24Hello everybody, welcome to the revised version of Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Odin Sphere. My efforts to revise this work have proven to bear fruit, and I hope that this time, I can actually give you all the new and improved direction I promised.
This time, the backstory's a little different, as well as the time where this fic takes place. The latter will be elaborated as the story goes on, but let's say for now on the former my Fate series has a lot more influence on the plot, though still not enough that I'd recommend reading them as a requirement.
But enough of this pointless rambling, let's get on to why you're all here! To all of my previous readers, I thank you for coming back! To my new viewers, happy to have you! On with the disclaimer!
Disclaimer: Odin Sphere and Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha are property of Vanillaware and Altus, and Masaki Tsuzuki and Seven Arcs respectively. On a lesser note, due to references throughout, Fate Stay Night and Puella Magi Madoka Magica are property of Type-Moon and affiliated parties, and Gen Urobuchi and affiliated parties.
I hope you guys enjoy!
A second chance.
A new beginning and chance to do something over. To have an opportunity to make amends for your failures and wrongdoings. It is perhaps the greatest mercy a person can be given, for how many are allowed the chance for forgiveness, to atone for past mistakes by fixing them personally. Many deserve it, few actually succeed.
But what determines who is worthy of such a thing? Is it fate or perhaps random chance? Is it something to be given or earned?
Questions like those haunt the minds of many a person, but none so much as those had second chances, yet felt they didn't deserve them.
In another world, a world both similar and yet utterly alien to what people consider 'normal', there exists a group of beings who believe in giving others second chances, second chances to fight for what's right and help correct the wrongs of the multiverse. Known as the Ordinis Sancti Gladius (OSG), they are a bizarre and varied organization, yet few who know of them can deny their ability.
Being personal friends with a old man who can essentially tear open portals to alternate realities and has no problem using them with impunity tends to give one a rep among the higher powers.
However, this tale is not about this group as a whole, but rather on how two of its members found themselves pulled into a bizarre adventure in an unknown universe by that crazy old man due to a "favor" needing to be fulfilled. And on this journey, they would find their abilities and very core beliefs tested by the inhabitants of this strange new dimension, as well as their own growing feelings for it.
It's said everybody deserves a second chance, but what about a third? And for that matter, how do we know when we truly have a 'second chance'?
Edgar Silverstein, leader of OSG, stood alone in a secret room hidden underneath the headquarters of their organization and in front of the crystal monument located in the very center, silent as he gazed long and hard within its depths, as had become his custom whenever he visited. The room itself seemed to be carved of same pure crystal found solely within the most remote regions of the world, a veritable and beautiful display that reflected light that seemed to have no visible source. Across the polished mirror-like faces images flickered and repeated at random intervals, occasionally of the room and its occupants, sometimes of places on the other side of the world, people that Edgar was familiar with or had no clue to the identity of, even events that seemed to have already happened or perhaps were still waiting to occur.
And yet the crystal in the center of the room was the true item that drew one's attention, for there was someone within it, visible thanks to some internal light within it. A teenage girl, perhaps fourteen or so, with blue hair and dressed in what appeared to be a white jacket with a navy-blue undershirt was trapped within the object like a fly in amber, her lower body completely obscured from sight due to the light not penetrating there. She appeared to be sleeping, peacefully at that if the smile on her face was any indication.
But the smile did not fool him. If anything, it made his sadness at being unable to find a way to wake her even more potent. His eyes turned upon the one aberration in the flawless design: A black jewel that could fit in the palm of one's hand, surrounded by a silver-grey casing with a crescent moon formed on the front.
This was all that remained of the being once known as Sayaka Miki, one of his youngest and most promising recruits. He and his comrades had saved her from a literal hell on earth, seemingly one of two survivors of a great battle with an opponent he could only imagine the full strength of personally. The other had refused to come with them, stating she still had a final promise to fulfill. The girl had grown quickly into her new role, and he had once had hopes she would eventually become one of their greatest members.
But then came the accident, all because he underestimated what he was throwing her into on that mission, and in the end he had been forced to do the unthinkable to her (or rather, what was left of her) to save countless innocent lives. Now she lied here entombed, a reminder of his own mistakes and a constant subject of his efforts to make things right again.
