Fuyuki City. Church
Kariya looked at the supposed holy place with a heavy dose of anxiety.
The only church in the Fuyuki area looked quite intimidating at nighttime. It didn't help that it was quite far from the city. The remote and quiet hill was quite the ideal place for exchange between magus to occur.
The Master of Berserker let out his umpteenth sigh before walking forward, past the front gates and towards the front door. He was rested and felt better after being healed. Before leaving Kayneth's place, the Master of Avenger had given him something to help once the situation became problematic.
He glanced at his chest. The crest worms didn't move too much, they'd squirmed a bit since waking, but only after reacting to his heightened emotions. They weren't fully awake now, therefore his body wasn't in pain. Not yet at least.
The gift Lelouch and Kayneth gave him were still on him. And while Kariya didn't expect them to hurt Archer in any way, it should at least give him an opening. With Berserker in spirit form, he made sure his hand with command seals was covered.
Kariya had already used two spells before. During the fight in the docks and when preparing a trap for Caster who never came. That Berserker was quite uncontrollable as his class' namesake at the time meant that Tokiomi should at least account for them.
The desperate man was thankful his new allies had seals to spare.
Kariya stopped before the wooden doors and reviewed the plan again. It was simple and suicidal, but if it meant getting rid of Tokiomi, he would do it.
'As Lelouch told me, I used one. I just hope Berserker acts quick enough. It must work.' Not allowing doubts to form in his mind, Kariya opened the doors and openly walked into the trap he was invited to.
The first thing he noticed was the low visibility. There were lights but they weren't too bright. It took his only working eye a few seconds to focus. Lacking depth perception in the darkness was a bitch. More so than the limping leg he used to walk in.
The place was empty, save for one person. There he was, the man who ruined Kariya's life. But instead of anger, Matou felt only shock.
"Tokiomi?!"
The arrogant head of Tohsaka, the man who married Kariya's love and sold off his own daughter for the sake of his twisted vision, sat before him in the middle of two rows of seats. Sitting in a wheelchair.
Tokiomi Tohsaka didn't look like his usual self. Gone was the confidence and usual arrogance. Now, the Master of Archer looked sick. No way near Kariya's condition, of course. But it didn't take a genius to see his terrible condition. Arms that seemed thinner than they usually were. Legs, more so. The man's fingers were twitching constantly.
It was… a far cry from the man he faced two nights ago.
The moment his eyes met Kariya, the wheelchair-bound magus did his best to show an expression of ease. The usual cocky smile that Kariya wanted to punch returned to him. However, under the fake mask, Tokiomi was obviously nervous.
This was odd. According to Kayneth, Kotomine Kirei said he would be there to assist his teacher. It was likely a ploy to do so during the ambush, but it's not as if the priest needed to hide from him specifically either. Executioner or not, he had a good chance of landing a killing blow on Kariya anytime.
If Berserker was the issue, Gilgamesh would be able to buy his Master time. He wanted to get rid of Kariya's Servant too, didn't he? So… where were they?!
"Finally. Took you long enough, Kariya-kun." His attention was once again drawn to the disabled man he had so earlier wanted to kill. "I started to think I signed that Geis for nothing."
There were many things Kariya had to say to him, but right now only one thing had come out of his mouth.
"What happened to you?"
The last time he saw Tokiomi, the bastard was wounded… but nowhere near this state.
"Oh, this?" Tokiomi asked and gestured at the wheelchair, scoffing like it was a new car he was taking out for a spin. "Let's just say I had displeasure learning what the Magus Killer does to his victims." He let out a dry laugh. "Except, I didn't die. Instead, I suffered a fate worse than death for magi."
Magus Killer? Lelouch told him it was the title given to the mercenary who was working for Saber's Master. According to Archibald's report, Tokiomi's student had tried to distract Lelouch and Kayneth with that man's address, hoping they would go after him. Kariya didn't care about that stuff right now. His attention was only on the magus before him.
