131: Divergent Star
Before I can adjust to the overwhelming sense of pressure, before I can even really grasp what is going on in the slightest - there's a flicker of motion on the shore, and he appears.
A chiseled mountain of a man, with hair like a dark stormcloud, and eyes the color of lightning. His appearance has changed again - his skin has lost the strange red hue I saw before, and its bronzed surface has been marked with glowing cracks, branching across his body to connect a series of glowing wells sunk into his flesh. And, atop his head, the ring of horns I saw before has been twisted together, wrapping around the crown of his head like a laurel wreath.
The moment he arrives, Nobunaga already has a matchlock rifle pointed at him, and Rigel has materialized the twisted knives of Angra Mainyu - but he raises a hand in a gesture of peace, glancing at each of us in turn - Rigel, Nobunaga, Medea, and myself. "I'm not here to fight you, Natsuki Subaru. Either one of you."
But the ominous feeling doesn't subside in the slightest. His words do nothing to lift the tension draped over us all like a thick blanket.
"...That's not really believable. You've become a [Beast], haven't you?" Nobunaga asks.
"We'll settle that once your comrades arrive," He says dismissively. "They're surely on their way over, so for the time being-" Hie raises a hand, and a blue mote of light emerges from the hole in its palm, zipping towards Medea. Rigel moves to intercept, but- "Peace, Caster - or, looking at those weapons again, I suppose you must have been an Alter Ego. Either way, you can relax. That child is just healing her. Medea is a former comrade of mine - I'm not so cold as to leave her in this state."
The… spirit, maybe? The spirit floats there for a moment, seemingly waiting for Rigel to stand aside. "I…no, you wouldn't need to lie. I'm jumpy right now. Sorry, Alcides." He mumbles, dematerializing his weapons.
"...I've changed names again. I'm 'Hercules' now," the Beast says, and I glance again at the glowing lines and dots carved into his skin.
"Are you the man, the god, or the constellation?" I ask, and he gives a small smirk.
"A bit of each, I'd imagine," Hercules says, before glancing back at Rigel. "Still, to think that after all your talk, you ended up contracting with him as a Servant."
"Oi, don't make fun of Rigel! He tried his best, okay!?" I shout. "It's not his fault that younger brothers can never beat older ones!"
"You're embarrassing both of us, dammit," Rigel mutters. "Look, even that spirit looks confused!" He says, pointing at the blue light, which is flitting back and forth in a vaguely befuddled motion even as green light wafts out of its body and towards Medea.
"I wasn't mocking you, truly. Making peace with oneself is an admirable thing," The Beast says.
…
"...I don't get you at all. Are you an enemy, or not?" I ask after a moment.
He closes his eyes for a moment, before looking at me directly, piercing electric blue boring into my soul. "Whether I wish it or not, I am your enemy. Putting aside any agreements in ideals, you and I cannot become allies. I intend to use the power of a Beast to change the past - my goals, once achieved, will erase you from existence. I'll explain the particulars once your allies arrive, but for the time being - you must know that our interests are simply incompatible. We cannot become allies, and for what it's worth, I wish that was not the case. But reality is cruel."
Shit.
Of course, I wouldn't get that lucky. This terrible feeling of dread wafting off of him isn't for nothing. And even worse…
There's some room for disagreement depending on what he says his ultimate plan is, but the fact is that Natsuki Subaru is not someone who can denounce someone for wanting to change the past.
The rustling of moving cloth notifies me of the fact that Medea has stood up, and as I look that way I see her applying healing magic to her own wounds, now that her hands are healed and she's able to use her staff. The blue spirit Hercules conjured floats away, stopping to hover somewhere in the middle of everyone, with a sort of indecision.
"Subaru-sama, you…" The witch steps towards Rigel, and he moves towards something like a stiff embrace - but once again the little blue spirit zips between them, this time sparkling with something like anger. A sinister shadow falls over Medea's eyes. "You insignificant thing… don't think that you can come in between us."
"Uh, you want to do something about that…?" I ask Hercules. "It looked like they were about to have a bit of a moment…"
"It's not my place." He shakes his head. "The other intact victims of Gluttony were willing to stay with me, but she wanted to leave once she saw you - what happens from here on is up to her."
What.
I activate Cor Leonis.
What.
It's nothing like what I imagined. It feels like a cruel joke.
But the tears well up all the same, and I desperately choke them back. As Rigel and Medea both try to brush her aside, still unaware of her identity, I finally force out words.
"H-hey. That guy… you're from my timeline, n-not his. So… come to me before I start getting jealous, Rem."
Rigel freezes. Hercules gives a small smile. But I'm not really paying attention to them at this exact moment. I'm just grinning like an idiot as affection, joy, and relief pour through my Authority from that perfect blue star, as she hurtles towards me and knocks me over into the sand.
And, clutching that tiny, fragile mote of light to my chest, I finally let the tears go. "I missed you… so much…"
Natsuki Rigel
Okay, the fight's back on. I'm gonna kill him.
I want to throw up. I want to throw up. Looking at him, clinging to her, sobbing on the ground there like a baby, as if what he went through for her was anything like-!
"...Subaru-sama?" Medea's voice cuts through my impotent rage, and I remember myself.
Perfect calm settles over me. Right, I need a plan. I've lost Echidna, but that's fine. I just need to keep Medea on my side. And to do that, I can't show affection for another girl so obviously. If she gets jealous, it's all over, so I need to play it-
-I close my eyes, and turn away. "...I'm the fucking worst."
I already lost. The moment I didn't rush over there and start brawling with him, I proved it.
I am not Natsuki Subaru. Not really, not in the same sense that he is. Rem would have no clue what to do with me, even if I defeated him somehow, because I'm already not the man she fell in love with.
