How are legends created? How does a name transcend the history of the world, resonating for eternity? There are many factors that turn beings into heroes, but the most important is in the World itself.
It is the World that creates the heroes, that creates their stories and leads them on the path of their destiny. The World guides the heroes by writing stories which they cannot break, or it is supposed to.
***
Therefore, that scientist who suffered until he broke into pieces; until he became a being without empathy, someone who from that day on stopped being human, is part of that. Every moment in his story was planned. Every detail, every fraction of pain in his life. All his actions and the actions of the people close to him.
He is not to blame for having such a twisted personality, for that was the World's fault, but he is certainly to blame for his own actions.
...
Alek held the machine close to the inmate's body and brought the needles closer. He injected several needles into the man's face. Some went into the chest and the leftover needles remained in the rest of the torso and arms.
He set up the machine from a smart tablet and the needles began to draw out a strange liquid the color of wine. This faintly glowing liquid was stored in a small capsule that was on the right side of the machine, a machine that had the appearance of a mechanical arm.
"With this, the experiment has been successful. My hypotheses now become theories."
One more step for humanity and for the messiah of this World. That was his destiny, the story the World wrote for him.
-In the present, Fuyuki Airport-
"Let me help you with the belt, Sakura-chan."
"Uh, thanks..."
The plane is about to take off. Waver more or less calculated the time his magic would have an effect on the people at the airport. With their brains scrambled, they won't remember anything, or so Waver hopes. In the meantime, he helped Sakura put on her belt, as this girl was having a bit of trouble with that task.
"There. Now we're safe. hum?"
Sakura looked down at the ground...
"It's my first time getting on a plane..."
She's never been out of Fuyuki, much less Japan. She's never been on a plane in her life and that terrifies her a little. Now she is nervous and somehow feels sad.
"Well, it was the first time I got on a plane when I came to Fuyuki. I was a little nervous too, but everything went well. You don't have to worry."
"I know, but onii-san is going to stay here."
"Don't feel sad. I made a pact with him. He will keep his pact and I will do the same. I will protect you until he returns to fulfill his pact."
"Covenants between Magus are very important, aren't they?"
"That's right. neither of us can break the pact, otherwise, disgrace will befall the one who breaks the pact."
"I see..."
After that, Waver looked out the window beside Sakura. The plane was slowly starting to move, settling on the runway to begin the flight.
-On the roof of the Fuyuki Theater-
Under his feet, small particles of earth began to rise. His cloak fluttered wildly from the sudden wave of wind that was generated and his eyes flashed between his bangs.
In the darkness of this night, all will witness the light that began a legend. Even if his actions have been despicable, his name has been branded on the Worlds he has visited.
"How part of the flames that burn within me. The edge of the daggers will cut life out of existence."
He raised his hand high and one of the daggers appeared.
It was then that his feet lifted off the ground and he began to rise into the air. The glow of the Rinne-Shigan was strange in his gaze, but that no longer mattered. This was the only time he could use this eye technique.
"Hydrogen and oxygen as the basis for life."
The wind around him intensified. He rose even higher in the air. Beneath his feet, the buildings began to get smaller and smaller the higher he rose.
"Shakuton..."
Amidst the darkness of the sky, a light flickered. The dagger wrapped itself in the glow of his magic becoming a sword of fire and the X within his eyes gave its first rotation.
"With the light of the sun life prevails. With the death of the sun life is extinguished."
The clouds began to swirl above him, where the light from the dagger spread out like a gigantic pillar that impacted against the clouds in the sky, right in the center of the swirl of clouds. That made, at that very moment, for the people still roaming the streets at this time of night, who had a strange premonition, turn their gaze to the sky, seeing what was happening in the heights.
...
This was the representation of their legend.
The legend that arose with that child they mentally broke.
The legend that seemed to end in the hands of those three people in the Shinobi World.
The legend that was invoked as a Heroic Spirit in this World.
That legend had a name.
The clouds above it spun in the spiral at high speed. The pillar of light split into several strands that suddenly formed a sphere as bright as the sun. That false sun began to emit the noise of millions of hot wind blades, which in turn attracted the attention of many people.