"So what? Use your magic to fix it. You always called yourself a proud magus. Come on, Tokiomi! You can do what others can only dream of, can't you?" Kariya taunted as he started to walk closer. As he approached, Tokiomi slowly rolled his seat backwards. His mask of confidence started to shake. "What's the matter? Don't tell me he blew that arrogant spine of yours away too."
"It's not so simple, Kariya-kun. Even you must understand that healing magecraft isn't so easy—"
"Soo, you can't… You can't do it, can you?" Kariya's words, although supposed to be a simple statement, brought to him an even greater realization.
He stopped in his tracks. Thinking about it, why wouldn't someone like Tokiomi be able to heal himself? The man looked down on everything not related to the moonlight world and always boasted about the superiority of magecraft over all. He wouldn't allow himself to be in such a position unless… unless he couldn't…
"You… You can no longer use magecraft, can you, you bastard." Saying it felt so… so… good. He was feeling so euphoric, he didn't even mind that he nearly tripped a bit in his excitement. "Ha… Haha… Hahahah…" He also couldn't help himself from laughing at the irony of it all.
Using his shaky grip, Tokiomi rolled back again. Constantly looking at the sides, it was as if he was desperately trying to look for his student and Servant. Kirei and Gilgamesh were, strangely, still absent when they were supposed to be protecting him.
That worked well for Kariya. "Whatever, that Magus Killer did, you can't use magecraft anymore. I'm right, aren't I?" A wicked smile took form on Kariya's face.
"Stand back, Kariya. I—I'm still the head of Tohsaka and second owner of—"
"DO I LOOK LIKE I GIVE A DAMN!"
Before the cropped magus could finish, Kariya put all the strength he could muster into his arms and grabbed onto the wheelchair. Tokiomi froze, the mask of confidence was gone and Kariya saw the horror on his face. His smile grew feral.
"Who cares about any of that?" he asked, the smile hiding away his anger and frustrations. "You no longer have magecraft. Right now, you're no better than the regular people you look down on. Part of the rabble, aren't ya?!" Kariya's eyes fell to the man's arms that struggled to even grasp tightly on his own. "No… In fact, you're even lower than them, Tokiomi. You can't do jackshit on your own anymore, can't you?!"
Seeing the man who took everything from him in such a pathetic state was satisfying. His entire life, Tokiomi relied on magecraft and didn't know, didn't accept anything beyond it. Now, the once-proud magus was reduced to a crippled fool. A scared, crippled, old fool.
Kariya was ecstatic. He'd been in a terrible state because of his struggle to even be the bare minimum for his Servant. The Crest worms devastated him far beyond human comprehension…
But… even as he was, just by grabbing onto the only thing he could use to move himself, Kariya could make Tokiomi shiver in absolute fear.
'I have only one working eye and half of my organs don't work but despite that, I feel… feel… powerful! Tokiomi can't do anything without his magic and he knows it! He knows… to fear me!' Honestly, Kariya was sure, if Tokiomi tried to fight back, he might overpower him. The crest worms weren't active yet but any hit might wake one and send the rest into a feeding frenzy.
But the man in the wheelchair didn't act. He couldn't. Too scared of the cripple towering over him, Tokiomi, for the first time ever since knowing him, began to beg.
"Wait! I… I wanted to talk about S—Sakura!" His voice trembled. The man was trying to find any way out of this. "A—After what you said on that rooftop, I… I started to think about her—"
"LIKE HELL YOU DID!"
"NGH!" Kariya grabbed him by the collar. He couldn't lift the bigger man but was able to bring Tokiomi closer. Close enough to smell the stench of death in Kariya's very breath. "W… wait—!
"Don't lie to me, Tokiomi! You don't care about your daughters. YOU NEVER DID!" Years' worth of resentment, months' worth of enduring, weeks' worth of torment, and finally, days' worth of unbridled madness… all of it came pouring out of his mouth. "Not Sakura. Nor Rin. For you, they're just a means to an end! If you ever truly cared about them, you wouldn't have separated those sisters! You wouldn't have sold Sakura to Zouken! Of all the magi… to that worm… you!"
