[Fate/ninth heaven] Forgotten Wings; ORATORIO [route I, day 10]

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Masterlist and readme are here.

ORATORIO

  —This is a story.
  This is an old story from days when the world was much younger than it is now.

  The world around him continued to change.
  As his body lay unmoving within the great mausoleum, the world turned and the seasons changed, entire years going by without his having any knowledge.
  A sword on the wall is ignorant to the passing of time.
  A weapon in the armory is only necessary in times of war, and so war is all it knows.
  …Vaguely, he understood it.
  If he were to return to the place where he had used to live, the buildings themselves might be long gone, with no trace of his family left.
  He was the last of the Rozwelli line.
  He was made a Grim Angel, and the family name was preserved forever in glory at the expense of ending prematurely.
  He was no longer a living creature in the eyes of Asgard.

  …But that was all right.
  A sword has no desires.
  A sword is simply a weapon to be swung.
  Wondering to himself how he would feel if he were to see his family’s estate, wondering to himself how his parents spent the last of their days…
  Wondering to himself if his childhood sanctuaries were still there…
  He had no time to do so, and would not have done so if he had.
  The knight stands upon the battlefield with his great Diviner in his hand.
  His eyes and expression are blank and hold no emotion.
  His heart is perfectly still, trapped in one long, suspended moment.

  He is one who has transcended mortality, become fixed in time, and been added to the eternal “legacy” of Asgard.
  And he will continue to walk straight forward, his eyes only upon the path ahead of him, not looking to either side even in the moments leading up to his own demise…

  I wake up.
  I open my eyes and wake up with the dream still in the back of my sleepy mind.
  I get up and put clothes on, then make the bed and go to wash my face.
  There’s no time to be wandering about with a sleepy head today.

  When I go down to the kitchen, everyone else is already gathered there.
  There is toast on the table, and Vienya and Saber are helping themselves.
  Lancer is sitting on one of the narrow ends of the table with his hands in his lap as if meditating.
  Rose has a map of Fuyuki on the table and is talking to Roswell, who nods now and again as if agreeing.
  They must be working out a schedule for the patrols later tonight.
  I take my place next to Rose and smile at everyone.
  “Good morning.”
  Lancer turns to me before anyone else.
  “Good morning, Master.”
  The early morning light sifting through the thin drapes haloes Lancer’s silhouette in gold.
  He looks more like a priest or a monk than a knight, or perhaps an enlightened Buddha.
  The beauty I first realized the night before last is a strange and constant revelation.
  If I let myself concentrate on it too much, it might consume all of my attention, and I’ll simply want to watch Lancer all the time.

  “Good morning.”
  Everyone else is smiling at me.
  “Did you sleep well?”
  …Crap.
  “I guess I did.”
  I say so nonchalantly, not wanting to bring up my dreams in front of Lancer.
  I’m not sure I want to know what kind of face he would make if I tell everyone else about my dreams of his past.
  …Or maybe I’m worried that his expression might not change at all.
  It’s very difficult to say.
  There are lots of things that I don’t understand about my own reactions to Lancer.

  “Hey Ein, turn on the TV, would you?”
  Rose makes an idle demand as she reaches for another piece of toast.
  “Since Roswell was talking about the news the other day, we probably should listen just in case.
  “After all, even if we don’t hear anything that sounds like it could be Avenger, we might learn about other Servants attacking ordinary humans that way.”
  I think about the other Servants we’ve met, and agree.
  Somehow I doubt that the Riders’ Masters or Nessiah would hesitate to attack humans, and I don’t know how much their Servants would disobey.

  So, I get up and turn the television on to a news station, and then return to the table to eat.
  Lancer drinks tea and I put different kinds of jam on my toast as the reporters talk about sports and politics, things I’m not interested in at all.
  Vienya seems to be bored and has taken a napkin to make origami out of.
  Saber joins her Master and Rose in talking about patrol, and I let my mind drift off.
  This scenery is something that’s worth protecting.
  My bright mornings with Lancer and Rose, and now our new allies, are something I don’t want to give up no matter what.

  —Then.

  “Just in with a breaking news report.”

  …The illusion of peace shatters.

  Everyone turns to look at the television.
  The newscaster is reporting a large gas explosion down in Shinto.
  Apparently, first there was a gas leak that caused many people to lose consciousness, and then there was an explosion at the lower level of the same building.
  Aside from the emergency teams getting the last few victims out, the area has been evacuated.
  Some people are already dead, and others are in the hospital.
  A list of names is being read.
  …I sit still, numbly.
  There’s no way that this isn’t the doing of some Master.
  The timing is too convenient.
  All I can do is curse my foolish self that thought people would be safe during the day.

