fate/rose.corruption
Betalogue Pt.1…
The word “hope” has always been intertwined with mankind’s ambitions. As a race, humanity has evolved to a point that can even be said to exceed nature’s limitations; what was once laboured by hand now has its responsibility handed down to machinery, and the truths that we ask are no longer answered by faith, but by science. Yet these achievements would not be possible if humans did not cooperate with one another for a common goal. It is thus that a common tongue is born, and with it civilization. Even in such a single minded society, there come deviations of that universal hope, shared by all, that linger on those who are responsible for its construction… No matter what common objective there is, every single human being has their own separate dreams and aspirations. These individual dreams and aspirations are what we’ve come to colloquially understand as “wishes.”
Man will do much to see their wishes come true. They have saved people to fulfill their ambitions. They have killed people to fulfill their dreams. They have watched as lives of their fellow man disappear by the thousands in front of their very eyes, so to gain even a glimpse of that wish coming true. Even if that dream were something completely pitiful, such as revenge…
…
November 1934
Unknown Underground Tomb, Mongolia
The air in the tomb was heavy with a mix of unknown prana traces, chemical remnants of an age long past, and a grim intent that made the hallway walls seem as if it had a soul of its own. There was not a trace of lighting from the walls themselves, and the entire cavern was engulfed in an uncomforting darkness that seemed to be alive. In spite of this, there was clear human intervention in the creation of this cavern from centuries past, although one wouldn’t be able to point out what it was at a glance. The grim and empty walls had a certain unnatural beauty about them. Though the length of the hallway seemed endless, there was a distinct design about it that made it clear the hallway would lead to a divine treasure that should not exist. Even when there was not a soul in sight, the walls seemed to breathe and speak to themselves.
Two men had entered the horizon of the cave, bantering as they dove deeper into the darkness. Despite the seemingly careless attitude they displayed, both men took each step gingerly were on these sacred grounds. “Did we really need to go so far for you to get a strong servant, Zouken? I’m pretty sure given your credentials, you’d be able to summon a really powerful one just like that,” a young man in his early twenties whined to his companion. His features were what one would typically expect to see from a man of eastern Asian ancestry, though his features and the cleanliness of his face gave him a certain distinct refinement. He wore a well fitted crimson suit over a simple dress shirt and tie. “I mean, look at me. I wasn’t very serious about the whole summoning procedure and just bought the catalyst from a lingerie store, and I was still able to summon a strong and reliable servant!” It almost appeared as if this man was bragging to his companion, despite the fact that Zouken was superior to this young man in every conceivable way.
Matou Zouken, however, was patient and tolerant. Appearing in his late-twenties, he had a wisdom to him that far surpassed what one would expect of his apparent age. He was tall, with slicked back blue hair, and an incredibly well-shaped face. His eyes were fierce, yet possessed a gentle intelligence to them. He wore loose black Japanese robes that heavily resembled funeral attire. “Tohsaka Takeru, that is precisely why we must undergo these trials to obtain the strongest servant for me. If even someone like you, who hasn’t the slightest intention of actually winning the Holy Grail War, can summon a Servant as strong as your Lancer like so, what do you make it the other Masters will be able to do?” Zouken responded strictly.
“Well, I’m thinking we also have an advantage since we’re closer to the grail than the other masters are. I mean, the whole Heaven’s Feel was devised by you, my great-great-grandfather, and the Einzberns. The grail should be ours by right. So perhaps by the same right we can just summon stronger servants just like that!”
Zouken placed his face into his left palm and shook his head in disapproval. Although Zouken knew very well that Takeru wasn’t exactly a top tier magus, Zouken could not believe the sheer amount of ignorance Takeru’s latest comment displayed. It was something of a relief that they were going to be allies for the coming war, but could the Tohsaka heir actually be more of a nuisance rather than a help? “Look, Takeru… I trust that you at least read the manual for how the Heaven’s Feel will work, right? So even if we provided the means by which the servants can be materialized, it does not give us any advantage whatsoever unless we play by our own rules and find the catalysts for the strongest servants ourselves. In that case, it’s anybody’s game from there.”
Takeru sighed. There was no way he could argue with Zouken about this. After all, from the very start Takeru was just making up excuses in the hopes of leaving the cavern. “Okay, I’ll confess I’m just making excuses. But we really shouldn’t be here. The tomb of the
King of the World? The fact that you were able to find this location without getting killed is nothing short of a miracle. Tell me, were you not almost assassinated just three days ago week while searching for leads?”
“What counts is that here I am right now, alive and well. Four or five near death experiences pertaining to finding the location of this tomb says a lot about the value of its treasures. If anything, it confirmed my suspicions of just how powerful this king is, if he continues to have such a skilled retinue over seven hundreds of years after his death.”