Edgar was not a normal man. His white-grey/white-blond hair, natural despite him appearing merely in his twenties or so, and his mismatched eyes of brown and green instantly marked him from 'ordinary' people. His black pinstriped suit, complete with red undershirt and matching tie and shoes, made it apparent he had an appreciation for a few of the finer things in life and placed some value in the idea of a good appearance. However, those well-to-do garments hid the lean and hardened muscles of a fighter, and his eyes were those of a man who had seen and experienced far more than people seemingly thrice his age.
An apt description, for the simple reality was that Edgar Silverstein had walked this earth for nearly 150 years. Originally from a different world, a separate universe, and brought here by magic and the promise of a miracle, he had fought in a great war of magi and heroes for the sake gaining that fabled second chance denied to both him and those close to him. In the end, the prize was destroyed before his very eyes, and he would have taken his own life then and there had he not met an old man with uncanny powers, who gave him a new reason to live, his true second chance.
He had forged the group known as OSG in an effort to provide others with a similar chance, as well as ensure that fewer people would need such a chance in the first place. From all walks of life, species and even dimensions, these lucky persons had become a force to be reckoned with, dedicated to the idea of righting the multiverse's wrongs.
Heroes, some called them. He liked to think they were just doing what any decent creatures should.
And yet, they couldn't save everyone, as much as he would like to think they could. Sometimes they couldn't even save themselves.
"...Hey Sayaka," he greeted the being within the crystal. "It's been a long time since we've talked, huh? A year, I'd say. "
Silence, but he was expecting no less. It had become a tradition of his to speak to her. It always seemed that, to him at least, she understood him regardless.
"Things have been going fine with us, more or less. Starrk's been sleeping on the job and Lyn's beating him up for it, while Anderson and Enhance are trying to see who can rack up the most Dead Apostle kills before the year's up. Harbinger's been hunting some giant killer crab out in Japan, and Logan's been off doing his own little thing."
He paused, smiling a little bit as he continued. "Still, I bet you never would have saw this one coming: Chryssie and Trixie actually got together recently. Didn't take them for the types to like other women, but I'm happy for them either way. Speaking of love matters, Maka and Soul have been doing great with their kid, Spirit, just like Giro and Jeanne with Sieg. Noel's even been giving one of our newer recruits the eye recently."
He chuckled. "It's like everybody suddenly got hit with the love bug. Remember that kid I told you about about a decade or so ago? Shirou Emiya? He's been doing surprisingly well since the War was finished, even started up a family with the girl of his dreams. They have a kid on the way, if I'm not mistaken."
The humor left him, returning to his previously sober attitude. "I wish you could see it all for yourself though, instead of just waiting in here for me to find a way to help you."
The girl within the crystal was not dead; or rather, not in the sense that most understood death. Her body, even when she was 'alive', was nothing but a walking corpse of sorts. Her consciousness, her soul, had in fact stored within the previously mentioned black jewel, or rather what it had once been, a direct result of whatever process she had gone through in her own world to give her her unique powers. Granted, that was before it had undergone its tranformation into its current form, but the fact remained that so longed as it existed, there still stood a chance of bringing her back.
And even then, he was certain she was still here, at least in some form. The fact that there always seemed to be the faint sound of violin music playing in the background of this room with no discernible source and the fact the images the walls displayed were sometimes of events that had happened while was a still a member was enough proof for him that she was still 'alive' in some form.
The problem was that even after over three decades, he had come no closer to finding an answer to bringing her back.
And so, Edgar spent what seemed like the next few hours simply talking to the suspended girl, speaking on various topics like new recruits, interesting events and how things were. Eventually, it devolved into rambling and musings, but even those came to an end after a while. Finally, he sighed quietly and gave her the crystal one last look.
"Take care of yourself, okay Sayaka?"
He said it despite not knowing she wouldn't answer.
"I think she'll be quite fine."
Of course, that didn't mean he wasn't expecting a reply in general.
Edgar didn't bother to look behind him, keeping his eyes forward. "I wasn't expecting to see you here of all places."
The voice, an old man's yet still full of almost youthful exuberance, chuckled. "To be fair, it's been three days since anyone's seen you last on the outside. I got bored after the first one. Three days was pure torture."
"Bored? You?" Edgar asked, barely hiding his sarcasm behind wonderment. "I'm surprised I didn't receive a message from Lyn telling me to run for the hills."
This time, laughter. "Ah, Oswald, you always did know how to make an old fool laugh."