  “—Roswell.”
  Saber’s voice is quiet and tense.
  “People losing consciousness is probably a boundary field.
  “As for the attack itself, it only serves to get people out of the way. The Servant has already had its meal, so causing a disaster on top of that is like a challenge.”
  Are we… being called forward?

  “—That idiot Yellma.
  “A boundary field might also be Caster, but since we haven’t seen Caster yet at all, it would be weird if he or she suddenly started making a fuss.
  “This is a challenge aimed towards us. They must be expecting us to rush in and act the heroes again here.”

  I clench my fists.
  “Do we have any choice other than to go?
  “If we don’t, then they may just start targeting other people to try to draw us out, thinking we haven’t realized yet.”
  “Yeah, we’ll have to go.”
  Rose stands up, and everyone looks at her.
  “We can get across town and sneak inside. The fact that no people are around means that we’ll be able to fight freely without worrying about mundanes watching us.”
  I also stand up. Slowly, so does everyone else.
  “…But first, everyone raise their resistance.
  “They know we’re coming, and they may still have that boundary field up.
  “Without your Magic Circuit activated, the boundary field will wind up feeding off of us, too. Ein, that means I’m going to have to force your Circuit open. Your internal levels of odo are low, so we can’t take any chances.”
  I nod.
  This is a bigger situation than my discomfort.
  With Vienya and Roswell looking on with stunned faces, Rose puts her hands on my chest, and the switch inverts itself inside me with something like a snap.
  The circuits don’t turn on as they usually might, but instead blast open, and power surges through my body like a hammer swinging down after it’s been lifted up.
  My breathing speeds up as my body forgets that it is human.
  It hurts.
  Needles of mana have been inserted throughout my bloodstream, and turn into broken glass, catching on the insides of my veins.
  It is very painful.
  My vision flashes over red and I clutch at my shirt as I stabilize my wild heartbeat and chase after my breath.
  “…Ein. Are you all right?”
  Lancer’s calm voice, with the slightest note of concern.
  I raise my head and smile through the pain.
  “—Yeah. We should get moving.”
  Everyone aside from Rose is still looking at me with worry.
  I don’t really understand why.
  This is a normal procedure, and Rose has been tampering with my body ever since we first met, so surely if a half-magus like myself can withstand it, it’s no big deal at all for them.
  I have to show everyone that I’m not so weak.
  “—There’s no point in waiting until we’re there to open our Magic Circuits.
  “They already know we’re coming, and no matter what, we have the advantage of numbers.”
  So I follow Rose and put on my shoes.
  We have to go now, before the situation gets any worse—

  Silently.
  We move through the midmorning city under a gray sky.
  In the distance, we can already see smoke rising from the scene of the explosion in Shinto.

  Crossing the bridge with only the hollow sound of the wind about us, we leave Miyama behind us and go.

  And when we enter into the office district…,
  …we emerge in hell.

  There is smoke everywhere.
  The air smells faintly of fire and it’s hard to breathe.
  By now, all of the victims have probably been removed.

  …But this…,
  Disturbing so many innocent people’s lives just to do something as stupid as picking a fight…
  Can I…,
    forgive that…?

  Vaguely.
  I can sense the magic of Rose, Vienya, and Roswell near me.
  Lancer appears in the smoke.
  We are standing in front of the building, and we may as well be the only people in the world.
  Except.
  My Command Spell hurts.
  The Master and Servant who caused all of this are inside this skyscraper.
  The smoke is as good as a boundary field, cutting everyone inside it off from the rational world, so we can fight as much as we please.

  Saber’s body shines.
  Her ordinary clothes are replaced by her elaborate dress, and her massive sword appears in her hand.
  As though following her cues, Lancer also summons his Noble Phantasm.

  “Let’s go.”
  I move forward through the smoke and push the doors open.

  “—”
  It’s dark.
  All of the lights are off, leaving only what little light filters through the smoke as the sole illumination.
  It’s dark, but being able to see vaguely is enough.
  The inside of the building has been transformed into hell.
  Rose was right to guess that the Master’s boundary field must still be active.
  The air feels thick and somewhat slimy.
  The walls, the floors, the office cubicles and everything else is covered in grime, as though the building was abandoned in some form of apocalypse.
  I can smell blood.
  It’s almost as though some monster beyond human imagination has used this empty building as its lair.
  It’s creepy, as though the air itself is breathing with a wet and raspy sound.
  I wouldn’t be surprised if the walls were lined with human organs…
  …It’s that kind of atmosphere.