-Fuyuki Airport-
The plane's wheels moved forward without stopping along the runway. The proper speed has finally been reached and these same wheels began to lift off the ground. The plane settled its wings to rise and then....
"I feel like I'm going to throw up..."
Due to the plane's movements, Sakura felt everything inside her stomach churning like a blender. She also felt a sudden dizziness that increased that feeling of wanting to vomit.
"Please don't. We still can't unbuckle until the plane stabilizes. So you won't be able to go to the bathroom for that."
"I don't think I can..."
"Sakura-chan, have mercy!"
"I can't anymore. I'm going to... uh...?"
A sudden dim light gently touched Sakura's eyes. A sphere in the sky, shining like the sun itself showed through the clouds through the plane's window. Her eyes filled with hope and she forgot everything that was currently troubling her.
"Light..."
"Light...?
Waver didn't understand, but when he looked out the window, he opened his eyes in disbelief and almost immediately glued his face to the glass to get a better look.
"Waver-san, you won't let me see."
'What the hell is that?'
A large ball of energy floating in the sky.
'That has to be, without a doubt, Asahi Toru's Noble Phantasm. That thing is... too...'
Now he understood why Toru told him to leave the city immediately. If they had taken a little longer, they would possibly have suffered the damage from this destructive power.
"Looks like Toru is already keeping his part of the pact."
"I get it. that light is onii-san's power!"
"Yes... Now I understand why Iskandar said that's sad..."
"¿...?"
'With such a radiant Noble Phantasm, it's impossible for it not to be part of the legend of a real hero...'
-In the sky of Fuyuki-
"The burden of this thing is too heavy..."
He felt that his body would vanish at any moment. Still, he had to stand firm, for this will end this war.
...
In the end, this was what he always wanted. To fulfill his wish. The dream that child also wanted to fulfill.
Sakura's drawing at that moment reminded him of a dream he had in his past life.
The image of a united and happy family.
"That is still possible..."
With the determination to fulfill what he desires, his legend has introduced himself as his Noble Phantasm. The Noble Phantasm, all that a hero has to offer the World. The legend of that hero who betrayed his World....
...
The wind waves then intensified. They whipped the sky with force and scattered the clouds that had gathered like a death spiral. The giant star in the sky radiated its light for much of that city, leaving the locals confused.
The sound was deafening, the light was blinding. The power of this legend was immense.
This is his light.
This is his story.
This is him...
"Saigo no...!"
The name of his story...
"Yoake!"
The Last Rising Sun...
...
And as if the sound in the world had disappeared into space, Toru swung the dagger forward. The star above him followed his command and his eyes throbbed as tears of blood began to spill down his face.
A shiver ran through his body. The feeling that at any moment he would disappear invaded him, but the end of his path, with that family smiling together, he showed himself. This is his goal, his light is his path....
***
Inside the theater, Artoria wondered why Kiritsugu used the Command Seal to give her such an irrational order. Still, he could not control her body. Excalibur revealed herself to everything and everyone. Her light illuminated the theater and she raised her arms in an attempt to refuse the order.
Gilgamesh opened Gate of Babylon to stop her, but it was too late.
...
A strange sound suddenly touched the ears of those present. Those three people, even at that moment, could tell. The ceiling suddenly burned, disintegrating and being replaced by a blinding light in the shape of a sphere that completely filled the ceiling of the stage.
Artoria looked at that light and couldn't believe it. If anyone could do this, it was definitely another Servant. However, who is the owner of this power? A light so bright that it blinds whoever sees it?
'Looks like I get it already...'
Artoria moved both arms to strike the Holy Grail.
'If my wish cannot be fulfilled, I at least hoped that yours can, Kiritsugu. I don't understand why you would try to destroy what you worked so hard to achieve, but...'
The blinding light merged with Excalibur's light. Both energies struck the Holy Grail, which, in turn, changed the color of the sphere that descended from the sky.
'Perhaps, in this ending, we both had something in common.'
