Quest of Fate - Apocrypha Universe Grail War

[Bird of Hermes]

Ryuudo Temple Interior
Night



I suppose it couldn’t be helped, the rematch was inevitable and especially how it was given that I had more or less humiliated him in my own little way.

“You lower class wretch,” he growled

Reiner also appeared to remember all too well, I would say that he looked angry but the man always had a sneer across his face as it a Gorgon looked at him and froze his face in that shape.

“You steal my catalyst for the Holy Grail War, you beat and humiliate me at Clock Tower, now you break into my own fortifications? Now doubt to claim your parent, correct?”

As he continues to talk, I gather myself and keep my own magic circuits primed and ready for what may come. I look up and down his form but without being able to physically touch him, I can’t use Structural Divination I used against Justice to determine his strength and movement. However something seems off; seems-

New.

“I’m sorry Reiner, I’ve never needed my Father before now and I’m certain that I shall be fine without him. There’s just a few old secrets I need to make sure don’t spill out.”

At my answer, he gives the first smile I ever see him pull.

It looks unnatural.

“You mean the nature of your birth? I already know. It was a botched ritual that was doomed from the start. The only reason that your Father stuck with you was because he had no means of replacing you. Now think, do you think your chances of winning the Grail are high in a battle you were made to join against your own will?”

My expression involuntarily weakens, I cannot deny the possibility considering all our previous interactions… he was never kind and seemed very pushy to get me to fight and brought Risa with us too…

“Once you introduced him to your friend he saw an opportunity; gaining superior stock for his progeny and removing his greatest embarrassment at the same time.”

“Well I’m embarrassment that still pounded your arse in front of everybody and beat you at every climax! What does that make you?”

Cutting straight to the chase, I give the first retort I can think of, not caring about the accidental innuendo.

With that he gives a deep chuckle.

“I know how I must entice you but that was the greatest lesson I could have, failure.”

He unfurls his arms

“I’d never been sorely beaten before and never would have dreamed it would be from a lower class peasant like you.”

He crouches down, placing his hands on the ground.

“Humility has taught me a great lesson. Now I shall destroy you with the full strength of the Corvella bloodline!”

A golden ring appears on both his forearms, travelling down to the ground and upon contact flames begin to crackle and then roar like a jet engine as his body slowly rises into the air.

[BGM]

Reiner… can fly.

The moment I process that thought, the distance between us two closes instantly and he propels into me. The impact knocks all the air out of me as I feel the raging heat emanating from Reiner’s body, I feel my feet lift off the ground.

We’re in the air!

We soar higher and higher, the wind whips against my frame, my vision is filled with his face.

“Your father was never kidnapped, it was a ploy! He sold you all out!”

The whole world shifts as I’m released. He betrayed me, he betrayed Risa, he… betrayed all the children he killed in vain.

Processing the information, I only how realise that the heat has left. I now see the night sky, decorated with stars as I begin to fall.

In the distance, I see Reiner above me, oncoming faster, and faster, he collides into me again, cracking a rib as he both rocket downwards.

I try to shake and push him off but he won’t budge, seeing lines illuminated across his body, he’s already reinforced himself with his superior power. The impact will hurt me much more than him-

So-

I let him.

I hold on and channel my own power and focus it across our beings, binding us together like rope.

“Ni-

n o w

-gredo!”

The moment I hear that odd voice I detonate a charge, releasing a shockwave of wind combined with my decomposition base the instant we land.

It hurts. My whole body hurts like I was hit with a car but I’m still alive. No new broken bones.

The earth beneath me feels like dirt. Pulling my strength together I get a grip of my location. A fresh, steaming crater in a forest.

I must have broken down the ground to balance out the force of impact. I didn’t even know I could do that.

Forcing myself to move, I slowly hike up to the edge of the crater to see Reiner.

Utterly unharmed.

“Impressive, Nomikata. What you lack in lineage, power, social status and many other things, you have a rat-like cunning. It must be a genetic trait.”

Daddy!

Again that voice, a young girls voice… Aoi’s voice.

It’s getting stronger.

“H-how?”

“There’s a reason I had you fight the help earlier, I’ve found your weakness in your strength.” Reiner replies with that stupid smugness “Though you can break down a single target like how an enzyme breaks down chemicals-”

He outreaches his arm and a column of fire erupts out directly at me, instinctively I reach out and channel Nigredo. The exothermic reacting gas is immediately dispelled but as the flames part I see Re-

His fist swings straight into my face. My nose explodes in a bloody mess with the rest of my body stumbling back before falling over like a ragdoll.