  “This is seriously sick.”
  Rose mutters with a furrowed brow as she looks around in distaste.
  “They aren’t here.”
  Roswell shakes his head.
  “We’ll probably find them in a more open area.”
  …He’s right.
  Especially if this is Yellma’s doing, Avenger will need open space to do battle.
  A tall knight with a big sword would have trouble maneuvering in such a place.

  “This is an office building, after all, so I don’t think there would be anywhere more open than the roof.”
  I say so, and as Rose agrees with me, we go try to find a way up.
  Roswell locates an elevator, but it seems to be out of order, and Rose says that an elevator would be too easy to sabotage, anyway.
  Fear crawls into the pit of my stomach and lodges there like a parasite as I imagine Avenger waiting at the top of the shaft, cutting the elevator cables.
  …We take the staircase.

  It’s a skyscraper, after all, so it takes about twenty minutes to reach the top by the stairs.
  Lancer opens the door, and…

  An open gray plain spans out before our eyes.
  Standing in the center is a knight in black armor.

  “Huh.
  “So you finally got here. Took your time, didn’t you?”

  Avenger calls out in a bored voice.
  The air is circling with smoke.
  It is more like steam, being blown apart by the winds at this high altitude to allow us glimpses of the alien world in the sky.
  Yellma is here.
  She is standing slightly behind and to one side of her Servant, fanning herself elegantly.

  Lancer steps forward, holding out his lance.
  Saber also begins to walk forward, holding out her sword.
  Roswell, Rose, and Vienya fan out around me.

  Far away, Avenger’s lips curl into a cold smile that doesn’t reach her eyes.
  —The black knight kicks the ground.
  With an immense crack like the sound barrier shattering, Avenger kicks the ground and rushes forward…!!

  Saber lunges.
  The white bastard sword crashes forward to collide with the black broadsword…!!
  The two Servants clash with all their power.
  Avenger is taller, and uses her height to press Saber backwards, but as she does so, Lancer swings his spear at her unprotected back…!

  Avenger releases the pressure against Saber and melts away.
  The black knight is laughing.

  “Fine, that’s good. I like it! Come and fight me, if you have the balls for it!”

  White and red.
  Saber and Lancer strike in tandem, with Avenger repelling the both of them.
  She seems more powerful than she was before.
  But this is due to the dark pulse about her body.
  The aura of half-digested human souls, the overlarge meal that’s slowly sinking into her body, saturating it with unnatural strength.

  This is how she is able to fend off two more powerful Servants without any danger to herself.

  “—All right. Then I’m going.”
  Rose’s Magic Crest is glowing white.
  She shifts her weight, and the tiles beneath her feet begin to crack.

  The same as Saber and Lancer,
  Rose kicks the ground and flies forward in a streak of black, her footsteps crushing tiles as she skirts around the Servants’ battle to attack Yellma.
  Sharp murderous intent is rising off her body.
  I can sense compacted prana beginning to rise around Yellma as well, and when Rose attacks her, she blocks the kick with a strike from her fan.
  The fan must be magically reinforced, because there is no damage to it even after being hit with Rose’s kick.

  …No, moreover, the strike was a strike, not merely a block.
  I can see the flashing of steel within the ribs of the fan.
  This time Yellma is more than ready to actually do battle, too.

  “—So tell me, Ein.”
  Roswell says so casually.
  “About how good is Lancer’s magical defense?”
  I think about it.
  “Lancer should be at least a B rank.”

  “Excellent. This won’t do a thing to him, then.”
  With no more warning than that,
  Roswell chants a single-line incantation, and black flames impact the area where the Servants are fighting.
  It’s like a lightning strike or a very small comet.
  Avenger dodges narrowly, but by dodging, puts herself in the path of Lancer’s attack, and even at my distance, I can distinctly hear the splatter of blood hitting the ground.
  On my other side, Vienya is also preparing a spell.
  Her familiar is flying in circles above her, and pale pink lightning strikes the ground behind Yellma, herding her towards Rose’s strike.

  —I focus.
  It’s true that I’m only here in case of the worst, but I must also be ready.
  I prepare my body and produce the plain steel longsword as quickly as I have ever been able to do it, sinking into the guard stance I’ve been using while sparring against Lancer.