***
From the outside, Toru could see it. His Noble Phantasm impacted against the theater, crushing and burning everything.
"This somehow feels like deja vu to me."
The sphere expanded and exploded in front of Toru. The explosion soared into the sky, devouring him along with most of the city. The light of his Noble Phantasm immediately obliterated everything in its path. Lifting and disintegrating the earth, pushing buildings and shattering them. Burning the life that lay in this place.
Far away from there, the plane that Waver and Sakura were on hit some slight turbulence as they flew away from Fuyuki....
...
...
At some point, that sudden explosion subsided....
-By Toru-
I felt the flames cutting and burning through my body. Still, I found the will to resist the power of the explosion.
It burns like hell...
It hurts too much...
This is a pain that reminds me of the last moments of my life.
Oh, Konan... I really want to see you again. How are you? You're probably angry with me. I promised you that I would be by your side forever.
Now I know I can keep that promise. I know that perfectly well.
As the flames devour me along with the city, I think this was all right for me.
I'm not going to die here.
I'm going to live because I have so much to protect.
I don't want to make up for the damage I have caused in the past, for that is impossible at this point. Right now I simply want to generate some happiness in those people, no matter if I have to sacrifice someone else to achieve it.
Exactly. It's the most hypocritical thing anyone can hear, but that's just the way I am. That part of me is something I haven't been able to change....
All around me was the intense light of my Noble Phantasm. Burning and destroying, like the greatest creation of my past life.
I closed my eyes and fell somewhere unknown to me. I was stunned for a few seconds, but I stood up and observed the chaos around me. To my surprise, the explosion stopped rather quickly. As I got up I saw that much of my arm had been burned off and my clothes were singed.
"I have no time left."
I noticed the particles on my body. I'm fading. I assumed that was a part of my Noble Phantasm's nature and my obsession with sacrificing myself.
"I must find that thing."
I don't know what the Holy Grail looks like, but I feel it's close, at least something inside me screams at me that I must go find it. So, wounded I walked through all the destruction, burning buildings and charred bodies. There were some corpses that managed to save themselves from the burns thanks to some very resistant walls, but they did not manage to survive the impact of the explosion.
I know that both Saber and Archer have died because they received my full on attack. They were the epicenter of all the destruction.
"..."
Some debris moved within what looked like the remains of the theater. That radiant sword emerged from amidst all that and that child's left hand showed itself amidst the destruction.
"Saber..."
I mentioned with a frown, thus activating the daggers in my hands.
It seems Archer died, so all that's left for me to do is to kill Saber.
-By Artoria-
The light that descended from the sky... I felt as if I had been burned from the gut as I crawled through the light looking to escape to save what little life was left in my body.
All was darkness until I managed to pull my sword out into the light. I leaned on that to get out, but when I looked up from the rubble, I simply gasped as I saw who was just a few feet ahead.
"Asahi Toru..."
It was him. He's alive in front of me. His jet hair battered. His clothes tattered and burned. His arm was scorched by the flames of destruction. His gaze... he's determined to kill me....
"Saber..."
He said upon seeing me. I'm really very confused right now. It seems that this boy managed to trick me by faking his death that night.
"I must say, you're impressive, Toru. I guess that was your Noble Phantasm. It's amazing... something so powerful in your hands..."
Again I recognize the power of my enemy. No doubt about it, as a knight myself, it really is something I can't help but do.
"Die..."
He's not going to listen to me. That's fine. I'll fight with you. I'm on the verge of death so I'll go with a final duel.
With difficulty, I gripped my sword and readied myself, but I fell to my knees as I did so. My condition is worse than I thought. He's going to beat me, and....
-By Toru-
I advance with my daggers. Bloodlust invades my soul, but I can control myself. All I need to do is cut it with my daggers.
"Uh..."
No...
I fell face first to the ground. One of my legs disappeared, but I forced myself to stay in this world. I still have time left, I mustn't waste it.
"You... you're just not going to give up, are you?"
