing him down.
It was a stream of blue, yellow and black which rocketed around him, forcing him down to cover his head.
But it was all moving too fast for him to catch up on, too fast and too enclosed.
He needed a way too-
His eyes shot up to the rattle above his head, eyes catching on the chains dangling down from the darkness as they were flung under the tidal force winds.
Ritsuka felt the beginning of a plan in his mind, he quickly clambered to his feet, rushing to the closest one and snatching it, giving a single hard tug to see if anything would happen to it.
Nothing, it held firm.
He eyed the loose manacle before glancing to the blurring comets.
"Hahahahahaha!"
The laughter spilled from between his lips as he raced through the air, throwing himself backwards and thrusting his hands forwards.
Lances of his flames surged to meet their opposite.
And indeed, they were met by flames of equal curse, he could see the way they were bathed with the power of a malignant soul. Perhaps few others could see the taint in those flames, but he could see them clearly.
The rot of those yellow and black flames was so clear to him it was as though he was staring down through a spring stream.
Landing, he launched himself away once more and avoided the falling strike of his foe, their arm buried to the elbow in the stone before tearing free, unleashing a pillar of fire as they removed it. Sweeping their arm and hurling molten rock and stone in all directions, his mind flew to that of his Master as he saw the haze approach him.
Diving to a space not far from them, he swung his arm up and slashed a wall of flames just as swiftly to act as a barrier. The flames scorched all that would have threatened his temporary Master - through nothing more than coincidence than design - and he felt the heat approach.
Coiling his arms back, he threw them forwards and slung forth his largest stream of flames yet.
The yellow fires split down the middle, spreading either side of him and scorching the walls as he held firm. His feet scraped against stone as he was pushed back a mere few inches.
Avenger could only feel another laugh spill out from his lips at the weight this one held with his fire. It was such a cursed union that he could not help but find the sight all too amusing, with such a deep and childlike envy that it was impossible not to laugh at the sight and the strength in such a conviction.
Indeed, this one was a worthy contender for envy.
And yet they were far, far too innocent to ever be worthy of such a place.
Though that was none of Avenger's business at the moment.
He pulled his hands aside, tearing the flames asunder and drowning them out in smoke and ash-
'Avenger.' His Masters voice rang clear through his mind. 'Lead him back to me. I have a plan.'
And such a plan it was as the explanation flooded his mind.
Throwing back his head, a laugh emerged once more as he lowered his eyes down at the sight of movement. The avatar of envy charged towards him with his wings carrying him forth at even greater speeds. Avenger turned and ran in the opposite direction, moving right towards his Master.
A burst of speed launched him towards the youth, hand thrusting forth and snatching the dangling chain from his grasp, cutting his momentum and sliding on his feel, pivoting around and spying the fist thrown towards him.
Yanking the chain just a bit more, he engulfed it in his flames, they clung to the metal so tightly it was as though they had always been one.
Then he charged towards the Berserker and gripped just above the newly formed noose in the chains, the fist closed in on his face. Avenger ducked at the last moment, throwing the noose up in his place and watching as the arm passed cleanly through the hole, sliding right up to the elbow before the momentum caught it.
The dragon grunted, abruptly pulled backwards and almost knocked flat on their mack.
Avenger spun around, kicking off the ground and leaping into the air and turning, throwing his fist down and slamming a burning punch directly into the centre eye before it could catch him in its cursed gaze. Flesh boiled and popped, a snarl of rage was accompanied by a howl of pure fire.
He kicked, throwing himself away as the dragon pulled, shattering the chain links in the process and freeing himself.
Yet he could spy his Master in the corner of his gaze, throwing another noosed chain towards him.
Avenger cackled, charging across the ground and lashing out, driving a kick into the upper thigh and earning a grunt of pain, he dove past and snatched the next chain and chose a different target this time. Leaping up and above a tail sweep, he hit the back of the dragon and swung the noose down.