  Fighting against two enemies and a magus, Avenger isn’t even slowing down.
  Having to dodge both Rose and Vienya’s spells doesn’t seem to be bothering Yellma, either.
  Still.
  The outcome of this battle is already decided.
  We have numbers, and aside from me, everyone here has a great deal of skill.
  Anything Yellma tries is just delaying the inevitable—

  Suddenly.
  Avenger launches herself backwards and braces her sword, a mad grin on her face.

  “EXHAUST NOTE!!”

  “—!!”
  I act without thinking.
  I tackle both Roswell and Vienya and pull them flat to the ground with me.
  Power roars over our heads, and I can feel the burn of the dark energy against my back, even though it hasn’t touched us.

  “…! Kuh, guh…”

  My left arm, explodes, with pain—
  “L-Lancer…!”
  I lift my head.
  Lancer is staggering backwards with his chest and robes soaked with blood.
  His wings spread broadly, he grits his teeth and glares at the enemy, solidifying his stance so as not to fall, but the pain in my Command Spell tells me that it will not be long before he collapses.
  Saber’s golden hair is windblown, but she appears to have avoided Avenger’s Noble Phantasm easily.
  The sound of cement cracking.
  The building itself appears to have been damaged.

  I look towards Yellma and Rose.
  …Between the shock of Avenger’s Noble Phantasm and the loss of Vienya’s backup, it looks as though things are becoming more even.
  Both of them are attacking each other viciously, and Rose’s arms are bleeding from blocking the bladed fan over and over.
  There is blood staining Yellma’s dress as well, but Rose seems to be much more heavily injured than Yellma.

  …This isn’t good.
  If anything, the dark aura around Avenger is only intensifying.
  Firing off a shot from her Noble Phantasm hasn’t damaged her supply of energy at all.
  She could probably continue like this for hours.
  …Yellma overfed her.
  As her grotesque overabundance of energy decreases, she will only become more and more powerful.

  As if to prove it, she readies her sword again.

  “No matter how well you dodge or how high you fly, you’re not getting away from me.
  “This is fun. Hahahahah, this is fun, fighting with a pure knight and a cute little girl. It’s so much fun that if it keeps on any longer I think I’m gonna cum my pants.”

  The harsh edge of her voice is unusually excitable, almost manic, and confidence wreathes her body like the nebula of shredded souls I can sense.
  —This is bad.
  Taking in all those souls is like removing her limiters.
  Between that and Yellma’s ill treatment, Avenger’s form seems warped.
  As if she might start laughing and crying at the same time.
  Like a silent protest that if this goes on any longer, she might go mad.

  “You’re cute. You’re just too adorable. And you’re strong, I like that. Hahahahah.”

  Avenger arches an eyebrow as her grin twists, her face contorted.

  “—But I’m better than that thing that calls itself my Master.
  “So no matter how much I’m itching to cut you apart by inches and fuck you to death, I’ll end it nice and clean and fast. The quick deaths feel the best, anyway.”

  And then, without warning—

  “EXHAUST NOTE—!!”

  The arc of energy is aiming straight for Lancer.
  I don’t stop to think.
  I push myself up on my elbows, still holding Roswell and Vienya down.
  “COME BACK, LANCER—!!!”

  Seconds before the wave of power crosses where Lancer’s body would have been,
  an immense crack splits the air with a red flash.
  My arm burns, and Lancer’s form disappears.
  I can sense him nearby.

  …With the force of the Command Spell, Lancer was able to avoid the blow just in time.

  “—Tch.”
  Avenger doesn’t seem pleased, but before she can advance on us, Saber blocks her way.

  I can sense that Lancer’s wounds aren’t fatal, but it’s no good to let him continue fighting.
  He will return to the battle if I order him to, but I don’t think he can take another direct hit from Avenger’s Noble Phantasm.

  —Rose is still attacking Yellma and cannot help us, and if any of us get up, we’ll be killed right away by Avenger’s next strike.

  This means that Saber is on her own.
  …As expected of a Noble Phantasm.
  Avenger is too reckless and too strange to fear revealing her trump card, and uses it freely.
  By doing so, she has leveled the playing field.

  …Already, the black knight is resuming her stance, aiming this time for Saber.

  “…………”

  Roswell pushes my arm off of his back and gets to his knees.
  “Saber, do it!”

  The girl in white nods.
  The wind sends her golden hair streaming behind her as she assumes a stance I have never seen her use before.
  …So it seems that this is going to come down to a battle between Noble Phantasms.