“To think the guardians of his tomb were spread even in Japan, silencing all who were curious… And yet knowing this, you enter it in the hopes of finding one of the King’s treasures… Not only that, but you drag me along too.”
“Your Lancer makes a pretty good bodyguard, Takeru,” Zouken chuckled.
“Still! Even then, nobody, not even magi like you and I, should be here. You would have been killed last time had Lancer not intervened, and in spite of that the assassin was able to escape death, even at the pursuit of a legendary hero. Who knows what will happen this time, now that we’re actually in the tomb?!” Without warning, the air in the tomb suddenly grew heavier. The walls of the dark cave began screaming death without making a sound; the air was heavy with a scent that demanded their lives. The prana concentration in the air increased almost tenfold from its original values, and there was a feeling that some phantoms were somehow taxing on the bodies and souls of these two explorers. They had yet to encounter any form of direct adversary, but they were barely five minutes’ walk into the tomb. But there was going to be no escape. The cave was turning to life.
“Hush. Clear your mind of these thoughts, right now!” Zouken demanded. “There is very high level thaumaturgy at work here. These walls, they are feeding on your doubts… No, they are feeding on your
sins!”
…
Einzbern Castle, Germany
A loud crash roared through the snowy mountain air. Something unprecedented had just happened. A loud thunder of footsteps destroyed the normally silent serenity of this uninhabited mountain region of Germany. The beautiful white scenery was broken by a blitz of black and gray. Surrounding a humongous castle, with beautiful architecture easily the pinnacle of a millennia past, were legions of men dressed in dark military outfits bearing iron crosses on their uniforms. They quickly closed in with a formation that made sure not a mouse would leave the vicinity, with vehicles and war machines deployed at key locations all around the castle. As the deployment finished, a distinguishable young man who had the bearings of an officer confidently stepped up to the front of the castle gate, looking up into one of the castle’s towers.
“Will you open the gate, or should I take it you will come out and greet us personally, Einzbern?” the young, handsome military officer announced at the forefront of his troop. He had medium coloured blonde hair and dark blue eyes, and was very physically fit. He stood in a manner that fearlessly announced to the world his pride. “I must apologize for the sudden appearance, but it was urgent for us to hear your response to our proposal. I understand that perhaps you could not find the time to reply to our letter, given how
busy you must have been with your preparations for
the Holy Grail War. Our SS branch thus took the responsibility in us to personally send some of our finest to meet you. It would be rude to refuse us after we’ve come
such a long way, would it not, old man Acht?”
A severe, silver haired solemn old man looked directly at the young officer from a window atop one of the towers of his castle. Unsurprisingly, the young officer stared right back him, with neither men so much as blinking to the others’ presence. Jubstacheit von Einzbern knew these men, the officer in particular, were not to be trifled with. It was one thing that these people could somehow locate the Einzbern secret estate, but it was another thing completely that they were capable of dispelling the bounded field that had protected the Einzbern Castle for millennia. Such a feat would require a magus nothing short of an extraordinary genius. But what were they here for? Just what did these men want? And how did they find out about the Holy Grail War that was set to begin in less than a months’ time?
Despite the experience the old man had accumulated throughout his long life, he could not understand why the SS sought to intervene with the Einzbern’s objectives. The preparations for the next Holy Grail War were going so well, too. The old man had just figured out the details for a ritual that would undoubtedly summon an uncontested servant that would crush all the others. He was not about to lose the coming grail war, so long as there would be no outside influence… Yet here they were, appearing right at the critical moment of the summoning.
He did not want to negotiate with them, but given the prowess that they’ve displayed, the old man was left without a choice. Jubstacheit clasped his hands together and gave a commanding clap. The sound echoed across the halls of the tranquil castle, bringing a thunderous life to the otherwise very empty residence. The castle gate slowly pried open for these uninvited guests. Acht foresaw a difficult night ahead of him…
…
Edelfelt Castle, Finland
A very elegant and well-dressed young lady entered through a glimmering glass door into a luxurious western style living room. She had her bright blonde hair done elaborately and exquisitely, yet she still maintained a delicacy to her character that made her appear very sweet. In her hands was a long and thin curved object, wrapped in a cheap brown paper wrapping and held together by unkempt strings. Though the object emanated an air of a certain special quality, the lackluster packaging made it appear as a shameful dent on the otherwise perfect room. Another young lady, who looked strikingly similar to the woman who had just entered the room, gracefully waited before the coffee table, sitting on a lavish red sofa while carefully sipping on what appeared to be very expensive tea. She had a very distinct aroma of maturity that separated her from her twin. Noticing the abomination in her sister’s hands, she gently put down her cup on a small plate of pure china before speaking with clear disapproval. “Lumia, my dear sister, what is that
thing that you are carrying with you into
our living room?”