He used his free hand, folding the right wing against its will and forcing it through the gap of the noose - widening it just enough - and then yanking it tight and pressing it against flesh. Once more, his burning flames embraced the metal and in turn, they embraced the thin flesh as well.
With another bellowing roar, the dragon snarled, and yanked forwards, freeing himself but in doing so, cutting deep into the wing and flexing it revealed the scorched and torn membrane which would have connected it together.
Avenger flipped through the air and upwards, the sights of the dragon set themselves on a new target.
One that stood firm, but not from shock or terror.
He glimpsed the face of the youth and he saw only determination.
The cold understanding of survival.
Yes, Avenger thought to himself, this boy might just have what it takes to escape if he did not lose sight of that strength.
For at times, that was what it was called for.
But that was for later, he dove down as fast as he could - becoming nothing more than a burning flash of light - and tackled the Master as gently as he could manage it out of the path of the dragon. The blow landed a moment later in the spot they had been, but Avenger sensed something else.
The great swirl of power directly behind them both.
So he jumped up into the great darkness above them and turned to gaze down.
A carpet of fire blanketed the entire hall right under their feet, with such intensity that he could feel the flames as though they were beside his skin. For all the seconds the moment remained, Berserker stood in the centre of the inferno with his head upturned towards them, glaring, and his Master only had the barest hint of a gasp.
Yet that was all.
His Master shook himself free of the hold, Avenger did not try to catch him, and instead he watched as the boy leaped towards the nearest chain and caught it in his hands, jolting as he swung across the room with it right the way to the other side. The sight brought a mocking laugh from him at the almost primitive display, he matched it and clasped his hands around the nearest shackles.
Rolling his arm across the length of chain and holding himself in the air above the inferno below, he did not doubt the ground would be like magma before they landed.
Flames flared in his open palm, he swung forth and unleashed a beam towards Berserker, he countered swiftly, folding his injured wing over his body and absorbing the blast with a grunt, flicking the damaged limb and parrying the remains of the blue fire across the room before catapulting himself up-
'Emergency Evasion.'
Avenger was already halfway across the room by the time he struck, the swift movement preventing him from suffering damage as he fell backwards, thrusting his hands forth in rapid succession with each one delivering a painful bolt of light to the dragons back, the force throwing them into a spin and into the wall.
He fell down, turning and spinning around, hands held up and then swinging down towards the earth. A stream of flames leapt from him, striking the mustard yellow and the true nature of his fires won through.
For they were the flames that could burn even the souls of immortals.
And that malignant darkness in the heart of those twisted yellow fires was born of humanity, a strength of an eternal soul if only in part, and they were nothing more than fuel for his own hatred.
Avenger cleared a landing point for himself, hitting the ground and whirling about, dropping and sweeping a kick as he did so, training behind his movement an arcing wheel of flames which spread over his opponent, the two fought and burned one another, each desperate to claim the domain.
Kalameet struck the ground with a crash.
Even if he had not seen such a thing, he would have heard it.
Felt it.
The dragon charged him, flames pooling around his hands and forming the shape of twisted black swords. One for each palm and both as long as he was tall. A roar split the air, fanning the flames with its strength, and clearing the distance with a single powerful leap.
Avenger did not wait to catch the blow, instead he dove forwards and right under the shadow, rolling across the ground and sweeping about.
'Block!'
His Master must have seen what would happen and in the instant it did, Avenger could see it to, the warning spurred him into action before his mind caught up with him. He spun on his heel and brought up his arms, holding them over his chest and guarding his body.
The tail whipped about and lashed into him with a crack, his teeth grit and his jaw clenched as he skated backwards over boiling stone and felt the numbness of the blow. Another warning from his Master, he ducked something flashed past overhead, striking the wall behind him with a crash.
His eyes darted up, meeting the gaze of the dragon and spotting them holding only a single sword now.
Avenger countered with a series of jabs, each one hurling flames and azure across the room.
