Chapter Text
It happened right as we were beginning to corner the Nameless King. A shock like electricity ran through me and I knew at that moment that my contract with Pete was gone. The flow of mana was completely cut off all at once. I would not be able to perform another Hornet Trace, and above all else, I would vanish in just a few hits. I had to go find out what happened. It was while I was hesitating, debating on whether to run off, that I was caught unaware by an attack from that Nameless King.
I was knocked back by a small tempest, and he stood before me, weapon brimming crackling sunlight and death.
“And now it ends,” the Nameless King said as he prepared an overhead slash. I wouldn’t be able to avoid it. I readied my twin swords to block what I could. There was a flash of blue as the Ivory King moved to intercept, clashing blades with the enemy yet again.
“A true warrior kills his enemy on their feet, sir disgraced god,” the Ivory King said, pushing back against the controller of the storm. The Nameless King glided backwards a short distance.
“I have to retreat, something happened to my master,” I called out.
“Then there’s no helping it. I think you and the fiery one ought to leave now. I don’t know how many more lives the poor guy has, aha. Also, it was fun fighting alongside a Knight of Gwyn. It was…everything I’d dreamed it’d be,” the Ivory King said as he prepared to perform some other attack. He locked eyes with the Nameless King and said, “You were right. A hero is all I’ll ever be, and that’s enough to defeat you. SILENT ORACLE’S SEALING.”
At the chant of that noble phantasm, a blizzard burst forth from the ivory sword in his hands, launching me and the Fume Knight back across the street with blasts of icy wind. A wall of ice rapidly rose in the space created, winding and twisting into a sphere around the two kings. The ice sphere, which was iridescent like crystals, swelled in thickness and swirled with the magic of souls until we couldn’t see through it. Spanning over a hundred feet across, it was a perfect barrier that kept anyone from interfering in the one-on-one combat inside. A moment later, flashes of blue and gold could be made out through the translucent wall.
I was worried for the Ivory King fighting on his own. Despite his boasts, there was a limit to what a person could do against a monster like Lord Gwyn’s own firstborn, a literal god of war. I had to shelve those thoughts for now, and find out what happened to Pete.
Leaving the Fume Knight behind, who was trying in futility to crack the ice, I jumped across rooftops to where I’d left the rats. As I approached I saw a scene of carnage in a square between buildings. If they’d been slaughtered, then my role in this war was forfeit. I’d fade away within the hour. There was no sign of them in this area, but I sensed people nearby. I turned a corner and ran into Lenny and Mang-Chi.
“Lenny! What happened to Pete?” I asked. Already, I could feel myself begin to weaken considerably.
“That idiot!? Who cares about him,” Lenny said, sniffling and rubbing her nose, “he got his one way ticket out of here and he’s gone now!”
“What? My contract with him was broken. What happened?” I asked again.
“He broke the contract himself. The index told him to, so he could join them. He’s gone, and he left us here!” Lenny shouted. She turned and walked away from me.
“I…see. What do you want to do, Lenny?” I asked.
“Mang-Chi and I are going back to gut harvesting. This whole thing was idiotic, anyway. I shouldn’t even be here,” Lenny said over her shoulder, and Mang-Chi nodded his head in agreement.
“Lenny, I can’t maintain my form in this world without a contract. Let’s form one. With the Holy Chalice, you could have your lifelong wish granted,” I suggested.
The moment I finished speaking, Lenny snapped around and glared at me. She opened her mouth to speak and then closed it again. She squeezed her eyes shut in frustration and clenched her fists, growing visibly more upset by the second. Mang-Chi took a few short steps back.
“All of you just want to keep throwing these words in my face. Dreams, wishes, goals. I’m sick of it already. People like us don’t get to dream! We don’t get to reach for happiness! Not in this city. Pete didn’t do anything right to achieve his dream, he just got lucky. Some of us don’t get that, and I’m sick of trying. Leave me alone!” Lenny said, nearly in tears.
“Lenny…I’ll do all the fighting in the war. I’m one of the four strongest knights in history. You don’t even want to try?” I asked hesitantly. The tips of my fingers were growing transparent by this point, but I barely registered it.
“I don’t even want to try!? I ALREADY FAILED! This fucking dream you all keep holding over my head is gone! I failed. The exam ended a long time ago. I don’t get another chance, you fucking idiot. Go ask Mang-Chi to be your master. I’m going to survive doing the only thing I’m good for,” Lenny shouted, struggling to hold back the tears forming. She turned and walked away again.
“I…also just want to go back to harvesting guts, miss Ciaran. Sorry,” Mang-Chi said sheepishly before following behind Lenny.
I was at a loss for words. The Chalice system gave me a general understanding of the modern world but I was missing a lot of context. Exam? My gut instinct told me it had to be related to the exams to become a fixer, but I was confused. Lenny was a ‘rat’ with aspirations of joining a syndicate. That’s what they all said. Why would the fixer licensing exam come up? Did Lenny want to be a fixer?
I didn’t know the answer, but there was one thing I did know. It had started as a feeling of suspicion that was all but confirmed now that I’d spoken to Lenny without Pete nearby. Every servant is summoned into this world using an artifact as a medium. The more relevant to the servant the artifact was, the closer they would be summoned to their full power. Aside from their aptitude for magic being subpar, I’d been summoned with no additional deficiencies. This meant that the artifact they used could only be one of a few things, and the wielder of it had to be…
“Lenny!” I shouted after her. When she didn’t turn around, I continued, “Just tell me one thing! You told me you like to collect little keepsakes. You keep them in that little bag you have, right? In that bag, there’s a ring with the carving of a hornet on it, isn’t there!?”
Lenny halted in her footsteps, but refused to turn around. Her hand hovered near her bag whether she realized it or not.
“It’s there, isn’t it!? That ring is the reason I was summoned, Lenny! Maybe Pete was the one who performed the ritual in the end, but it was supposed to be you! You were the one who was meant to be my master!” I shouted at her.
She turned around with a look of misery on her face, a look that said she just wanted the relief of being able to give up. It was the same look I saw on the surface of the water lapping the shore around Oolacile. Artorias charged headfirst into that ruinous abyss and I couldn’t keep up. In the end, it wasn’t even me who pulled his soul back out of it. What I would have given to just be able to find some peace of mind during those days.
“You once asked aloud how well I stand up to modern fixers, right? Let’s go find that out together. Let’s not even climb the ranks. We’ll jump straight to the top, and the Hana association will be forced to acknowledge you whether they like it or not. I just know we could do it, if that’s what you want, Lenny?” I asked, as twinkling specks of mana flew off of me like dust in this alley.
I was out of time to stay in this world. With nothing left to anchor me here, I could feel my form fade away with increasing speed. I don’t know what effect my words had on her, but with no other options, I reached out my hand to that girl who now clutched her little bag of wonders in both hands. With a frown like a mix of dread and the exhaustion of a lifetime spent unfulfilled, Lenny met my eyes. Overwhelmingly, what I saw in her eyes was a doubt she’d learned would protect her. After some deliberation, the cloud behind her eyes dimmed ever so slightly. She reached out her hand, and I stopped fading away.