“-But you can only focus on a single target!”

My knowledge on the curse of self-healing is minimal, but it’s enough to piece together my nose though I can’t do anything else about the other wounds. However the fact that the closest thing I have to a rival has pretty much taken apart my method of attack and defence piece by piece, my pride hurts more than my body. The physical pain is still real.

I’ll have to think of a reach around.

“I’m impressed Reiner.”

The look on the noble’s face twists into that of confusion.

“I thought you were just some lazy aristocrat with his head so far up his own arse you could see out of your own mouth but you were able to defeat me quite soundly.”

A small laugh escapes his lips,

“Learning your place, Nomikata?”

“Oh, you’re not the only one who likes tying me down.”

Any expression flies out of the window as Reiner’s voice and face turn stone cold.

“Your mother’s much the same way. She always pins me down, basically just uses me as a toy to get herself off.”

A joke slash insult saying you banged someone’s mother is juvenile and that is usually beneath me but on the other hand, fuck this guy.

“Your father is much the same way too; they’re very selfish in bed, just using me as a way of getting back at the other. No wonder their marriage is falling apart.”

Most magus families marry for political reasons; power, material wealth, best prospects of a powerful child. Most from what I see aren’t happy. I have little to go on as I’ve barely seen his family in passing around the Clock Tower so I make this all up as a go along.

“It was actually your father first. It was the day after we moved in together, he went to drop something off but ended up drinking alone and I got curious and talked to him. We ended up doing it in your bed.”

Reiner probably knows I’m talking shit out of my mouth but he is clearly getting angrier and angrier the more I talk.

“Your mum however? Must have either been between a week and a month afterwards. It was after some ball I ended up working at for the night for some extra cash and she came to me afterwards. I don’t know if she wanted a younger model or knew what happened earlier and wanted revenge. Probably both.”

With that, Reiner’s face is about as red ad my hair dye.

“I’m going to enjoy this much more than I should.”

Reiner places his hands together and unleashes a cone of intense heat, enveloping me entirely. I push forward my own arms, dispelling what I can with Nigerdo but my sides begin to scorch as I slowly burn.

Three steps left.

His face is pure rage, regardless of the sophistication of a mage me and Reiner are both young and prone is breaking grace at juvenile threats. My suit begins to wither away at my skin begins to singe underneath.

Two steps.

I leap forward, screaming bloody murder, his face contorted in as I throw a fist straight into his face maintaining the flow of energy that I can, cutting his face as I do so.

“You bast-“

He quickly jumps into a boxing stance and shoots out an enforced jab with his left, I dip down and raise an arm with an Age-uke rising head block with my right hand and take a hold of his wrist.

I inhale.

I channel divination to feel the flow of his blood to picture the movements of his body – both where and how - a right hook aimed directly at my head.

I counter with an Empi-Uchi left elbow strike aimed directly where I know he’ll be. A shout and he recoils but I feel his movements, anticipating his flow – strike again, this time grabbing his other wrist. I can feel his entire being, strong, mighty and with a greater magical well within him etched onto his back. I channel Nigredo once more. The pronunciation of destruction before creation directly applied upon bare flesh.

Divine.

Analyse.

Destroy.

Skin and muscle erupt under my skin as I feel his flesh flay under grasp. Using him as a lever, I pull myself and deliver Ap Chagi – a triple kick kick – with each one being delivered straight to his jaw.

My grip slips out as the force of my kicks sends him backwards and slumping in a tree. And we stop.

The two of us are both slumped over, though I am the only one currently on my feet. We’ve both used a significant amount of energy, both physical and magical.

“You always find a way to get under my skin, don’t you?”

The words are weak and slow, despite a composed face all things considered, he is in more pain than he’s letting on, as am I.

“Hey, it’s what lower class scum like me are good for.”

That was pretty good actually; we both give a chuckle. It gets louder and breaks out into us both laughing loudly like children.

We keep laughing together till we both run out of air in our lungs.

After that, silence, then a smile. An honest smile.

It’s dawned on me this is the first genuine moment the two of us have had together.

“Seigi-” Reiner coughs out though all the pain “I hate you, but I understand you now. Handicapped and with a chip on your shoulder, you push down all the walls in front of you, pushing back on everyone that pushes you down.”

