One failure too many... [open]

[scorchedchivalry]

Characters: Saber (Alter) and YOU
Setting: Floor 48 (Graveyard)
Format: Action (but I'll match)
Summary: Saber finds Irisviel's gravestone and loses control of her emotions
Warnings: Violence - ANY SERVANT ENTERING THE GRAVEYARD HAS A REAL CHANCE OF DYING VIA EXCALIBUR


[She should be used to not being allowed to have the things she wanted. After all those years being king, denying her emotions, ruling fairly and justly, and the time spent watching her once master with the woman she loved... she should be used to to it. Everything was always taken from her, no matter what she did to try and hold onto it.

Avalon, her kingdom, her knights, her ideals, her trust, her faith... All of it taken away because of her own failures. She'd lost Irisviel in the Fourth War, but had been granted a second chance with her. And yet, she still couldn't have what she wanted for Kiritsugu's ghost lingered even now, even here in the Tower, staying Saber's hand, making her swallow her emotion - her love - for the woman in white. Again, she had tried to be content as nothing more than Irisviel's knight and leave it at that. But it had been so hard with the taint of Angra Mainyu within her, making her feel all those emotions she suppressed so clearly. So, the knight had found other outlets to keep Irisviel pure, to not let her purity be stained by Saber's corruption. And Irisviel was a married woman; Saber could not and would not do what had been done to her back in Camelot. Circumstances may have been different then, but her honor would not allow her to walk the path Lancelot did.

But when Saber could not find Irisviel and instead found the gravestone bearing her name, everything came crashing down upon her at once.

Failure... failure... failure... She'd failed to keep Irisviel safe again. She'd failed to make her princess happy. She'd failed in her duty as a knight. Again.

Again.

Again.

Again.

Again.

Small moments of happiness, all she could ever have, were taken from her again. The one person who understood her as well as, if not better, than herself had disappeared. The loneliness inside of the Saber was a dark and hollow place. She was always lonely and in that emptiness surrounding her heart, Angra Mainyu sat and twisted and squeezed and poisoned Saber's heart. All the Evil of the World wrapped about Saber's core and fed on that emotion she suppressed.

Betrayal.

Failure.

Hatred.

Anger.

Sorrow.

Pain.

Longing.

Rage.

The longer Saber stood there looking down at the stone bearing the name of Irisviel von Einzbern, the more the taint coiled in that kernel of emotion.

Rage.

The evidence of her failure was right before her. The Tower Administrators were rubbing it right into her face.

Rage.

Mocking her. Taunting her. As if she wasn't suffering from self-castigation knowing her failure had sent Irisviel straight back to her death.

Rage.

Such an apt symbol of her failure - this gravestone - knowing Irisviel's fate. But it wasn't a real stone. Irisviel's body wasn't there underneath it. Irisviel had become the Holy Grail. The very thing Kiritsugu forced her against her will to destroy.

Rage.

She'd been the one to destroy Irisviel, to end her existence, commanded to by the man who supposedly loved her. Did he even love her as much as Saber did? Did he even acknowledge that she was there... And now, now, Irisviel was gone again. It was just like Saber had cleaved her in half again. The gravestone started to look to Saber like it was covered in mud as her emotions grew inside.

Rage.

Angra Mainyu coiled tighter and the emotionless king couldn't be emotionless anymore. She hated this place. Hated the stone before her. Hated the way everything she touched corroded and disintegrated. Her kingdom, her wishes, her desires, her hopes, her goals, her dreams... All of them crumbled in her grasp.

Rage.

Legend may call her a great king, the Once and Future King, that lead Britain to a time of golden prosperity, but she knew what she really was. She wasn't the King of Knights. She was the King of Nothing. Nothing... nothing... but RAGE.

Corrupt, dark prana flooded the graveyard then as the red marks of Angra Mainyu spread up Saber's neck and along her jaw and her armor materialized. Visor sliding down to cover her eyes, the black knight had little to no control over her prana, over her anger, as she raised her right hand.]



Excalibur.