Saber said that to me after trying to stand up. She failed, obviously. My attack has caused her great damage. Besides, it's obvious that I'm not going to give up.
Still, my body fails again, and, a meter away from Saber, I fall again. I try to stand up, but my body doesn't respond properly and all I can do is sit on a large rubble looking at that girl with the damaged armor.
***
Artoria smiled tiredly before telling him the truth. She walked over to him and sat down next to him on one of the rubble, as if she didn't care that this boy wants to kill her. She looked at the destruction with a faint tired smile. This scene was very similar to that moment in her life and her death.
"The Holy Grail already appeared, however, Kiritsugu forced me to destroy it with the Command Seal."
She looked at him seriously.
"What...?"
Toru didn't understand this. He's confused, but with everything he knows about Saber, she wouldn't lie with something like that. Besides that she for a moment watched what was left of the theater, as if she was making sure her words are right.
"No way... so... everything I did... was in vain?"
There was no way that was true. He didn't want to believe that crap. So he tightened his grip on the hilt of the dagger preparing to strike.
"You lie. If I kill you now, the Holy Grail will appear and I will fulfill my wish."
"You can do that, if you want."
Artoria was willing to die to make it clear that her words were true.
...
"No... that's not possible..."
All that, together in Artoria, with that tired and discouraged expression that only seemed to take over her face more. She wasn't like that. She was more the proud and cocky type, but now....
"We both seem to be fighting for something we can't get. It's hard to admit, don't you think?"
...
"That doesn't make any sense. I... I won't be able to go back to them..."
Toru recalculated in his mind for a few moments.
No...
He was silent for a long moment causing Artoria to be confused.
Within his thoughts, he somehow admitted that he already expected such an outcome.
His whole life he had always been a ball of bad luck. Why would he think this would turn out well? He knew he was taking too much of a risk by doing this. The odds were simply against him.
"Hahaha..."
He touched his head painfully, laughing heavily with a shadowed look in his eyes. Suddenly he stopped....
"I should have known... I should have known this would happen... no... I already knew..."
Artoria looked at the sky and sighed. Misfortune had befallen them both, it would always be that way.
"Things never turn out the way we want them to, do they?"
She understood. Toru just sighed and touched his wrist with two fingers, activating the seal and releasing the barrel of wine. He took a glass and poured himself some of the drink.
He was still having a hard time admitting all this sudden information. Sipping wine he looked up at the sky, thinking that at least Sakura is now under someone's care.
'I'm sorry, Sakura... Forgive me... I can't keep my word anymore...'
In the end, even if he managed to overcome his past, it was of no use to him.
"I was just a tool until the end, right. That's what a Servant is. There's no doubt about it. All this was just a cruel war that filled my mind with hope."
"I can understand... I can understand how you feel..."
"No! You don't understand! You had your knights supporting you all the time, unlike me! I've been alone all this time! In my life, in my death! But that's just a stupid contradiction! They were with me in my death! They were with me in my life, but it was me who decided to walk away! This is my fault! For wanting to be alone I've caused all this! For being alone I've ended up this way..."
This boy's words shook Artoria's heart.
That gentleman said that she doesn't understand people's feelings, but right now she was understanding Toru's feelings perfectly. She understood Toru's loneliness because somehow her life was exactly the same.
She looked at Toru wistfully.
"Would you share some wine with me? Someone once told me that it's better to drink in company than in complete solitude."
Toru calmed down upon hearing that. In fact, he let out a small laugh after remembering something.
Taking another glass for Artoria, he held out his hand and said:
"Funny. Someone once told me the same thing."
For both of them it was strange. This situation was curious and interesting. They toasted in silence as the smoke rose to the sky.
Artoria held her wine glass in both hands.
She paused briefly to prepare to ask something she always wanted to know.
"Who are you, Asahi Toru?"
She asked.
Toru looked at the liquid in the cup before even answering.
"Who am I?" hm... I asked myself that question a long time ago. My conclusion is that I am a ninja, a warrior who has lived in disgrace all his life. I guess that's my truth."
"I see..."