The dragon charged right into his attacks, making little effort to block or even parry them, save for the last which they threw the sword into the path of, splitting the beam down the middle and thrusting towards him.
Avenger fell back into a roll, the sword past right over the tip of his nose.
He rolled across the ground, hearing the crunch of stone as the dragon tried to stomp him down, eventually pressing off and back to his feet, just in time to spot the tail whipping around towards him again.
'Momentary reinforcement!'
With a grin splitting his face, he felt power surge through him with a clear intention shared to him.
Clawing his hand, he thrust towards the tail and speared his fingers through solid plate, the flames burned a path inside and he held firm. The dragon let out a snarl and pulled backwards, Avenger kicked off the ground and flipped over the tail to the other side, sawing at the limb as he did so and winding back his right hand.
He wrapped his arms around the tail and pulled, tearing away at the mangled point of entry and feeling the resistance snap.
The tail was ripped clean off the dragon, Avenger turned and gripped it with both hands, turning and ducking under the counter slash - it was more akin to the blind flailing of a beast in pain - and swinging the tail in his hands like a club. It connected with the lower jaw with a thud, he saw the head snap and witnessed the dazed confusion.
'Throw the tail at him and go for the legs.'
And Avenger did just that.
He launched the tail at the dragons head and ducked down, Kalameet flinched and bat the tail aside, but it stole his attention for long enough.
Avenger slammed a burning palm into the upper thigh and unleashed his strongest burst yet, pooling all of it - feeling all the rage the dragon was directing to him - and throwing it right back at them. A hole lanced clean through the leg and he jumped away, Kalameet roared and dropped the second sword to the ground, hand falling to the wounded leg.
Spreading a cloak of fire, he blinded the beast and obscured himself from vision.
'Emergency evasion.'
Avenger felt his Master start to tire from such rapid uses of his powers, though they were all rather well timed, and knew this fight would need to be ended soon. Finding himself teleported into the air right above the dragon, the dropped down and clasped his hands over his head in a joint fist.
The Berserker had barely started to raise his head before the punch connected, cracking down against the skull with a rather sickening pop, he could see bone shatter and break away as his feet touched the ground right in front of them, the Berserker jerked and stumbled back.
He pulled his right arm back, flames embracing his hand, and threw it forwards.
Striking the heart, he watched his knuckles crack the plates of bone.
Another strike was delivered to the same spot and more fractures spread out, he saw some sense of coherence in the eyes of the dragon.
'Upper arm.'
As with the thigh, he spotted the shoulder and released a devastating series of blasts against the limb and amazingly the dragon weathered them all, even as the already blackened plates were being reduced to ash, the beast would not give him anything less than what he was working hard for.
Gasping, a punch smashed his ribs and he felt them crack.
'Healing.'
Relief spread through him a moment later, then a shout from above and behind.
"Oi!"
Avenger did not wish to look, but he turned just enough to see what was going on.
He was greeted by the rather incredible - and equally foolish - sight of his Master swinging away from the chains and dropping down towards them, almost as though he intended to try and deliver a blow to the dragon himself. It certainly seemed as such from the way he was falling with such a fierce scowl.
Yet he saw the intention clearly.
Especially as the eyes of the dragon turned from him for a brief moment.
But something shifted in the world.
Something different.
"O'World Unmade!"
It was the activation of a Noble Phantasm, yet the results did not present themselves in any capacity he understood, but he ignored that and instead moved for his Master who was dropping down from above.
Except he was slow?
He should have cleared the distance in a mere heartbeat, but did not.
His Master dropped faster, crashing down and delivering a falling elbow to the side of the Dragon's head. Something that should have done nothing to a Servant - less than nothing at that - but instead he watched the impossible.
A grunt of acknowledgement slipped from the dragon's maw, it shifted back with the weight of the falling body as his Master hit the ground in a slump. Rising up just as quickly and holding his arms out in a block.