[The black sword, tainted with her own corruption and pulling on the dark side of the fae, was summoned into hand. No Invisible Wind obscured the blade from sight. It glowed with a pulsing red and the swirling of dark violet prana around Saber traveled up the sword and then back down in opposite to the pulsing of the red.

She was the King of Nothing and Fuyuki City had been nothing. Her kingdom had become nothing. Her heart was well on its way to becoming nothing. Nothing but rage.

This graveyard should be NOTHING.

With a tremendous surge of prana, Saber activated her Noble Phantasm. The sword in her hand grew in length until it was hard to tell exactly how long it was. Power and corruption crackled along its length as the black knight wielded it like it was also nothing. The rage Angra Mainyu was squeezing out of her black heart was manifest in this version of her Noble Phantasm. Vortigern had indeed been a vile king of Britain before her father. His infamy was almost as famous as her legend.

She would smash everything to nothing. So it would be just like her. Just as all should be. Nothing. Then there would be nothing left to lose. Nothing left to fail.

Nothing.

And with that, Saber swung Excalibur and leveled the entire row of gravestones, Irisviel's included. Clearing a swath, she took another step and turned, cutting another row. Two more rows later, she turned back and saw that name on a stone behind her.

Irisviel von Einzbern.

Rage in her grew and she let out a primal scream as she cut the stone down again. Every few seconds, it would return, as did any other she destroyed. The more they returned, the more she was fueled by emotion to destroy them. Destroy them all.

Nothing... She wanted this place to be nothing. Why did it refuse to end? Unable to answer her own rage-filled question, Saber furiously destroyed row of gravestones after gravestones. It was unending. Neverending.

The stones just kept coming back...]

Comments

[doesnotgetit]

"Become" nothing...? [Ouch. Low blow. She's not really sure if Saber realized just what that meant to Hakuno, but still... it hurt.] I already am nothing. Or... I will be. I would be. I don't know... being pulled from my world as my being was being deleted kind of messes up how I view myself.

[scorchedchivalry]

[Saber had no idea what effect her words had on Hakuno. She wasn't aware of much regarding the Mooncell War.]

Then you can be yet another of my subjects as I am the King of Nothing. Be gone.

[And she turns back to destroying the stones, working away from Hakuno. The rage was making it harder and harder to control her attacks and not lash out at those that could feel pain like she did.]

[doesnotgetit]

Sorry, I'm going to have to ignore that request.

[She gets to her feet, moving slowly and keeping a safe distance behind Saber - close enough to talk to her, but far enough to (hopefully) not be surprised by any attacks.]

I don't really have much experience comforting people... usually it's the other way around. But I do know that leaving someone who's in pain alone is usually a bad idea.

And being in pain because you lost someone you really cared about is something I know quite well by now. I can't say I completely understand you, but... that much much I can understand.

[scorchedchivalry]

The longer you stay, the less I will be able to direct my rage. Do not be Shirou. Get away from me.

Now.

[doesnotgetit]

But I can't. I know we don't know each other well, but I still know you better than I know a lot of the other people in this tower. And I don't want to just leave when you're like this.

I'll just... stop talking if you want. Or stay by the stairs or something. There has to be something outside of leaving I can do to help...

[scorchedchivalry]

Can you bring her back? No!

[Another slash at the Tower walls.]

Will you die if you stay here? Yes. Do not linger that long. I do not want to be responsible for an idiot's death.

[doesnotgetit]

But doing this won't bring her back either! So what's the point? All you're doing is upping your chances of the administrators trapping you in some horrible punishment.

[It's here that Hakuno braces herself. She's not sure how Saber will react to this, but there might be a chance that what she says next could get her killed.] Do... do you really think this woman you loved would want you to be doing this? If she accepted you as her knight, that must have meant she cared about you as well! Do you honestly believe someone who cares about you would want to see you losing yourself to rage like this?

[scorchedchivalry]

Punishment is what I deserve for failing her. Again.

[Another cut at the walls before Saber turns and is suddenly there right before Hakuno, picking her up by the neck again.]

The one she cared about was the King of Knights, not the King of Nothing. The silver knight, not the black one. The one of legend, not the one of reality.

[It looks like Saber is heading toward the staircase. If Hakuno won't leave, she'll make her leave.]

