[FF] Truth and Consequences (T-M/Whedonverse X-over, Trinity Zero)

[Kieran]

DISCLAIMER: Lunar Legend Tsukihime, Fate/Stay Night, and all related characters and concepts are the creation and property of Kinoko Nasu and Type-Moon, along with anyone who's happened to license them, like Geneon or Funimation. Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Illyria and all related characters and concepts are the property of Joss Whedon, 20th Century Fox, and licensees like IDW Publishing and/or Dark Horse Comics.

This is a not-for-profit, just-for-fun project.




Previously:






The old wizard scowled. “You always assume I can fix everything - all of you. For the last time, my magic deals only in what might be, not in what will. I don’t control the light which shines through the gem - I can only turn the gem to see what the light looks like through a particular facet. It won’t alter the effects of the light when it shines through the facet I was looking at before.” He sighed. “What will happen here, will happen. I can’t change that, without interfering directly - and giving others license to do the same.”



“The energy in Ciel has to go somewhere. Either we keep it bottled up until it finally explodes - or we open the path it’s supposed to take, and give it to the Grail.”

“That will kill Ciel!” Shiki snapped.

“And not doing it, I keep hearing, will kill all of us, her included,” Avenger snapped right back. “I have faith in the strength of Ciel’s magic - she came back from the dead when all she wanted was to die. Do you think Ciel would want to wake up surrounded by her dead - again? Do you think she could survive seeing the bodies of her husband and child - assuming the explosion leaves anything at all behind for her to mourn? Give her power to the Grail, and pray there’s enough left for her, or use the Grail to revive her. It’s the only choice left.”



“But why won’t you let me help you?” Takara insisted. “Why just throw your life away like this?”

“Do you remember the contract we made?” he asked softly. “I said I would fight for the Grail, in your name. ‘I will serve thy cause, on my honour, until the end.’ The end is here, at last, and it’s time for me to live up to my end of the oath, Takara. It may be impossible, it may be suicidal, but I’ll try anyway, because giving up without a fight is just not in my nature, nor is it in Saber’s. She understands that, and so do I. As to why I choose to fight alone, and not endanger you . . .

“I’ll keep my promise to you, because I said I would - and because I love you.”



Fast as he seemed to be, Avenger didn’t register Saber’s true intent until it was too late. He saw her move, instinctively leaped right to avoid it - and slammed shoulder first into the wall he’d forgotten to account for. The shock of the impact made him drop the stainless steel gun, even as her wind blade sliced into his legs. His second gun dropped, and Saber leaped, her revealed sword swinging back to deliver the final stroke . . .

As his right hand pushed Melpomene up, to fire one last, wild desperate shot.

It was a one in a thousand shot, the kind only true, pure luck - or maybe destiny - could account for. Saber’s left shoulder guard exploded under the impact of the Glaser safety slug, and the knight buckled in mid-air. But if the shot had been one in a thousand, Saber was one in a million, and without more than a heartbeat’s pause, she’d shifted her two-handed grip to throw her sword with her right hand, like a spear - and impaling the other Servant where he lay.

“I know that you are not an Epic Spirit,” Saber agreed. “However, I believe that for what you have tried to accomplish, what you have chosen to do, and why - you are a hero.”

Saber watched Avenger’s life flicker out, literally, dissolving into motes of light that flew upward to where Ciel waited to receive them, and fulfill the purpose of the War. Left behind was a transparent version of the Servant, his true soul - but with the shell that contained it removed, that thinned away like morning mist, vanishing back to whatever fate awaited it in the place it had been called from.

Saber stood, retrieving her sword. The War was over, the Grail won. All that remained was to make her wish - and decide the path of the legacy that wish would leave behind.





Light enveloped Ciel’s mortal form - first bathing it, then consuming it in literal blaze of glory that no one present could look at directly, for fear of being blinded. When it dimmed, an object of indescribable beauty stood before them, floating above the ground as though it feared to sully itself with the touch of the earth. It glowed as though bathed in moonlight, and the air itself seemed to lighten, tinged with a freshness unlike that of the dark tower.

The silver-clad knight’s breath caught in her throat. The pure Grail, the true Grail . . . After all this time, all this effort . . .

For a moment, she was tempted. This was the culmination of all her efforts since the fall of her kingdom. Every word and deed, for good or ill, she had done in pursuit of this goal, this moment - and the temptation to use it for herself, and finally be at peace, was strong. But no, that was the path Sakura and Shirou had trod. She had seen the destination it led to, and it was nowhere she wished to venture. Neither did she wish the blood of these people to be sacrificed on the altar of her goal.

Besides, there was another consideration. Before she was even a king, she was a knight - and she had given her word of honour to fulfill a dead man’s last request.

Taking a deep breath, Arturia stepped forward, and reached out to clasp the Holy Grail . . .






Takara rubbed her hand absently, her eyes focussed on the blonde Servant and her goal. Thus, she gave an audible start when Rin asked, “Why are you doing that?”

“Doing . . .? Oh.” She lowered her gaze. “The back of my hand is itching, sorry.”

“Itching?” Rin said, her eyes going to the area in question, where she could see white lines, like scar tissue, near the girl’s wrist. They seemed to form an odd pattern, like part of a written character -

Or, she realised suddenly, a Command Seal. But it should’ve disappeared . . .

The partial symbol flashed with blue light.

“Saber!” she called. “Something’s wrong! Don’t - !”

Too late. The Grail flared alight at Saber’s touch, with a sweeping radiance that was blinding - and brilliantly blue.

And as the light swept over the tower, it washed the world away . . .