Only now did Edgar turn to face his visitor. He was greeted to the sight of a tall old man, built powerfully and standing straight despite the silver cane in his grip. His shaggy hair and thick beard were gray in color, though it seemed less out of age and more out of extreme stress of some sort, and his red eyes twinkled with a sort of mischief that usually meant something bad was about to happen to someone. He was clad in nearly all black with white and gold trimmings on his suit and cape, and he had an aura of power that seemed to scream at whoever was looking at him 'don't mess with him, no matter what'.
This man was known as Kischur Zelretch Schweinorg, Wizard Marshal and wielder of the legendary Second Magic Kaleidoscope, the ability to control the passage to parallel worlds. He was also one of the Dead Apostle Ancestors, the most powerful vampires on the face of the planet and thus one of the strongest existences in the entire world.
Yet more often than not he had the mentality and maturity of a five-year-old, intentionally trolling most anyone whenever the mood struck him. And oh so often did it strike him.
"What are you doing here, Zelretch?" Edgar asked, not bothering to comment on the usage of his real name. He had long ago learned that Zelretch did what Zelretch does, and it just wasn't worth the effort to deal with something trivial like that.
"Just paying a visit to an old friend," the vampire replied, coming closer while also taking in the sight of the room around him. "I must say though, this place always manages to catch my attention whenever I pay a visit. Even in all my travels, I've rarely caught sight of a location such as this."
"Glad you like it," Edgar responded. "That still doesn't explain why you couldn't have just waited until I went out to come and see me."
Zelretch shrugged. "Like I said, I was bored and didn't feel like waiting."
Edgar sighed. 'Bored' and 'Zelretch' were two words that really shouldn't be together unless with a 'Not'. Because when a person who can tear wholes into parallel worlds gets bored and has a bad habit of screwing other people over for no real reason...things start getting weird.
"If you want entertainment, find it somewhere else," he told the wizard. "Don't you have a student you can mess with?"
"Two of them, actually," Zelretch answered with a smile. "But I've messed with them enough already for the week. Little Rin can't even look at cows the same anymore, and I'm pretty sure that Luvia girl will never want to touch a sheep after what happened with the wool..."
"I don't need details," Edgar interrupted him," but I don't feel like getting involved in one of your mad schemes. Ask one of my men if they're up for it."
The old man then held up a finger. "Ah ah ah, that's where you're wrong Oswald, because this time, I need your help specifically. Don't think of this as a scheme, but think of it as...a favor."
"The only time I do you favors is when I owe you something," Edgar countered. "You taught me that lesson personally, and I don't recall owing you anything as of recently."
Zelretch explosively sighed. "You're no fun, Ozzie," he whined while rolling his eyes, but then he started reaching into his pocket. "But then again, that's what makes you so reliable. And that's also why I'm giving you a reason to owe me a favor right now, so this benefits both of us right off the bat."
"And that would be?" Edgar slowly asked, watching Zelretch's hand like it was a cobra about to strike. For all he knew, it could be anything from a world-destroying explosive to a rubber chicken. You could never really tell with the Wizard Marshal.
"Hold on a moment," he grumbled as he rummaged about for a few seconds. "I know I put it here somewhere...maybe it was my other robe? No, it was definitely here...wait a...got it!" He pulled out his hand and thrust it towards Edgar dramatically. "THIS is what that would be!"
The young man simply stared at the object in question. "...A wand?"
The powerful wizard looked down at the object in question dumbfounded. "...Kaleidostick Ruby, how did you get in there?" Without a pause he stuffed it into his other pocket and went back to the original, rummaging about again. Once more, he pulled his hand back out. "Alright, this time I'm sure! THIS is what that would be!"
He opened his hand, revealing a small object in the center of his palm. It was a small diamond-shaped jewel, blue in color and seemed to have an eye-design of sorts. Edgar, however, wasn't very impressed: It was very pretty, yes, but aside from that it didn't look much more important than a small trinket to keep or perhaps sell.
Zelretch noticed his expression though and chuckled. "Don't see it for what it appears, but what it is." He made a dramatic flourish with his other hand towards it. "Use those 'super-senses' your friend Starrk taught you to use. You'll see."
Edgar rolled his eyes at the term, but complied. Closing his eyes, he reached out with his ability to sense spiritual power (which boiled essentially down to a person's life-force), and by extension, magic energy, and touched the jewel in Zelretch's hand.
His eyes snapped open as he came into contact with what seemed like a lake of pure power, snatching his hand back like it was on fire. He looked at the old wizard, who was looking back at him with an amused expression.
"What is that, and for that matter, where did you get something like this?"
