079 - Sunset of the Third Day

Olga Marie Animusphere

With the Singularity suddenly collapsing around them after Lev– after Flauros' ominous words, there wasn't much time for farewells. Chaldea's protocol clearly states that Rayshifting back to base as soon as the Singularity starts collapsing is the main priority and Olga couldn't justify changing that just because she was feeling emotional.

That didn't keep her from immediately barreling into the command room to observe the last moments of the Singularity and confirm that Tohsaka-senpai and the rest of the Re'em cultists would be fine. It was one thing to leave behind the people of the Singularity -there was nothing that could be done about that- but the Re'em cultists have already shown they can persist beyond a Singularity collapse and that technically gives her all the excuses she needs to justify direct observation.

And that's without considering Elizabeth and Marie, who she practically considers a part of Chaldea after fighting at their side through two whole Singularities.

The instruments managed to track them all the way back to Rome's Imperial Palace, where the entire group stands before the archway leading into the Emiya Household except for Tohsaka-senpai who presumably is inside. As expected, the sensors can't penetrate the extravagantly well-protected residence, but Olga can still observe them as long as they stand outside.

The Divine Spirit Stheno and Crimson Assassin are having a bit of an argument on whether being the only Servants to survive all the way to the end automatically makes them the best or it just means they're parasites profiting off the sacrifices of their betters. Three guesses as to who and the first two don't count.

Right as Olga makes her 'presence' known through a hologram, Tohsaka-senpai walks out of the archway carrying a familiar crystal and she thinks better of it, holding back in hopes of overhearing some valuable intel while they remain unaware of her attention.

… A choice she comes to immediately regret when she's treated to Crimson Assassin's emotional farewell instead. Apparently, she's reached her limit and has been running on fumes for a while now, she won't survive the attempt if she tries to leave the Singularity. Stheno makes a half-hearted attempt at saying her own farewells and fading away… before Medusa smacks her head with that divicube thing and she gets swallowed inside it with a resigned expression.

Feeling like scum and unwilling to unintentionally intrude into any other emotive scene she probably shouldn't witness, she finally projects her hologram once Crimson Assassin fades away and Tohsaka-senpai's attention goes to the Memory Crystal again.

"What's the purpose of these crystals, Senpai?" She questions without preamble, feeling a bit violent about what she just saw and hoping to catch the older woman on the back foot. "What exactly are your goals?"

"Oh, Olga. I'm glad to see you made it out safely. We'll be fine too, no need to worry." Tohsaka-senpai doesn't startle in the slightest, turning towards her projected image with a calm smile on her lips that makes Olga blush a bit and feel like scum all over again. "Just wait a little longer, okay? Not much longer before we can tell you all you want to know."

"You'll take care of Elizabeth and Marie, right?" She blurts out next, panicking a bit as soon as the words leave her lips because it very much isn't her place to make such demands when Haku is right by her side. But she's already said it, so she might as well own it. "Y– you promised Haku that you would, so you better keep your promise. Yeah."

"And I promised you too, didn't I?" Tohsaka-senpai replies with a wink and a confident grin. "Have a bit of faith in your Senpai."

And, with that, she makes a hand gesture and the instruments promptly lose sight of the Throne Room. Well… That was remarkably unhelpful.

(At least Elizabeth and Marie will be okay.)

Temple of Time

There exists a place beyond time and space, a gorgeous masterpiece of magecraft beyond anything feeble human minds could possibly understand. A home, a fortress, a singularity, a ritual. The magnum opus of the only one they once deemed worthy of admiration and subservience… Before the illusion broke and the ugly weakness hiding underneath finally came to light.

It doesn't matter, it never did. The truth had always been what it was, regardless of their imperfect perception of reality. He was never as he appeared, He was never worth their loyalty. But lies hold a value on their own, because truth can change, and a beautiful lie may very well become the seed from which a new truth is born. He lied to them and, by deceiving them, He showed them how things could be. He pointed them in the right direction.

A millennia-old vision is finally taking the final steps towards becoming a reality, and it will take more than a few interlopers to divert the weight behind that tremendous truth.