“Vesia… It may not look the part, but this object is a sacred treasure worth millions of markka. It is the catalyst that we will be using to summon a powerful ser-,” Lumia tried to explain before being cut off.
“Sister, there is a limit to how naïve you can be. Do you honestly believe that that
thing will be able to give us servants that will surpass all the others?! You realize that this Holy Grail War is an event of great prestige, where only the greatest of magi are invited, and you intend to spit on that prestige with garbage like this?!”
“Sister, please listen to me!” Lumia tried to maintain her composure in front of her overwhelming sister, but her will was fading. She quickly unwrapped the object’s casing and revealed it to be a beautifully polished curved wooden sword of extremely high quality. There was certainly a mystical aura that emanated from the sword but, despite the obvious craftsmanship and quality of the artifact, Vesia simply laughed off the relic’s unveiling. Wounded by her sister’s torments, Lumia gathered her resolve for one last assault. “This wooden sword brought down one of the greatest and most talented swordsmen in the history of Japan! If we use this as a catalyst, we will be able to summon a peerless sword master!”
Vesia couldn’t take it anymore. Her sister’s plea was way too funny. The fact that she was trying so hard made it all the more hilarious. Unable to hold herself back, Vesia burst into a savage laugh completely unfitting of her otherwise noble character. She eventually calmed herself down and began wiping the tears she had accumulated viciously laughing at her younger twin’s efforts. “I am sorry, dear sister, but do you not understand just how ridiculous you sound right now? You are telling me you plan to summon a Japanese hero for the coming war? A
Japanese hero?! That you even consider their history, perhaps you should look to be a comedian. It would do better than bringing public disgrace to our well established house like so,” Vesia scolded her sister remorselessly. She was enjoying this way more than she was supposed to. “Alas, I suppose I gave too difficult a task for my naïve little sister, so the responsibility is mine at the end. It’s too bad, because I thought my dear little sister would
at least be capable of finding a suitable catalyst to summon a
proper servant.” Lumia could not bear to look at her sister in the eyes. She stared blankly at the ground as her sister continued on. Vesia seemed too busy and entertained talking her sister down to notice Lumia’s expression change from a meek one into one completely filled with malice and darkness.
“…
You’ll see…” Lumia whispered to herself in a serenely haunting tone.
…
Misaki Cho, Japan
The red-haired man certainly did not receive a warm welcome home. Though he lived alone, he was greeted by piles of letters that he did not wish to sort out. He had already begun reading them, but one in particular bothered him to the point that he could no longer find it in himself to finish the rest.
It was hopeless. Apparently, word of his last experiment, with its disastrous means and result, got out. It was a shame, he was sure he was particularly meticulous about the confidentiality of the experiment, as well as making sure that everyone involved would be personally ‘erased’ should the experiment go the way it did. It’s not like he lacked the foresight to not make a backup plan. So just how did the Clock Tower find out about his latest attempt to reach the Root? They should not concern themselves with the lives of mundane humanity; after all, what do a few identities disappearing from the face of existence mean anything to the course of nature? Is it the disappearance of the several magi he personally sought? Magi have mysteriously disappeared left and right through history; it’s a natural consequence brought about by their curiosity. So how did the Clock Tower get word of the colossal failure he was involved in? He read the letter once more…
To Aozaki Takuya
We have been notified that under your supervision, you sought an experiment with yourself and several of your Clock Tower colleagues that was done without the consent or approval of our institution. In fact, we do not seem to recall being notified of any of your more recent activities. While this is normally an excusable act, you have sworn an oath as a member of this institution, and we also have strong reason to believe that you were involved in the disappearance of 37 individuals, 4 of which were also honoured researchers of our Clock Tower institution, that have just recently vanished off the face of the planet. This is in direct violation to Article 31 of our Magi Charter, to which you have agreed to in exchange for access to our resources and name.
31. Should an action warrant to the disappearance of an individual within or outside of the Clock Tower, you will do your utmost to do at least 1 of the following:
a) Ensure that your utmost is done that said disappeared person is found;
b) That you can verify with administration that an agreement was reached between the involved parties pertaining to the potential dangers of your activity. Documented and spiritually bound contracts are both acceptable for reviewing;
c) That you report all results and means to administration for further review of your actions.
Note that the Clock Tower will be lenient regarding to the disappearance of the mundane masses, so long as the quantity of those involved is below an acceptable threshold (this is usually below 100, but can be extended upon approval). Numbers beyond this threshold will be susceptible to review by the administration.