He shrugged. "Eh, randomly found it in the Void between dimensions. I go there on occasion when I feel contemplative about the universe. No idea how that one ended up in that specific spot exactly, BUT..." he added while waving a finger, "it comes from the very place I need you to go for me."
"As for what it is, the people from that dimension call them 'Jewel Seeds'. Ring any bells?"
"Can't say it does," Edgar replied. While OSG had gone to many universes in its time, thanks to the usage of the very magic Zelretch commanded, they had touched but a grain of sand on the beaches of the multiverse. Countless dimensions still laid beyond them, much less the permutations of those dimensions. As such, to come across a relic from an unknown universe honestly didn't surprise him. Hell, he was willing to bet even Zelretch hadn't visited even a thousandth of the potential universes in all his centuries of using the Second Magic. "But exactly why are you carrying around an artifact that has enough stored magical power to blow up the entire OSG compound even from where we are underground?"
Zelretch snorted. "Just this building? Oswald, I have artifacts stored in my socks that could blow up all of London if I wasn't careful. As for why I'm carrying it, like I said, it's part of my payment for you taking this job."
"'Job' now, is it?" Edgar asked. "As intrigued as I am that you would offer something like this as payment, I have to ask: Exactly what sort of use would I have of something this dangerous? And secondly, what's so goddamn important that you'd try and butter me up like this?"
Not that Edgar was complaining. Something like this could be unbelievably useful to have someday, but he still wanted to know what would be so important that Zelretch would offer something like this when he would usually just grab you and throw you into the world without so much as a 'By your leave'. No, there was some reason he was smoothing the deal like this, and he wanted to know why.
Zelretch in answer, sighed, losing his grin. That alone caught Edgar's attention. When someone like Zelretch stops smiling and it's not because he's annoyed, it means that something serious is about to be said.
"...Firstly, that Jewel Seed isn't for you," he began, pointing a finger. "It's for her."
Edgar turned his head, looking back at the sealed form of Sayaka, then back to the jewel, glinting with an almost taunting light. A billion questions immediately surfaced in his mind, along with a sneaking suspicion on exactly why Zelretch had decided to confront him here instead of outside.
"Explain," he said simply, keeping his voice carefully neutral.
"This jewel is what some of that world refer to as a 'Lost Logia', an artifact of great and mysterious power. This is only one of twenty-one different Jewel Seeds, as a matter of fact. It is also said that if one pours their wishes into one of these, it will come true, like a certain 'Holy Grail' you and I both remember."
Edgar shuddered briefly. "You're not selling me with that comparison."
"Alright, it was in bad tastes, but the fact remains. Even one of these things alone can do some pretty crazy things. I saw one turn a tree into a giant forest, for example, or give life to solid stone or even water. If you were to use this upon Sayaka's Grief Seed..."
"I could wake her up," Edgar finished, glancing back down at it. Suddenly, a light of hope seemed to sprout within his heart, the chance to atone for one of his mistakes too tempting to pass up. All of a sudden, the need to take on an extremely dangerous assignment for the old vampire didn't seem that bad in comparison.
"Well, that or turn her into some extremely powerful nightmare that could kill us both without batting an eye, but the odds of that happening in comparison are a billion to one," Zelretch replied. "Use it right now if you want to. I won't stop you, for who am I to deny you a chance to save a life?"
Edgar's hand was already moving towards it unthinkingly, but he caught himself at the last moment and pulled back, eyeing the Wizard Marshal warily. His previous moment of excitement went back to guarded. "You never answered the other part of my question though."
Zelretch sighed explosively. "Sheesh, nothing gets by you in all these years, huh? Well, to be frank, there's something...odd about this reality."
"Odd?" Edgar repeated, to which the vampire nodded. "How, specifically?"
"Odd as in 'I have no idea what's going on with it'." Noticing his companion's befuddled expression, Zelretch sighed and stopped what he knew was going to be asked. "Look, just because I can travel between worlds doesn't make me omnipotent. I don't know everything about a world, though I do know a damn good deal, but that's because I take the time to observe the 'original' world and learn what makes it tick before I move on to the alternate versions of it. How do you think I can figure out what people of this reality do? It's because I've observed their actions in my own 'home' world or in their original world."
Edgar nodded slowly. It was sometimes hard to forget that the Zelretch in front of him actually came from an entirely different version of this world. He had always wondered there were any alternate Zelretches, or was there only one, randomly popping into each version of this reality? "And something's wrong with this one?"