[doesnotgetit]

[Shit, her neck's going to be one gigantic bruise when this is over, won't it...]

B-But she stuck around you, right... [Again, she refrains from flailing about, but she still clamps her hands onto Saber's arm as hard as she can, just above the blackened metal gauntlet] That has to mean something!

[scorchedchivalry]

<>[Saber stops then and, for a moment, Hakuno would feel the arm holding her shaking a little.]

She said she did not care...

[There was a softness in her voice as she said that. And then the red rage came back and she started walking again.]

But I do. I am nothing.

[doesnotgetit]

[No, she didn't miss that tremble at all. Her grip loosens ever so slightly, less a desperate clinging and now just a firm grip. It's hard to make it feel like she's offering a touch of support to the Servant while she drags Hakuno the way she does, but damn if she won't try.]

Can't you just... trust what she says...? H-Her feelings should matter too...!

[scorchedchivalry]

They do, but she is not here. I failed her. Again.

[Saber drops Hakuno on the stairs and turns back.]

Stay there if you must, but do not interfere. Someone more capable will come. One who truly understands what I feel.

[doesnotgetit]

[It hurts a little to breathe, after being manhandled twice like that, but Hakuno doesn't complain once, even after being dumped on the stairs.]

Just because she's not here doesn't mean you shouldn't keep her words in mind. [She does as Saber says, staying put (for the moment) and pulling her knees up to her chest, but she's still not going to ignore Saber.] Whether they're dead, back in their own worlds, or... somewhere in between, you can't just forget about the feelings of the people that matter the most to you. It's okay to vent, because venting is a lot better than bottling up your hurt or anger... but in the long-run, you have to keep living like those people would want you to.

[scorchedchivalry]

Then be silent and let me 'vent'.

[Spoken as she walked away to come to the freshly restored gravestones. And within moments, she's destroying them again.]

[doesnotgetit]

[She can't help but sigh at that.]

I guess I should have said "vent in a way that won't get you in trouble"...

[scorchedchivalry]

[It was too late for that. Saber made a point to venture far enough into the floor to be out of sight of the stairs, away from Hakuno. Yes, the girl would still be able to hear and feel her wrath, but she'd be safe.

...and that would be when she encountered Lancer. Hakuno may have felt the battle that took less than thirty seconds before the knight moved on.]

[doesnotgetit]

[Oh yes, she felt it alright. It would be hard to not feel that insane amount of power, Master or not. Hakuno is smart enough to stay where she is during that short amount of time, but once the battle is over, her curiosity gets the better of her, and she slowly ventures to where Saber is again.

... And of course, she spots the dead body nearby, and can't keep the the look of shock across her face.]

Wha... what happened...

[scorchedchivalry]

[Less of a dead body and more of a meaty explosion that will quickly fade as all bodies in the Tower did.]

Enemy Servant.

[Because, in the end, all Servants were enemy servants.]

[doesnotgetit]

I... see...

[It's kind of confusing, trying to understand why a Servant would just attack another here, without a war to fight... It's horrible that whoever this was had to die like this, but she can understand that some just can't get along.]

Did someone really try to attack you in the state you're in?

[scorchedchivalry]

Some do not know to stay away. Not all have intelligence.

[doesnotgetit]

[Hakuno sort of has to agree with what Saber's saying here. Though she doesn't really like the whole killing thing... she's not exactly going to defend someone who was trying to provoke such a dangerous person.]

Why were they trying to pick a fight with you? They should have known that it would be suicide.

[scorchedchivalry]

I do not know. Anyone with use of half their mind should have stayed away.

[doesnotgetit]

[Hakuno opens her mouth to respond, but then pauses.] I guess if I were to agree with you, then you'd probably tell me I'm also foolish for not staying away, huh?

[scorchedchivalry]

I will tell you anyways. You are foolish for not staying away. I suggest you take yourself elsewhere. I do not want to remove you again myself.

[doesnotgetit]

[She rubs her neck, where the dark bruises from Saber's earlier mishandling are already blooming.]

... Will it be okay to come find you later? When you've vented a bit more?