While I would have preferred to personally send a team of elite enforcers to meet with you and “discuss” the terms that you have violated, as well as the loss of 4 of our researchers, we have concluded that further loss of life would be fruitless, as not only would we not get our researchers back, since you already have a well established reputation of making people pointlessly disappear. As a result, we have concluded that instead, we will simply excommunicate you from the Clock Tower, and cut off all ties with you. From here forth, you are no longer permitted access to any of our resources, nor are you permitted to step foot within 2 kilometers of any of our property. Should your experiments once again catch our eye, we may change our mind and decide to send that team of elite enforcers I had originally planned to “speak” with you, without your notification.
Hoping that we never see you again,
Katherine Barthomeloi, Vice Director of the Clock Tower Association
Takuya quickly crumpled the letter once he finished reading it one last time. There was no mistake; he had essentially been labelled as a heretic and expelled from the Association.
That bitch Barthomeloi; she even went out of her way to specifically use the word “excommunicate,” as if she were some arbitrary church administrator. No matter his protests though, there was no possible way he could report to the association what had transpired under his supervision, because they were absolutely correct. He was, in fact, directly responsible for the disappearance of thirty-seven individuals, including four magi honoured by the Clock Tower. He had, in fact, directly violated
Article 31 of the Magi Charter. He fell back into his workshop chair, devoid of any of the conviction that had previously animated him while he was being funded by the Association to find a way to the spiral. He had gotten far too used to performing large scale experiments with reckless abandon using the nearly endless resources the Clock Tower had provided. At the same time, his own fiscal resources were nearly depleted. Did he need to start over from scratch once again…?
He knew it wasn’t healthy to wallow in self-pity. No matter how sorry he was for himself, nothing would be accomplished. The Root certainly wouldn’t reveal itself to such a pitiful man, would it? Recollecting his composure, Takuya straightened up in his seat and reviewed his workshop once more. Dolls. Stockpiles of dolls, on the floor, the shelves, the desk… Each one was more developed and life-like than the last. That’s right, it was because this is how he started that he grew into what he is now, isn’t it? He knew, instinctively, that each person was somehow connected to the origin. It’s the reason why each of us had a soul. When he had first started on his quest for knowledge, he was an empathetic man who valued human life, and so he attempted to recreate the spiral in life through dolls instead. Recreate life rather than use it, so that none would be hurt. Years and years had progressed. No matter how good he got, it just wasn’t enough… Though now, with a little help, he could create dolls that were more life-like than most real humans... The years certainly weren’t wasted…
Feeling a little better about himself, he took another look at his desk.
No, not today, he thought. Even if he was feeling better now, he wasn’t in the mood to do any more chores. He then remembered an earlier letter that he had brushed off, and it lit a spark in him. He excitedly scrambled through the pile of read letters until he finally came across the one he had been looking for.
“Invitation to participate in the 3
rd Holy Grail War… Huh, Interesting…”
…
Tokyo, Japan
The rain showed no signs of stopping. It had been like this in the Imperial Capital for almost a week now, though the rainy season of the Kanto region should have been over more than three months ago. The streets had been vacated due to the long rain streak, with only a single man daring to walk through the mists. He was dressed in a heavy black coat, sporting a hat and scarf to just about perfectly conceal his identity. His destination was clear; he was going to pay his comrade living on the mansion atop the hill a little visit.
Hatamura Keigo… That was the name the he had. Not the one that he was born with, but the one he had grown to accept for his civic duty. He had no love for Japan, but served in its army as an officer regardless. In fact, he was a decorated officer, and was looked to by his men like a father. But he hated them all.
At the bottom of the hill now, the man looked to the mansion with a scoff. He drank tea with the man living there many times, and he was certain he had gained the man’s trust. It was a shame, because Keigo would never drink with him again. He reached for his pocket and brought out a pack of cigarettes. Lighting a cigarette in the rain would normally be both unpractical and stupid, but this man was neither. Without even covering the cigarette or the lighter from the rain, he lit the cigarette and took a long whiff. “Rider,” the man said in a hushed tone. At once, the mist surrounding the him blew to his right side, and materialized into a well-built man over six feet tall. The man was clad in the attire of an Imperial Army soldier, though his face was covered by an enigmatic looking opera mask. Keigo took one more glance at the mansion before looking the masked man’s way. The two nodded their heads, and in an instant Rider vanished into the mist once again. Keigo let out the smoke that had accumulated in his mouth before deciding to leave the mansion’s front gate. Thunder roared in the distance, and a single streak of lightning struck to the left side of the mansion. Were it not for the rain, it would have ignited the garden into a dazzling flame.
That’s the director of the Shanghai operation... Keigo turned around and took one last glance at the top of the hill. “Goodbye, Brigadier General Itou.” With his final peace made, he returned to his original course to find lodging.
That man had good taste in tea…
...
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