"Extremely wrong," Zelretch replied. "But not in the sense that 'hero of the original world went batshit-insane in this world and became an edgy and dark anti-hero with a big old harem like something out of a bad fanfic'. I get plenty of those, mostly involving some weird blonde ninja. No, this world was similar to the original world, but there's a certain...outsider stain about it."
"Outsider?"
Zelretch sighed. "Okay, think of it like this. What passes for most alternate realities usually involves some change in choices by its inhabitants, anywhere from choosing not to eat breakfast one morning to choosing to spare a messianic-like figure from public execution. These are changes that resulted from people that belonged to the specific world. However, occasionally you come across worlds that have been influenced by outsiders that were never originally from that dimension, 'dimensional travelers', if you will."
"Like you," Edgar surmised. Zelretch nodded.
"Me, you, OSG, the Doctor, Salem Azal, Rachel Alucard..."
"Who?" Edgar asked in confusion, the last two names unknown to him, but Zelretch waved him off.
"Nothing to worry your head about; you've met them in an alternate 'verse...another 'you', I mean. Pretty funny people when you get to know them." Zelretch replied, then coughed. "But I digress. This particular force is clearly foreign to the world, but unlike any of the mentioned, it seems to be engaged in long-term tampering. Most of the time, us travelers just stay in a place for a day or so, maybe a month or so tops, before moving on, or checking in every now and then. This force has been manipulating events and has stayed within the world for what appears to be nearly a whole decade. And I've got a gut feeling it's not for anything good."
"It usually never is. So you want me to root it out?" Edgar surmised, then shook his head. "That can't be the only reason you came to OSG, and to me specifically. Why can't you do it?"
"Because I recognize this taint. Every world has its own unique 'feel' to it, and all natives to it have this feel about them, even if they arrive in a new universe. After you spend enough time jumping universes and hanging around with those who come from alternate worlds, you develop a knack for sensing these 'feels'."
Edgar felt a strange pit develop in his stomach, a feeling he hadn't had in a long time, as he listened, not liking the implications of the hidden message. "...Are you saying whatever is tampering with this world..."
Zeltretch nodded. "The feel I get is very similar to your own. Who or whatever is doing something to that world came from your universe, or at least a version of it. Who better to deal with such an opponent than someone who's had personal experience with its very origins?"
Edgar was silent.
His world.
He hadn't thought about in years, not since the Fifth Holy Grail War a decade earlier when he summoned his Servant for a chance to fight for the miracle denied him so long ago. Not since the Reaper who had served the corrupt Grail offered him a chance to have everything he had once lost, had offered to bring her back no strings attached, if he would only allow things to take their course to destruction. He had refused, but the option had tempted him like nothing before ever had.
Ever since, it had returned to being a dream of old: To be remembered, but never pursued. Until now, obviously.
"...So, you want to send me to a world where some sort of outside influence, which you think is somehow related to my original world, is negatively affecting the events," he finally stated, looking at the vampire, "and you want me to put things back on track or at least help the people there so it doesn't kill everything in the process, putting my own life and sanity at stake to set things right? And in exchange you'll give me a jewel from this world that will bring Sayaka back to life?"
"That's basically the long and short of it," Zelretch agreed. "So, are you in?"
"...You planned this from the beginning, didn't you?"
"I have no idea what you mean," he answered with a grin. "It was pure coincidence I found you in here and thus could make an offer you couldn't refuse."
"I never said anything about agreeing," Edgar retorted, but then sighed. "However...why not? A vacation killing evil could be good for me right about now." He gave Zelretch the eye before he could say anything though. "I want to see if that gem actually works though."
Zelretch smiled. "I figured you would." Lifting his hand, he placed the Jewel Seed into Edgar's own, its surface faintly glowing in the room's illumination. Edgar gave it a glance before making his way towards Sayaka's crystal, stopping only to look at the girl's peaceful face.
He took a breath. 'Here goes nothing.'
Without hesitating, he brought the blue gem up and touched it to the black one set in the crystal. 'Please,' he thought silently. 'Wake her up. Let me fix one of my many mistakes.'
For a moment, all was silent.
Then the blue jewel exploded with power, causing Edgar to snap his hand back and let go. Instead of falling though, the artifact floated mid-air in a blue glow, which gradually grew brighter and brighter as cerulean lightning sparked about it, leaving him unable to observe properly what was happening.
"Don't worry!" Zelretch yelled, "These things are designed to release more of their power the stronger the will and passion of a wish! We'll be fine!"