In that boy's gaze, in the scars on his body, a great story is hidden. It may not be the story of a hero, but it is still a story at the end of it all.
"So, what misfortunes are hidden under your cloak, Toru?"
Toru looked at her for a second before looking at the cup of wine. The wine red as blood in his hands.
"In my life there has always been much death, tears and pain. My story may not be a fairy tale, but I don't think it's too tragic a story either. There were many opportunities where I was able to get up and move forward despite all that suffering, but no matter how many times I got up, I always fall back into the same old abyss."
"You go back to making the same decisions..."
"Exactly... it's as if my mind is doing it unconsciously. What do I seek to gain from all this? I often ask myself. In the end it's always the same. Nothing goes the way I want it to. Everything gets ruined, leaving me with more traumas that tear my mind apart..."
"And those traumas..."
"They are based on my own self-sabotage. I force myself to go through life alone without someone to go with me. That's the worst mistake I've ever made. Thinking I can do everything alone, no matter what pain I hold deep in my heart. Even in this war I was alone since Kirei betrayed me. I had nothing and no one but the thought of being able to reunite with the people I seek to protect. Look how things ended..."
Toru clenched the wine glass.
"Look how I ended up..."
The consequences of loneliness strike those who deep down seek not to be alone. Artoria may have decided to be alone on her way to being the perfect king, but the conditions under which Toru had to face loneliness are worse from a psychological point of view.
'You force yourself to suffer...'
That was what Artoria thought. There is something that makes Toru force himself to suffer in loneliness. It might be a trauma or a memory that has him that way, but still....
"Despite that you decided that you want to live."
"Yes..."
Toru smiled as if this was funny.
"I thought I could change myself if I tried, for once in my life, to overcome everything that hurts me. In fact, it's worked pretty well for me so far. But it's all over now..."
He looked at his hand, noticing the white particles starting to emanate from there.
"I spent too much mana using my Noble Phantasm. I'm running out of time."
He drank another full glass of wine and asked:
"Now, what does Arthur Pendragon have to say about her own life?"
Taking advantage of the fact that time was running out, at least knowing a little more history would serve as a consolation in all this mess.
"Artoria. My real name is Artoria. And what can I say, my entire reign has been a failure."
"The fall of your nation, has it not? I understand it's your fault?"
"Don't put it that way, it makes me miserable. But yes, it was all my fault. All because of my foolishness, all because I didn't listen to them. I never understood them, nor they me... In the end that foolishness made me make a deal with the World, thus becoming a living Servant."
"Artoria Pendragon has had it hard too, eh..."
...
"I suppose so. You know, I used to think badly of you. I thought you were the worst scum in the world."
"There are a lot of people who think the same about me. I don't blame them. Me too..."
Toru stared into the void for a moment pausing his sentence.
'You think you're the worst too...'
Artoria saw a young boy with a lot of problems with his past. His life has been ruled by that same past and he has been in a deep depression all this time. One of the reasons was why Toru thinks badly of himself.
"You are what you think you are. Hahaha."
Saying that was too ironic for her, so much so that she let out her laughter for a moment. Toru didn't pay attention to that though.
"In the end we both got carried away with who we thought we were. And that all ended badly. All that led to us being alone in the end, and to top it off we hurt all the people around us..."
Toru understood this perfectly, so much so that he let out a faint tired smile.
Both of them, alone in the end...
Alone on the road of life.
Alone in their broken minds.
Young souls who had to face life with no weapon and came out losing.
"Loneliness... it's something I hate too much..."
He said. Artoria put her hand on the boy's shoulder.
"Before I would have thought the complete opposite, but right now I hate loneliness like you have no idea."
"Lonely people are very rare, aren't they?"
"Indeed..."
They were both weird at that moment. It was then that she realized that Toru was already about to return to the Throne of Heroes. The boy's body had already almost evaporated into thin air, who in turn was looking at the wine cup in his hands with a melancholy expression.
"Haha..."
He laughed...
"I hate this... I don't want to go back to that hell. If I go back, I'll go back to my old self..."