He received a punch to them which somehow failed to turn his upper body into paste.
Though Avenger did not understand what transpired, he could guess what was happening.
Some manner of equalising field was established, the formation of fair fighting conditions.
His Master had gambled on that being activated, had he?
A most reckless ploy if ever there was one, but Avenger could work with it.
With a smirk he rushed towards the dragon as their eyes darted from the stumbling Master and then onto him, lunging from below and delivering an uppercut to their throat.
Kalameet lurched back with a strangled gasp.
With his other hand, he shoved his Master further back and outside of whatever was happening to them, he could feel the second something snapped back. The return of something he had not even noticed he had missed.
He spied the flames of yellow shift back through the mouth of Kalameet and knew the world had changed once more, the strength had shifted as it was them all over again.
With a final bellowing shout, he launched a punch right into the damaged part - right above the spirit core - and broke through the bone with an explosion of sapphire blue. The saw light flared along the wall right behind the dragon and spread out across it before fading away.
He ripped his hand free and jumped back, snatching his Master as he did so, and retreating to the other side of the room.
The moment they stopped moving, it was as though there had never been a sound in the room.
Ritsuka wavered on his feet, but did not take his eyes away from the sight of Kalameet.
They stood there, eyes fixed on him, with a hole burned clean through their chest.
"How unfortunate you are, fierce beast."
Avenger broke the silence, his words loud but…there was something in them.
"How truly unfortunate for you, in your envy of man you have inadvertently become them. So willing to kill to take what you believe is rightfully yours. Your envy has turned you to that which you desire."
Kalameet said nothing, drawing in a single solitary wheeze.
Ritsuka shuddered at the noise.
"Château d'If is not the place for one such as you." He declared with a sweeping motion of the hand, it almost looked to Ritsuka as though he was trying to shoo the Servant away. "It is for those who are complete in their design, for those who understand themselves as they commit to their desires…You envy what you do not understand. There is no place in prison for one who cannot understand the weight of crime."
Kalameet stumbled from the wall, dragging his feet as he moved closer.
Ritsuka should have been on edge but there was a lethargy to his movements, not even because of his wounds.
He just looked…small…
"The weight of crime…" Murmuring, the dragon tilted his head. "...is this what it feels like to be human? To want so bad…you shall kill for it? I see…but in the end it would not gain me anything…would it…how…"
He dropped down, landing on his knees.
"...I do not believe I like such a thing…it is far too…hollow…"
Avenger moved past him, then turned ever so slightly.
"I have shattered his spirit core and he has little time left. What shall you do, Master? This is the one who exists as little more than a hideous envy."
Hideous?
Was that how Avenger saw it?
Ritsuka turned and looked down at the Servant, at Kalameet, with unblinking eyes.
What could he even say?
"...I don't think your envy is wrong." Ritsuka found himself muttering after a moment. "But I don't think it's fair to take it out on people."
Kalameet rumbled a noise.
"Fair…" With a tilted head, glazed over eyes found Ritsuka's own. "...is anything ever fair?"
"No."
Avenger cut in, voice quieter.
"It is not."
He stalked forwards, but kept a distance from the dragon, then dropped down to one knee before them.
"I have seen the truth of your ugliness, of that swirling envy that exists in you, and as you perish I shall carry it forth with me. Until nothing of my essence remains, I shall never forget this display."
He rose back up.
"This is a Hell that reflects only the truth of humanity…That you were welcomed into its ranks is cause enough for you to be proud."
Kalameet sucked in a breath, then dropped forwards.
His body was gone before it even touched the ground, plunging them into silence once more.
Ritsuka stared at the spot where he died.
He said nothing and neither did Avenger, not for a moment.
Ritsuka turned over his hand and stared at his palm.
It trembled.
He doesn't know where he is.
He doesn't know how he got here.
This place is strange.
It is wrong.
It is a prison.
But there is something here.
Something here that he…
…Something calls to him.