I can’t help but smile.

“Two compliments in one day? You must like me after all.”

I feel my legs weaken and I slowly sit down as well, several feet away.

“You’re more powerful than ever but you still use simple magecraft for now, the crest must have only just finished its complete transplant. I may never have wanted this fight but I will survive, I will reach the Grail.”

“Heh- The Grail? Not The Root? You have some other wish?”

The Swirl of the Root. A metaphysical location that exists above all. It’s a force that exists ‘Outside of The World’, free from space-time it contains information of all possibilities and events, past, present, and future, of the world. These Akashic Records can be said to be ‘Heaven’ and is the goal of all true mages. Seeing the Root, touching it and then managing to understand it will completely erase the meaning of "impossible", granting the magus what some would describe as "the capabilities of God".

Or so they say at least.

“Eh, I’ll figure it out if I get there.”

With that, Reiner grips onto the tree trunk and pulls himself up. His wounds glow as his body heals itself under his own power. But I-

“I can’t move.”

Reiner shakes his head as a figure I recognise materialises in the background. Rider, still carrying onto Corrin Charisk - bridal style



"Hello again, sweet child."

“It was discrepancy plan if it looked like I was beginning to lose my grip, Nomikata. I would say something honourable like ‘The next time we cross blades only one of us shall live’ but I’m afraid there won’t be a next time.”

Very well, time for an escape plan.

I release all of my remaining energy downward, channelling Nigredo through my hands into the ground and breaking down matter erratically in the earth surrounding us all – then I make one final push, releasing ample Wind element resulting in large detonations.

With that-

“By My Command Seal – Lancer, Come forth!”

And there she is, standing in full regalia set with spear and armour.



“Your command, my

Emperor

Master

?”

“Defeat Rider.”

Reiner stands absolutely resolute.

“Rider, activate your Noble Phantasm.”

As if entranced, Rider’s hands raised and flickered about almost as if she was performing a dance but our bewilderment was snatched away with a huge thunder crack.
Looking up into the night sky, a huge summoning circle was adrift in mid-air that almost appeared to be formed out of blood.

Another crack.

A figure begins to form in the skies. Large, reptilian, multiple heads, like something out of a nightmare.

“When hope is lost,
Break this lock,
Tear the skies.
This is what I have wrought-”

A third explosion in the sky but this time of fire, it was far louder and more explosive, knocking Rider out of her trance as all of us were looking into the stars.

A fireball. The first of many that now rained upon the seal as a dark misty figure illuminated by the stars flew towards it at high speed, continually firing upon the seal.

“Caster!”

Now reaching the centre of the seal, Caster flew straight into it from the temple with a glow emanating forth from them.

“He’s disrupting the summoning. I can’t bring it forth.”

As Reiner’s face turned to shock, he turned round we could see Risa and Atsusui running in tow.

Atsusui raises his hand and a dark spike immediately pierces outwards of Reiner’s body, skewering his from the inside out.

The summoning circle vanishes imminently as Rider seemingly warps to her Masters side.

“I can likely defeat them all in these woods, but I wouldn’t be able to save you.”

…

“Fall back.”

“-Wait!”

Reiner looks at me, not with hatred, not superiority, but a grudging… respect perhaps.

“A familiar attacked as which is how Father disappeared. We haven’t seen any around the temple. How did you do it?”

A weak chuckle.

“Di-did you think I’d send something that could be linked back out to me? No, it was no familiar but I paid a fool well for her efforts. She may still be in town if you’re fast, you may like who it is."

With that the three of them retreat, vanishing as soon as they came, that curious spike that stabbed Reiner falling to the ground.



“Thank you” Atsusui says earnestly, as Risa runs to me and helps pull me to my feet with Lancer.



“I couldn’t find him. Your Father’s long gone.” Risa whispers.

“This co-operation has been most excellent.” Atsusui continues, not hearing Risa in the slightest. “After we’ve all recuperated, we can discuss future co-operation till the finale of this all. Now, we’ll be taking our temple as promised. Your services are no longer required for the evening.

===============

1). Leave and let your temporary allies take the superior territory, you don't need it
2). Ask to stay with him, we could both benefit from more of an alliance
3). Fight Atsusui and claim the temple for yourself, alliance over and a powerful enemy is gone
4). Write in!

2 Command Seals Remain

Well this was all fun wasn't it? Got it done much quicker than I thought I would. Either way, a new fresh day will be starting soon.