He closed his eyes...
"I... I'm afraid."
With that fear surging in his heart, the Shigan in Toru's eyes activated. With its rainbow glow, voices began to whisper to him and the ocean of blood, as his body faded away, showed itself around him. However, he was now not alone in this ocean, for Artoria was by his side.
"Can you see them too, Artoria-san?"
"Your eyes..."
"Yes. They are here, watching and whispering. They are watching me. They're judging me and blaming me. They are angry, full of spite and suffering. I wonder when I last saw them."
He closed his eyes and allowed all the bloody souls that came out of the blood to judge him. In turn, Artoria squeezed Toru's shoulder a little.
This boy's eyes were more special than any. Surely some of the boy's suffering showed in his eyes.
Both of them throughout their lives followed a path that hurt them and hurt the people around them.
Trying to remedy the past would simply lead them to make the same mistakes.
And now she understood, she knew what to do right now after seeing Asahi Toru terrified of what is going to happen.
She is a Heroic Spirit, she is a Hero of the World, but even though she is considered a hero by mankind, she was nothing more than a charlatan dressed in her shining armor.
Her desires are still selfish and depressing. They always have been.
He was never a hero...
Never was, but...
More than ever right now, she wants to be the hero this boy needs.
He stood alone for so long, facing the world with bravery and courage. He is a true hero to her, she finally understood....
So if it took, even if it's still a selfish wish, she somehow wanted to keep seeing that bravery this boy has.
'So this is what you were talking about, isn't it, Irisviel?'
This was the answer she was looking for. What Irisviel told her was not simply something to lift her spirits. She trusted Artoria to find her answer and that time had come.
"I'm going to be here with you."
She said suddenly.
"You're not going to be alone anymore. Even if they judge you and look at you with anger, I won't let them come near you..."
Toru nodded, trusting this king's words, for right now all was lost. At least believing in this cruel lie would ease the melancholy in his heart. It would allow him to ignore his ghosts of the past and the souls that watched him with eyes of deep darkness.
'I will learn from you, Asahi Toru. And I will teach you the path you need to follow. This is my true wish. I will become the hero you need. Even if I failed to save my nation, even if I failed to fix my mistakes, I will bear my sins and save you from your suffering.'
Artoria looked at the horizon with a soft smile and finished by saying:
"If we are going to be alone in this sad life..."
Fading away, Toru looked at the girl who was also looking at him with hope in her eyes.
"If we're going to be alone... Why aren't we alone together?"
Toru's eyes lit up at those words and, looking the girl in the eyes, accepting the esperanzxa she was giving him, he reached out his hand to reach for her, but the wine glass in his other hand fell to the ground, shattering into pieces.
Asahi Toru closed his eyes as he saw his time running out and sighed....
"Can you give me hope that everything will be alright... Can you tell me that everyone is alright and that nothing bad will happen?"
Artoria answered him earnestly.
"I will give you everything I have to offer as a hero. That is my wish."
"I see... you've changed since the first time I saw you..."
And so, amidst the flames of this city's destruction, he finally vanished along with the smoke that stretched high into the sky.
With that, Artoria stopped feeling the boy's shoulder. He was really gone...
She also realized something....
"My time is up too..."
Saber put down her wine glass next to Toru's broken glass and struggled to her feet. The boy has disappeared, now it's her turn to go back. Therefore, she held Excalibur with all her strength and looked at the horizon trying to keep her head up.
"Lancelot..."
Her body began to disappear enveloped in the golden aura of the World.
"If you saw me right now, would you be proud of me?"
Most likely, that man would say, 'Finally...'
So she smiled thinking about that and closed her eyes. All around her, the golden light of the World covered everything and suddenly the scene changed.
...
In that lonely tree, lay the King of Knights, with a soft smile on her lips and a couple of tears on her face, lying there, as if she was sleeping covered in her own blood....
Her desire changed, as did her heart. A little late to change, she now knew what to do. Until her next chance, she would rest here in the hope of finding Toru and saving him from the abyss of his suffering....
Fate/Zero - The End