There's no such thing as killing a Demon God Pillar, because they were never in the same realm of existence as those who would kill them in the first place. Their forms can be slain, but that's mere shadows projected onto the world whose demise will never reach their real selves. Like the amusingly insightful worm, Plato, postulated with his quaint cavern idea. A shadow can't kill a form by slaying the form's own shadow. That would be preposterous.

There's no waiting period, no delay or build-up. The exact same moment that Flauros is consumed by the white Light of Destruction, he's already here. He stands, healthy and hale, in the heart of this wondrous place, amongst kin.

"Control Tower Buer requests: Report."

"Information Center Flauros reports: Septem Singularity Collapsing. Main script subverted by unforeseen interlopers. Primary corrective strategies partially successful. Secondary corrective strategies unsuccessful. Tertiary corrective strategies successful. The Grail remains in play."

"Gazing Star Agares requests additional information: Interlopers"

"Information Center Flauros answers: The form of the interlopers was already known, but they refused to behave according to expected parameters. Conclusion: They knew the script."

"Observatory Berith observes: These shadows are projected by an alien light."

"Control Tower Caim concludes: Dimensionally displaced alternates."

"Information Center Valac postulates: The Second might have found a way to bypass our countermeasures in a limited fashion."

"Armory Furfur questions: Shall we intervene?"

"Armory Stolas proposes: Aggressive active scans will expose their base of operations in short order and open them up for direct assault."

"Armory Furfur seconds: We have the means if we just redirect some resources from the main task. The results will be well worth the delay."

"Gestalt Goetia intervenes and overrides: No resources will be redirected, delays in the plan will not be tolerated."

"Armory Stolas protests: We have lost two Singularities already, the interloper's threat level is currently unknown, the script is in jeopardy. Conclusion: we must act quickly and decisively."

"Gestalt Goetia chastises: Ultimately, Singularities are mere bait, made explicitly to be lost. Their purpose is currently being fulfilled to satisfaction, we can still afford to sit down and gather information passively. The interlopers are showing their hand all on their own. Unless new data puts such conclusions in question, this discussion is over."

"Armory Consensus acknowledges."
"Melting Furnace Consensus acknowledges."
"Control Tower Consensus acknowledges."
"Trash Heap Consensus not reached."
"Chamber of Life Consensus acknowledges."
"Information Center Consensus acknowledges."
"Observatory Consensus acknowledges."
"Gazing Star Consensus acknowledges."

"Gestalt Goetia acknowledges and closes the discussion."

Tamamo no Mae

Sitting down on a flat stone by the side. contemplating from afar the moribund form of a woman that has both so little and so much in common with herself, she has to wonder once again what she's even doing here. This fight isn't her fight, that Master isn't her Master, the stakes aren't so big that she absolutely must intervene. The mastermind is either ignorant or uncaring of how little this whole accident truly matters in the grand scheme of things.

The Kaleidoscope is vast indeed, and a single branch of reality going up in flames will never be enough to even begin tilting the scales.

By all reckonings, she should just turn around and leave. And yet…

She remains in her seat, fluffy tails lazily waving behind her as she counts every minute under the sunless stars. Her sharp sight allows her to bear witness of the slow transformation taking place so far away, of eyes once full of conviction and hope slowly giving way to defeated acceptance as the heavenly dome darkens and bright stars twinkles like little jewels in the night sky.

No matter how much you stretch the definition of the word. A 'sunset' can only last until there's no more sun to set and not even all the stubbornness of the world can change that simple fact. This is the end for the Thrice Setting Sun.

She stands up with a sigh and, in a single step, she finds herself standing in front of the other woman.

"Ah… my friend. I was wondering…" The woman looks up from a pile of her own blood with a small smile on her lips, wavering and feeble. "It's good to see you one last time, even if these clothes don't really suit you."

"Hmpf, annoyingly perceptive as always." Tamamo huffs, playing up her annoyance to cover up other feelings that she'd rather not air. Indeed, she'd rather be wearing anything other than the garments of her hated divine self, if she was at a freedom to make the choice. "But we're not here to discuss this accursed outfit. We're here to discuss your foolishness."

"A fool, am I? I guess I am." The woman tries to let out a sheepish chuckle, but it comes out as a coughing fit instead. "Everything I did, all that resolve and effort… all for what?"