As the glow seemed to take on the radiance of a small sun, Edgar was seriously beginning to doubt that, covering his eyes to keep from going blind. Before he did though, he could have sworn that, for a moment, the two jewels seemed to be joining together...
Then came an entirely new sound, one that did not belong to a glowing gem shooting magic or sparking electricity.
It was the sound of crystal breaking.
With an ear-splitting crash the monument shattered apart, bathed completely in the blue light that turned pure white at it seemed to reach its climax. Even Zelretch was forced to look away at what looked like a mini-supernova flashed throughout the room. For what seemed like an eternity to both men, the light persisted before slowly fading into nothingness.
A pregnant pause of silence. Edgar slowly opened his eyes, looking at the spot where the crystal grave had been erected, now gone. Hesitantly, he lowered his gaze to the ground, hope rising in his chest as a gasp of surprise escaped him.
Before him, lying curled up on the floor like she was sleeping, Sayaka's form looked as alive and unharmed as it had been the day he had brought her back from her final mission. It was as if she hadn't aged a minute since, and it she appeared just as she had when she was within the crystal, save for one key difference.
That difference between extremely obvious as he leaned down next to her and cocked his head, ear towards her face. A very faint, warm breeze tickled it, in and out slowly but with increasing strength.
"I'll be damned..." he whispered as he stood up. "It actually worked-" He stopped when he noticed something glowing, right in the palm of her right hand. With extreme slowness and care, he pried her fingers open to gaze at the object.
It was the Jewel Seed...and yet not. Yes, the object definitely glowed with the brilliant light of the gem, but the form was that of Sayaka's blackened gem, still with its specific casing. Only now the dull grey was a brilliant silver, the black now the deep blue of the Jewel Seed. It was as if the two of them had permanently merged into one. Sayaka suddenly groaned softly, reflexively shutting her hand, depriving him of the sight.
"Wow..." he muttered, still unbelieving slightly. This one gem had succeeded in seconds what he couldn't do in decades. 'And Zelretch said there were twenty-one of these things...what the hell could they all do together?'
"Satisfied?"
Edgar broke out of his musings, turning towards the coyly smiling Zelretch, keeping his face neutral. "Yes, very." A moment's silence, then he allowed a smile of gratitude to spread across his face. "Thank you, Zelretch."
The old vampire's own face changed to that of genuine contentment, almost like a kindly grandfather. "No problems whatsoever. So, are you ready?"
Edgar sighed in defeat. "You held up your end of the deal, so it's only fair. You'll tell the others what's going on, right?"
"Of course," Zelretch replied. "I'll take care of everything."
"Then let's do this."
Zelretch grinned playfully as he made a weird pattern in the air with his finger. "Alright then! One-way non-stop travel to a needy dimension for two!"
Edgar blinked. "Wait, what do you mean tw-"
A bright flash of light followed by extreme vertigo cut off whatever he was about to say, and once more Edgar Silverstein found himself traveling through dimensions again...
Zelretch lowered his hand as Edgar dissappeared, his work now done. He then glanced towards where Sayaka had laid unconscious, the sight leaving him satisfied. He turned to leave, but then paused. For a moment, the vampire felt uncharacteristically weary, as if the years had suddenly decided to catch up with him. A frown creased his face as he turned back to stare at the spot where his friend had just stood.
Friend. That was a word Zelretch didn't use to describe people that often, given his age and how few beings who could rival him in that regard were the best conversationalists. However, the leader of OSG had earned that right after everything he had ever been through, and over the decades the Wizard Marshal had stopped seeing him as an entertaining source of thrills and more as a companion to share in the moments of the never-ending well called time.
Now he had thrown him into an adventure the likes of which even he himself didn't know if he was up to the challenge of facing. For the first time in a long time, Zelretch truly wanted to involve himself in directly aiding his friend in his struggle, but he was bound by the very rules he had placed and taken upon himself when he first mastered the Second Magic. For a being such as himself to interfere directly with the workings of a world as would be required would break one of the Kaleidoscope's secret taboos, known only those who mastered it, and there were punishments for doing so.
His predecessor had learned that the hard way.
All he could was give what support he could to the only one he felt had the best chance of success, and he had already done that. Now was simply the time to observe...and hope.
"Oswald Edgarson," he whispered to himself, using Edgar's full real name as a sign of respect. "I wish you the best of luck...and I hope you can forgive me for what I've done. You won't stand a chance otherwise."
