62: Demon God Amdusias
Fire and brimstone fills the air at my command. Explosions and the screaming of dying wyverns set my ears ringing. With their shadow removed, the screams of Vlad III soon join them as he bursts into flame. Berserk Rider disengages as around the perimeter of the carriage wreck, purple columns of flame explode from the ground, arcing overhead and forming a barrier.
I can feel my flesh start to squirm, preparing for my transformation into a pillar - but I restrain it. My eyes have already started to change into the cross-slitted eyes of a Demon God, but I happen to have a mask on my person, just in case something like this should happen, and I put it on. Best not to worry anyone too much.
There's a brief pause, as my allies stare at me in a mix of disbelief and hostility - apart from Bael's insufferable vessel, who is just as unblinkingly amused as always. The only noise is the continuous outpouring of fire surrounding us.
"Well, how's that, Tchaikovsky?" I ask myself with a small chuckle. It's an awful joke. There's not a thing that's musical about this, not an ounce of beauty to be found. Not to mention, I, Amdusias, have now properly betrayed my King. To defy him, and save the Chaldeans, it really is completely discordant with my nature. "Well? Hurry to it, everyone. Maria, I understand that you're a bit in shock right now, but you need to use your Noble Phantasm. If Miss Kyrielight doesn't receive healing, she's going to die."
There's already nothing to be done about poor Jeanne, who is dematerializing as I speak. Everyone can see that pretty clearly.
With a moment's hesitation, Marie nods. "You're right. Thank you, Amadeus. [Guillotine Breaker]!"
"...You don't have to force yourself to smile." I note as her horse materializes, and then pause in thought. Odd, that feeling of melancholy just now. I'll have to use it in a piece at some point. "Once you've got her loaded onto your Noble Phantasm, I'll open a hole in this fire, and you can run."
"-Hang on." Natsuki Subaru interrupts me, hissing between clenched teeth. Naturally. As expected of the Master of Chaldea. "Don't think you can just push past this like it's nothing, you perfectly not normal musician! Amdusias - you said Amdusias just now, right? As in-!"
"-one of the seventy-two Demon Gods, Amdusias?" I ask, grinning at him. "Don't worry about it too much. I'm just a perfectly normal demon magus who plays magical music!"
"A-amadeus…" Marie starts to ask, but she falters. "Have you-?"
"-Been possessing him this whole time?" I ask. "It's not as simple as all that. If it was, you would have noticed it, Maria. The truth is, when it comes to the Demon Gods and their hosts… there's no real tangible difference between the personalities of the two. That was the King of Mages' design - that each of the Demons responsible for overseeing the Singularities would have perfect vessels. To that end, he shaped history, using his clairvoyance, starting three thousand years ago, to ensure the birth of one whose existence was indistinguishable from the Demon God Amdusias."
"...Come to think of it, Flauros said something along those lines as well." Subaru mutters.
"That's right. 'Amadeus Mozart was always possessed', 'Amadeus Mozart is still in complete control' - the truth could be anywhere between those possibilities, and it wouldn't really make a difference." I explain-
"-Except that's a load of crap." Subaru says." We were able to split Flauros from Lev. That's how we won, back in Fuyuki. There's definitely a difference between the two."
"Is that what happened? Hahaha! So much for the great and mighty Flauros! 'Amdusias is too much of a slacker' - that's what he was thinking, I bet, and now look at him! At least I'm failing on purpose!" I burst out laughing.
"Speaking of which, how are you able to do that?" Bael's vessel pipes up. "I mean, I was able to trick the Demon that tried to possess me because I was never meant to be his vessel in the first place - but to my understanding, the King of Mages had something in place to prevent defection."
-A shining smile, on a sunny day in the Austrian court.
"Well, I already sold my soul to Music, so Amdusias doesn't have any real control over my actions - something like that, I guess?" I laugh.
He's right about the prevention mechanism, though. Chaldea's own near-future lens, provided by Lev Lainur - I can feel it correcting my point of view as we speak.
"Hahaha! Is that so!? But a crappy excuse like that can't last forever, right?" Prelati says. "I'd say… you've got five minutes or so."
"Something like that." I chuckle. "So you had better get going while you can - Paris is terribly close now, and it would be pretty lame to give up so close to the goal."
"...And with Saint George's help, th- we can exorcise you!" Gareth pipes up.
I pretend I didn't hear her verbal slip-up. Just like I didn't hear her conversation on the roof of the carriage last night.
"That's right!" I lie to her as the wall of fire parts. "So hurry up! Being possessed really isn't any fun!"
Five minutes from now, Amdusias will return to the fold - but Amadeus will remain the same. And our body, which we shared for all of our life, will tear itself to ribbons because of our divergence from one another.