"You should've given up sooner." Tamamo shakes her head tiredly. "Maybe you should've never even tried in the first place."

"Maybe… maybe I should have done that, yes. It all seems so foolish now… The pointless stubbornness of a fool who knows no better."

"But, if you had done that, then you wouldn't be Nero Claudius Augustus Germanicus I know." In spite of herself, Tamamo finds a treacherous smile creep to her lips at her own words. "The stubbornly bright, egotistically kind woman who gets on my last nerve with her mere presence."

"What's the point of being Nero, if everything was going to end up like this?" Green eyes that were once vibrant and full of life search for Tamamo's own. They look flat and dull now, a precious light gone with nothing to replace it. "What was the point of the life I lived?"

"There was never a point. You can give up now, Nero." Tamamo tries not to pay too much attention to the glistening trails running down Nero's cheeks. Tears don't fit this aggravating woman at all. "You did everything you could, it sucks that it didn't work out, but it's not your fault."

"I could've worked harder to understand them, to help them understand me." Nero snaps bitterly, glaring down at her own blood-stained hands. "Instead of doubling down in dazzling displays that never managed to enthrall them in the ways that truly counted."

"So could they, they didn't either." Tamamo shrugs, she's never been too appreciative of them. And what little might've once been there has been well and truly dead for a long time now. "The weight of blame is equally shared. If they can be forgiven, you can be forgiven. If you can be blamed, they can be blamed. "

"Thank you for your kind words, my friend. You are right, of course, but I'm afraid the attempt failed." Nero speaks slowly, wiping off her tears with both hands and smearing her face with blood in the process. "I… I don't think I can forgive them anymore, I think I'm fine blaming them. It's over for me."

Melodramatic until the end, this woman. How fitting. "It's not over until it's over."

"As we speak, my heart bleeds dry of all things good." Nero half-glares, shifting around to show off a black hole on her chest, where her heart should be. "Soon, I'll be nothing but a dried-up husk, abandoned in the darkest pit."

"And who the hell do you think I am?" Tamamo snaps back fiercely, making Nero's dull eyes widen with surprise. "I know everything there's to know about these feelings, about the urge to throw away everything and lash out with everything I have, so the world hurts as much as it has made me hurt."

Tamamo turns around to leave, already knowing Nero won't have a reply. In all truth, she shouldn't have snapped like that. Nero has never experienced what she's going through right now. For this flamboyant woman who refused to see the world as anything other than beautiful, this Emperor of Roses who faced the world with a smile on her lips and confidence in her steps, falling is the scariest possible outcome, the absolute worst-case scenario.

The end of the world, an event's horizon that would destroy her as surely as death itself, maybe even worse. She has heard of it, she's seen it from the outside, and everything she knows tells her she's right in her assessment. But she doesn't know, not like Tamamo. Falling isn't not the end. Sometimes… sometimes falling is the only way forward.

And Nero has what it takes to see it through. After all, Tamamo managed to claw her own way out of that dark pit. And that infuriating woman has proven time and time again that she's Tamamo's match.

At the last moment, as she's about to disappear Eastward, Tamamo pauses her steps and turns her head towards Nero one last time.

"See you on the other side." That's all she says, and she immediately resumes her steps to avoid seeing what comes next.

Her sharp fox ears catch it all the same. A long-drawn sigh turned into a woman's last breath. A body falling into a puddle of her own blood, the last traces of a grander-than-life soul stripped away in death...

Once bright green eyes close for the last time, this is the death of Nero.

Glowing red eyes open for the first time, this is the birth of Draco.

Tamamo fades away, wondering if she's said too much… or done too little.

Tohsaka Rin

"Altera? You just perked up out of nowhere. Is there anything wrong?"

"I just felt something… familiar. It was at the edge of my perception for a moment and then… disappeared."

"Something bad?"

"I don't… think so? Like a dear memory from long ago, that I can no longer remember clearly."

"Maybe there was a Rogue Servant around who had a story with you? Someone who thought it better you don't cross paths?"

"Maybe… I don't know."

"Well, the Memory Crystal is in place and the Singularity will collapse in less than a minute. Whatever it was, it doesn't matter anymore."

"...Yes."

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