With a final glance about the crystal room, noting how it seemed to have dimmed since the main crystal's destruction, the Wizard Marshal took his leave.
The room was left cold and lifeless, not a single soul remaining nor any sign that living beings had occupied it.
Not even where until the moment Edgar Silverstein had vanished, Sayaka Miki had lain still unconscious.
Dimensional travel by the Second Magic is not the most pleasant of experiences. First there's a tugging feeling in the gut, minor at first before getting increasingly harder and harder, then the traveler has the sudden sensation of vertigo, like they spent too much spinning around in place, only multiplied by ten. Then comes a feeling of displacement, like one's both here and yet not really here at the same time.
Then it seems like every part of the person's body suddenly screams in agony as they're actually sent to another dimension, due to the fact that the physical form tries to remain anchored in this one while simultaneously trying to establish a presence in an entirely alien one. (Un?)fortunately, travelers are only half-aware of this pain, mostly because their minds are preoccupied with the feelings of being on fire, stabbed with shards of glass, and torn apart all at the same time as it makes the transition between dimensions.
This all occurs within mere seconds, which is the only reason the traveler doesn't go insane in the process, but conversely squeezes all that pain into a seemingly eternal moment of torment. As such, when Edgar first dealt with the Second Magic he spent a large amount of time, energy and money developing a safer, albeit longer, way of dimensional travel.
Still, it really said something when the impact of his face on the ground was actually a bit of a blessing, as it let him realize that it was over. He took a moment to steady himself, breathing in and out slowly to avoid hurling his last meal out, and then finally bothered to look around his surroundings.
He was currently in the middle of some sort of park, nighttime from the looks of things and kneeling on the grass. All was quiet save for some crickets chirping and a solitary owl's hoot, several lamp lights casting their light about near a dirt path some distance from him.
'Well,' he thought to himself, 'it could have been worse. At least the old fool didn't drop me in the middle of some destroyed city-'
His train of thought was rudely interrupted when something suddenly fell right on top of him like it just popped into existence, causing him to get reacquainted with the ground. With a surprised yell that quickly turned to a growl, he shifted and rolled whatever it was off, snapping around and flexing his fingers to-
He blinked, his mind going blank. Right in front of him was Sayaka Miki, free, unconscious and in her casual clothes like nothing happened...except for the fact she was supposed to be back at the OSG headquarters.
"One-way non-stop travel to a needy dimension for two!"
"Zelretch, you suicidal, insane, overconfident son of a bit-" Edgar bit his tongue when he realized that Sayaka was starting to stir, quickly moving back to give her some space. He was well-aware of what women who woke up to some man being right in front of their vision and seeming on top of them would do, and he wanted to avoid any potential injuries if she moved too suddenly, for both of them. For a few seconds she slowly shifted, eyelids twitching before they finally opened a sliver.
"Mmmm...ahh...w-where am..." she muttered, her soft voice almost like an angel's chorus to Edgar's ears, though he remained silent. With the pained slowness of one who hasn't moved their body in a long time she sat up, eyes closed again and hand to the head like she had a headache. "God, my head..." she winced as she rubbed it, "feels like I got hit by a semi-truck..."
"Good to see you're awake," he finally said aloud, causing her to turn towards him, her blue eyes focusing on his green and brown ones. "I was getting worried." 'More than you know.'
"E-Edgar?" she muttered, like she wasn't certain if she was dreaming or not, before she blinked a few times and her eyes widened. "Oh my god, Edgar!" She quickly brought herself to attention as best as she could, flinching suddenly as she apparently moved too fast for her recovering body to handle.
"Take it easy," he told her calmly. "We're fine and you're safe here."
"We're fine? I'm safe?" she asked, her eyes attempting to take in her surroundings. "Where exactly is 'here'? Last thing I remember is-" she stopped talking, a powerful shudder overtaking her. Slowly, she focused back on Edgar, fear in her eyes.
"Am...Am I dead?" she asked. "Am I just imagining all of this right now? Am I-?"
"No, no and I'm just gonna go out on a limb and say 'no'," Edgar answered her quickly, not wanting to see her break down in front of him. Not that he could really judge, he was having a hard time his own happiness in check. "You're alive and still with the living."