  She speaks.
  Saber’s back is to me, and her voice is so quiet that I can’t hear what she’s saying.
  I know that it must be the name of her weapon, the Holy Sword Gran Centurio.

  Avenger smiles her bitter smile.
  The ground around her cracks as all her power flows into her sword.

  “EXHAUST—”

  Saber leaps into the air.

  A flash of light.
  Light so bright it brings tears to my eyes gathers around Saber—no, Saber’s sword.
  Roswell flattens himself to the ground and pulls me with him.
  There is a great roar of wind, and the earth trembles, sending vibrations all through the cracked expanse of the rooftop.

  “—NOTE!!”

  Saber’s voice rings out.
  Saber’s voice rings out in a cry like the clear peal of a gallows bell.
  The light is too bright.
  I close my eyes.

  —A sound of impact.
  Even against my sealed eyelids, the light is enough to make my eyes feel like they’re melting.
  The great rumble of the earth feels like the apocalypse, and my ears momentarily go deaf.
  Unable to see or hear, all I can feel is a great heat.
  Like the light of judgment.

  It’s a massive thunderclap that it seems I’m experiencing from inside the thunderhead itself.

  As the light begins to abate…,
  …I open one eye.

  Saber is standing before us.
  Her sword seems larger than it should be.
  Massive, it resonates.
  Her figure is not angelic, but godly.

  Beyond her…,
  …the form of the knight, kneeling.
  Avenger’s armor is cracked, and there is blood on her lips.

  Propping herself up on her sword, the knight smiles.

    The form of Avenger becomes pale lavender ash,
    and spirals up toward the gray sky, freed of all binding it.

  …It’s over.
  I push myself up on my knees as the last of the smoke blows away.
  I cannot sense Avenger’s presence anymore.
  Saber has completely and utterly destroyed her enemy.

  Beside me, Roswell and Vienya also sit up.

  Rose is standing near the edge of the rooftop with a distant expression.
  ……That’s strange.
  I don’t see Yellma anywhere.

  “We’re done here.”
  Rose announces in a quiet but commanding voice.
  “That Yellma ran away.
  “Someone might come here soon to investigate the flashes, so we need to get out of here too. Saber and Lancer need to rest, more importantly.”

  She’s right.
  As I watch, Saber’s white dress and sword vanish, leaving her as the girl in modern clothes again, with only her posture reminiscent of the massive destructive power she can wield.

  …As for Yellma, it would be pointless to chase her now.
  Her Servant is gone.
  The boundary field has dissipated too.
  If she wants to continue fighting in this Grail War, there are no other Servants who will make a contract with her, and she will not last long on her own.
  We don’t need to concern ourselves with her anymore.

  …So.
  Slowly, we begin to head back into the interior of the building, to walk back down—

(interlude 10-1)

  “Haah—haahh—haah—hahh—”

  The magus named Yellma runs.

  Her long pale hair and elegant dress in disarray, she runs with a bitter face.

  “—That useless wench.”

  As blue slowly washes over the city, she continues to run in an ungainly fashion, cursing the Servant who fought and fell at her orders.
  That’s right.
  She would have made it out of that situation just fine, without having to endanger her dignity, if she had just managed to draw a better card.
  That useless wench was far too focused on fighting for fighting’s sake, when their energy could have been better spent manipulating and destroying from the sides.
  The magical beatings she administered couldn’t have been enough.
  She had never wanted a strong-willed spirit to contend with.
  She would have been content with a groveling, soulless doll.

  Stranded in the unearthly dark world of shadow pictures, Yellma’s footsteps slow and come to a halt.
  Even someone as powerful as she must stop to catch her breath.

  …The sound of children laughing.
  It irritates her.
  Surely at this hour, any decently-raised children should be in their homes.
  They must be filthy little urchins, to still be playing outside now.

  An angelic, innocent little giggle.
  It’s from nearby.
  A pair of girls are perched upon the top of an encircling wall.
  One with pink hair, one with red hair.
  They are holding hands and swinging their feet in unison.

  “—Hey, Oba-chan.
  “Where do you think you’re going?”

  Moonlight shines down.
  Moonlight shines down, bleaching the red-haired girl’s unruly locks pale blond.

  The girls giggle again.
  Ordinarily Yellma would already have been rebuking them, but something kept her quiet.
  —Too late, a sense of impending danger.
  This is a bad situation.

  “After all.
  “You can’t get away anymore.”

(10-1 interlude out.)