Fate: Time and Punishment, Chapter Six, Epilogue
OverMaster
Well worn.
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A burnt world.
A world King Arthur and her comrades had thought dead and forgotten forever. And in a way, right they were.
Even insects had died down by now, under the stench descending from contaminated skies. Plants everywhere, festering and perishing from the black pollution, were crumbling and dropping no matter where she went.
Yet she still lived, she persevered, with the inhuman drive of something forsaken by Heaven and Hell alike. She had staggered all the way out of the city and into her old home.
She didn't even look at her father's skeleton, covered by mere shredded rags, as she stumbled into the house. She dragged herself up the stairs, hissing gutturally to herself, ignoring the distant thunders, forgetting the blackened disc of the sun.
"Take my Prince away, will you..."
She slammed the door of the attic open, then clawed her way towards the corner. With animalistic fury, she swatted aside every lovingly crafted artifact of childlike whimsy, every savant invention, those shaped like swans and those disguised as graceful toys. Those only meant to amuse herself, and those intended to entertain an once beloved sister, all the same.
"We won't forgive you, ever, ever, ever..."
The dreamer, bereft the dream, comes to resent the waking hours. Facing the absurd, the mind drifts to the logic of the subconscious, the safety and warmth of familiar patterns. And failing them, lashing out becomes the sole option.
"Here you are..."
The girl's delicate hands found the device, held it high. Not with reverence, but with dark satisfaction regardless. An once ridiculous, even for her, item, something she had brought together on a whim, just to prove herself she could. She had given it a few tries then, just for fun. Changed a few things at Russia, handed an Emperor some notes, whispered into Columbus' ear, all to see what would be changed once she made it back, how delightful or dreadful her consequences would be. That had been the first rough wake up call, that of returning to the same old, same old, in a world devoid of the same magic she had briefly touched, that of adventure stories and thrilling, exotic romance.
Disappointed, she had put the thing away and forgot about it, until she had another chance to seize her dreams, and took a Prince for herself. Now, heartbroken once more, all she was left with was the chance to escape again. She couldn't possibly change her world, now she realized that, to her crushing grief. But, she could make those responsible feel that very same grief, tenfold.
And that, in its own way, was just as good, too.
"No matter where you went, I'll make you pay..."
Sajyou Manaka, sole survivor of the Fourth Fuyuki Heaven's Grail, gripped onto the modified toaster's surface, almost sinking her nails into it.
"But first, I will need another Prince."
To be Continued?
A world King Arthur and her comrades had thought dead and forgotten forever. And in a way, right they were.
Even insects had died down by now, under the stench descending from contaminated skies. Plants everywhere, festering and perishing from the black pollution, were crumbling and dropping no matter where she went.
Yet she still lived, she persevered, with the inhuman drive of something forsaken by Heaven and Hell alike. She had staggered all the way out of the city and into her old home.
She didn't even look at her father's skeleton, covered by mere shredded rags, as she stumbled into the house. She dragged herself up the stairs, hissing gutturally to herself, ignoring the distant thunders, forgetting the blackened disc of the sun.
"Take my Prince away, will you..."
She slammed the door of the attic open, then clawed her way towards the corner. With animalistic fury, she swatted aside every lovingly crafted artifact of childlike whimsy, every savant invention, those shaped like swans and those disguised as graceful toys. Those only meant to amuse herself, and those intended to entertain an once beloved sister, all the same.
"We won't forgive you, ever, ever, ever..."
The dreamer, bereft the dream, comes to resent the waking hours. Facing the absurd, the mind drifts to the logic of the subconscious, the safety and warmth of familiar patterns. And failing them, lashing out becomes the sole option.
"Here you are..."
The girl's delicate hands found the device, held it high. Not with reverence, but with dark satisfaction regardless. An once ridiculous, even for her, item, something she had brought together on a whim, just to prove herself she could. She had given it a few tries then, just for fun. Changed a few things at Russia, handed an Emperor some notes, whispered into Columbus' ear, all to see what would be changed once she made it back, how delightful or dreadful her consequences would be. That had been the first rough wake up call, that of returning to the same old, same old, in a world devoid of the same magic she had briefly touched, that of adventure stories and thrilling, exotic romance.
Disappointed, she had put the thing away and forgot about it, until she had another chance to seize her dreams, and took a Prince for herself. Now, heartbroken once more, all she was left with was the chance to escape again. She couldn't possibly change her world, now she realized that, to her crushing grief. But, she could make those responsible feel that very same grief, tenfold.
And that, in its own way, was just as good, too.
"No matter where you went, I'll make you pay..."
Sajyou Manaka, sole survivor of the Fourth Fuyuki Heaven's Grail, gripped onto the modified toaster's surface, almost sinking her nails into it.
"But first, I will need another Prince."
To be Continued?