"B-But I...I saw my Soul Gem break!" she protested, glancing down at herself, as if not believing she was actually here. She even started to search herself to prove her words. "I saw myself turn into a Witch-"
She stopped as she pulled out her Soul Gem, her eyes on its new design and how it lacked any trace of corruption. Fear and denial gave way to disbelief and hope(?) as she slowed down and looked over herself, even touching her own skin and pinching it to confirm that, yes, she wasn't dreaming.
Then she punched herself in the jaw.
"Sayaka!" Edgar snapped, moving forward to stop her from hurting herself anymore, but she waved him off, raising a hand to the rapidly forming bruise while she smiled painfully.
"I-I'm really alive..." she muttered, tears slowly forming in her eyes as the simple truth finally started to come to her. "This isn't...some dream...I'm really here."
"Yes you are, you little idiot," Edgar muttered, but inside he was still glad, and he allowed it to show in his voice. "You're back with us again...and I'm happy for it."
Sayaka was silent, looking for all the world like a lost puppy as she stared at him for a second or two. Then she lunged forward, arms wrapping around Edgar's waist and bringing him crashing to the ground as she buried her face into his suit. She held on to him for dear life, a few quiet sobs escaping her as she let out all of her emotions.
"I-I remember some things..." she whispered, muffled by the suit. "Swords and wheels...lights...Kerry...pain...crystal...you saying sorry over and over again...that song always playing over and over...were all those real?"
"...Yeah," he said softly, almost fatherly as he returned the embrace, one hand lightly rubbing her head. "All of it was real. We missed you, all of us did."
"Even Kerry?"
Thoughts of the Magus Killer Kiritsugu Emiya flowed through his mind, including the assassin's final words and resignation. "More than anyone."
Her grip tightened and her voice grew even quieter. "I...I really was dead, wasn't I?"
"...Uh huh." It was sometimes easy to forget that despite her current appearance of only 14 or so she was really about 18, and this moment wasn't doing him any favors in that regard, but he gave it to her straight. That was always his preferred method. "But I promised I would find a way to help you, even when everyone else thought otherwise and nothing seemed to work."
"But you never stopped, did you?" her voice seemed to gain some strength back, happiness and relief slowly creeping into it.
"Not once in nearly 35 years."
They were silent for a long moment before Sayaka pulled away, a small blush on her face from embarrassment and the emotion from before still apparent, but lessened. "Kerry," she began slowly, "he really is...gone, isn't he?"
"...Yeah, but he never forgot about you," he replied slowly, then added with a sad smile. "His son even ended up getting your sword."
She smiled her own sad smile. "Yeah, I remember that too." She then looked around, confusion settling in. "...Where are we though? I know it's night, but this doesn't remind me of HQ...unless you guys did a whole lot of redecorating while I was asleep."
Edgar's frown returned. To think he had almost forgotten about a certain Wizard Marshal in all the confusion. "Well, Sayaka, it turns out that I-"
He didn't get any further because that's when both of them felt a sudden shift in the air, almost as if something nearby had changed on a level that normal people didn't understand. However, whatever it was set both of their attuned magical senses on edge, appearing in their mind's eye almost like a giant ball of darkness in the sky. Fitting enough, as they both turned their attention to the direction it came from, near what appeared to be some sort of residential district, it was almost as if they were observing a giant sphere of magical energy expand to encapsulate several buildings.
More disconcerting though, they could sense nothing on the inside of the sphere in question, as if they were rebounding off a steel wall.
"Um, sir?" Sayaka asked, her voice sounding more fitting from a surprised cat. "What is that?"
He set his jaw. "Well, Sayaka," he answered her as a chill of anticipation to hurry up and get this mission done surged through him. "I'd say that's what we're looking at if we want to get home."
And when he did, he was gonna shove his foot so far up Zelretch's ass that the water on his knee would clench his thirst...and then he would give him over to Logan for some target practice. A dragon needed to make sure his fire and magic were accurate, after all.
Well, how's that for a intro chapter? Yes, this fic does take place after the events of Fate: Stay Nightmare, but hear me out: While it does indeed take place after the events of it, that doesn't mean it's a true sequel. For now, let's say it's an AU to F/SN, but I'll be intentionally keeping details vague on that front, so don't hear for spoilers for that (much).
Also, as you might have guessed, this takes place during A's, so be expecting some Wolkenritter! I've got to say, they're easily my favorite part of the whole damn show, and I couldn't wait to get here in the original. Oh well, now we are, so whatever!
Review, fave, and follow people! Tell me if you think this is worth the rewrite effort or if you preferred the original!
This is X the Reaper, triumphantly signing off!