A soft hand is lowered, and grasps my hand - dirty and skinned from my fall - pulling me to my feet. The most beautiful girl I have ever laid eyes on asks me if I am alright.
Because I, Amadeus, will never, ever give up that which made me a real human being. Even if that means death.
But Maria wouldn't want to hear about something gross like that, so I'll spare her the details.
"Roger!" The lancer says, with a small salute. Hefting Prelati over her shoulder like a sack of potatoes, Gareth rockets out of the fiery barrier, staying just long enough to call out. "We'll be back soon!"
Marie lingers a moment longer, as Subaru clambers onto her horse, steadying the unconscious Mash on top of it. My first and only love pauses to look at me. "Amadeus… I'll definitely come save you, okay? So do your best to hang on until then."
"Yes, yes. Get moving, you silly girl! I'll be here later." I laugh, lying as easily as I breathe. "Ah, but first - take this with you, won't you? It's not finished yet, but maybe you'll run into some other composer who can finish the piece."
She takes the unfinished composition from my hand, and tucks it into Subaru's pack. With a satisfied nod, she pats the side of her horse, and the Chaldeans are gone, leaving a meadow of gleaming crystal flowers in their wake.
She'll save me, huh?
Stammering, star-struck, words tumble out of my mouth without regard for propriety, or even decency.
"Thank you, nice lady. My name is Amadeus." I blurt as she pulls me to my feet. "If a beautiful lady like you has no fiance yet, could I be the first one?"
"I sold my soul to music… that really was a stupid excuse for my divergence from the King's plan, wasn't it?" I chuckle a bit as the ring of fire recedes and I turn to properly face Jeanne Alter's forces. "But I can't stand cliches, so I'll leave the rest of the things about my soul and salvation unsaid, I think."
The purple curtain opens, and I brandish my baton at a motley assortment of lizards and madmen, far too uncultured to enjoy any of my work.
"-Well, you're still not the worst audience I've ever performed for." I laugh, as my form twists, the shape of a Demon Pillar finally bursting forth from under my skin.
Let the Concert begin.
-Get ahold of yourself, Natsuki Subaru.
It's an unreasonable demand to make of myself, I know. Everything is going to hell, and I don't have a single second to process any of it. Jeanne is dead. Mozart has become a Demon Pillar. And Mash is terribly wounded, so much so that even with Marie's Noble Phantasm healing her, I'm not sure she's going to pull through.
Can we still be victorious? If we reach Paris, and recruit Saint George, can we still win this singularity? It feels wrong. Everything about it feels wrong.
Is there really a possibility to defeat Dark Jeanne without the real Jeanne on our side?
Logically, I know it should be possible. But thousands of hours playing videogames and watching anime say it shouldn't. That the 'plot' of this story demands her presence at the final confrontation.
And haven't I learned before, that the destinies of Servants are bound up in the telling of stories?
Of course, there's another question - if Jeanne is dead, should I reset? Can I allow an ally to die for my victory?
She's a Servant. An expendable familiar. It doesn't matter if she sacrifices herself for our ultimate victory. Even if she survived to the end, she'd be likely to just return to the throne. Cu was a special case, the human arm grafted onto him keeping him anchored a bit longer. Anyone else is likely to just disappear before even getting back. So, it shouldn't matter if she stays dead. That's what Olga Marie would say. Hell, that's what Jeanne would say.
But can I say that? And if I can't, what should I do about it? Can I really die, for the sake of Jeanne d'Arc? Not merely throw my life away, but kill myself on purpose, to save her-?
-I don't have time to come to a conclusion. I don't even have time to turn my focus to the revelation about Mozart and process it. Because, before we can reach Paris, as we crest the last hill between us and the city, the last obstacle comes into view.
Standing in a field of half-rotted corpses and burned wheat, with a cannon gripped in his hand, the most dangerous enemy in the singularity has appeared.
He's facing away from us. I can make out a single crack in his armor, gleaming red - as an unrecognizable blackened heap in front of him dissolves into golden mist.
For a brief moment, I panic - but glancing around, I quickly spot Gareth standing just a bit down the hill. She may have left before Marie, but she didn't get too far away from us.
Which means that whoever was just killed, they must have come from Paris. An ally, sent to bail us out, maybe - I don't doubt that the wyvern swarm was visible from the city. But they were intercepted and killed. And all that there is to show for it is some damage to his armor. For all we know, it might have been Saint George. This whole trip might have been for nothing.
It could also have been someone else. It might be that it was just one of the unimportant Servants Prelati mentioned.
Of course, with how difficult this guy was to face last time… I doubt it's going to matter.
With a small grunt, the Black Knight discards his expended cannon, and turns to face us, visor glowing red.
"Aaaarrrrthuuuur…"
A/N:
I'm not allowed to have a consistent update schedule, so a rapid second update to prevent a consistent pattern of slow updates is required here and there.