"Medea, do you mind if we take a little walk together?" I ask the witch, finally.
"Of course, Subaru-sama," She replies.
"About that… I think I'm Rigel, now," I admit.
Medea gives a small, somewhat confused nod, and we venture out across the sand.
"...I'm really not the kind of guy you think I am," I admit after a little while.
"What do you mean?"
"To start with, the whole… expectation you have of me, as some kind of emotionless monster - that's not quite right. I'm desensitized, but…"
"You certainly were showing some emotion back there. Did he get under your skin that much?" Medea giggles, but that trails off into a sad, shadowed look. "Did she…"
"Rem… I loved her, and lost her, before I became what I am now." I say, and slowly I feel a self-mocking grin spread across my face. "It's disgusting. Even as I perverted and corrupted every other relationship I had, I was able to cling to that love. That notion that someday, somehow, she might wake up from that eternal sleep she had been placed in, and we could just… pick up where we left off.
But that won't happen. I'm already a different person entirely, and even if she forced herself to try to meet me where I am now… I'd destroy her. The same way I destroy everyone else who cares for me. Because I'm not 'Natsuki Subaru'. That guy can find the right time for people to stand on their own, but I don't, and when I do it just goes wrong! Minotauros died, I sent Drake to her death, I almost got you killed, and for all I know Stede is a pig right now! And what do I have to show for it!? Just the realization that I shouldn't have bothered with this idiocy in the first place! I'm so… damn… useless!"
As I finish my pathetic tantrum, I gaze again at my companion, and-
"I'm happy you saved me, Subaru-sama," Medea says simply, as she wraps her arms around me.
This girl… is really an angel, huh?
"...I said it, didn't I? I want you by my side," I say, and before I realize it I'm clinging to her like she might disappear any second.
"S-subaru-sama!?" She squeaks.
"Losing you… is something I can't bear. I don't know if I'd call it love or just possessiveness, but… please don't leave me," I murmur.
We return to… a questionable sight.
"And that's sokuzumi! Nobbu's great victory!" Nobunaga's body shouts as she finishes her move.
"No it's not, stupid. You just blundered your Lance," Nobunaga's head interjects from her position in the arms of a labcoat-wearing Servant I haven't met yet.
"You try playing without any eyes!" The body retorts, flipping the Shogi board into her opponent, Jason's face.
The Rider rubs his forehead, glancing at me, at Medea, and our entwined hands, back at me, and then towards a smirking Subaru as his face goes through all seven stages of grief - and finally, with a scowl, he gives the other guy a clump of QP. "Okay, they're here! Can you get on with it already, Hercules?
I trail my eyes over the assortment of Servants present to confirm that all of Subaru's allies have arrived. "...So you only lost Saint George?" I ask after a moment.
"He's been recalled to Chaldea, Sen- um…" Mash Kyrielight starts to reply before trailing off into awkward embarrassment.
"Are you kidding me!? What cheat codes are you using, dammit!? I come at you with everything I have, and you come back with two extra Servants!?" I shout, pointing at the man in the labcoat and an old man in the regalia of a king who's carrying a harp.
"I had to use a Noble Phantasm that changes my class. It's very uncomfortable to do, though I don't regret it now that it's done," The old king says.
"I lost about half of my spirit origin," Says Cu Chulainn. "Can't even really be called Cu Chulainn anymore, so just call me Grimr."
"I'm still David, to be clear," The old king says. "But [Sacrifice] makes me into the 'repentant king' rather than the 'upstart youth', so-"
"King David, I don't think that Rigel-san has context for that," Mash Kyrilight says - and of course, he's got her calling me that too, huh?
"I lost my head," Says Nobunaga.
"I lost my body," Says Nobunaga.
"And I lost my boat, but can we please move along!" Jason says, turning again to Hercules, who has stood up from - was he playing dice with Benkei? Aren't these guys acting a little too carefree!?
"Sorry about the Argo. I'm sure you'll be able to figure something out, though," Hercules says. "It's you, after all."
"Y-yeah…" The Rider stammers.
"...But, that's enough leisure for now," Hercules says. "I'll introduce myself properly. I am Hercules, God of Heroes. I am Beast V/Hero, who executes Humanity's sin of [Retribution]. I shall become all that is good in the world. I shall destroy all that is evil in the world.
"In one day's time, I will leave this singularity. I shall slay the other Beasts, slay the gods, and establish an eternal kingdom of peace and justice.
"Make no mistake. If you are of the modern day, I am your enemy. The world you know shall be rewritten - into a better one, yes, but that is of little value to you. If you wish not to die a painful death, I shall spare you, and in some time, you will painlessly disappear. If you wish to fight, I shall permit it, but know that you stand no chance.
"To the Human Order, as well, I am an enemy. But the Human Order is evil, viewing peace as stagnation - I shall overthrow it. To that end - Benkei, I expect I will see you in the final battle.
"To my former companions - Asclepius, Jason, Medea - you need not fight. Simply stand aside - I shall save you all."
A black bow materializes in his hands, and he points it in the opposite direction of the rising sun.
"That's Atalante's-!" Jason shouts.
"She's alive. Neither Reid nor myself had time to clash with her as we passed by. Please send her my apologies, if you find her," Hercules says, drawing the string, a heavy arrow loaded that makes the wood creak ominously. "[Nine Lives]."
The bow shatters.
The sky and sea split. The arrow hurtles into the distance with a sonic boom, before it finally impacts something - and the distant sunrise-lit sky stretches, and finally the arrow tears through, leaving a gleaming pinprick of light in the firmament where it exited.
"I will wait beneath that star, at the very edge of the world. Come, if you dare."
And then, in a blur of motion, he's gone.