He raised him up further. The man's ruined collar was now half-choking him, but it didn't bother Kariya one bit. All the agony a single child went through in barely a year, the struggle he was forcing onto this man didn't compare. It never would.
"That worm did unthinkable things to your child. And you didn't care! YOU DIDN'T GIVE A DAMN! Your own daughter was tortured, violated, broken by the Matou Crest worms on the very day she was tossed aside!" He shook him as hard as his struggling arms could. "Do you have anything to say for yourself?!"
"T—that was for her own sake—!"
"RAAAAGHH!" Kariya couldn't take it anymore and pushed Tokiomi backwards, off and over his wheelchair. The former magus fell on the cold floor with a grunt, grabbing the closest seat while trying to lift himself.
"Stop, Kariya!" Tokiomi raised his hand in hopes to calm him down. If it was a bid for time, it wouldn't buy him any. Kariya was done being patient. "As head of the family, I couldn't give my children the same treatment. I could raise only one heir and it was Rin. Sakura's talent would've gone to waste had she stayed! Neither of my children would've ever reached their full potential under my care! Not at the same time! This way, they will be magi first and sisters second! I wanted them to be prepared, for when the next Grail War will start, so neither would hesitate to nurture themselves, to grow, to—"
"'To fight each other'?! Is that your sick idea of parenthood?! Raising them to be ready for a battle to the death?!" Kariya roared as punched the already down man further into the ground. "That's your excuse? That's why you sold her off to a monster who feeds his family to the worms for the sake of immortality?! Your child lost the very light in her eyes because of these creatures and you call it better treatment?! Was Sakura's suffering your idea too?!"
"I was confident Sakura could handle it, she's a daughter of a magus! She's a natural-born talent not seen in—"
"SHE! IS! A! CHILD!" Kariya roared, punching the man's face in for every word as he further lost his rationality. He then grabbed Tokiomi's throat. Kariya put all the strength his sick had and started to choke Tokiomi. The man on the ground tried to stop him, he tried to claw away at Kariya's arms. But sucks for him. He could barely feel anything in his limbs anymore, much less be coaxed to release someone who deserved death.
In his madness, Kariya forgot about the plan, about what his allies told him to do. His mind was consumed by anger. It was focused only on one thing. That is, killing Tokiomi!
"Agh! K-K-Kariya—!"
"You took everything from me… You've always… always been the more successful… the most blessed…. While I could hardly do anything, you had everything! Aoi-san chose you! She had you over me! You had the family I always dreamed of and what did you do with it?! WHAT DID YOU DO?!" His spit splattered all over the man's foaming mouth. "You squandered it all! You sold your daughter! You betrayed Aoi-san's love! You even lost your magecraft! And even now, at the brink of it all, you still have the gall to say you wanted your children to grow up and fight to the death?!"
The anger… The emotions he'd buried deep within him… The pain for seeing his love being with a man who didn't deserve her… He knew Aoi wouldn't love him the way he loved her. Yet, as Kariya decided that if he can't be with her, he could be there for her and her children, Tokiomi just had to go and ruin that too.
"Unforgivable!" It was beyond outrage. It was insanity. "UNFORGIVABLE!"
"P-please, Kariya—Agh! Stop—!"
Tokiomi was in agony. He'd always thought of Kariya as nothing more than a pathetic bug. Kariya had seen it in the way the man looked at him. But now… now, he was begging him to spare his life.
All this hate he'd built up over years. Tokiomi, Zouken, the worms, the war, Kariya was done with them. Kariya was over this madness.
"It should have been my life! Not yours!"
"P-plea—ERGH!" the man begged. "Ka… ri… ya… Don't—!"
"TOKIOMI!" he merely tightened his grip.
Kariya hated him. He hated his family. He hated his life. He endured it for Aoi. When that was unacceptable, he endured it for Rin and Sakura. He suffered for the sake of his daughter when he should've been the one to keep her safe.
But… because of Tokiomi… because he now had the power… no more… No more! NO MORE!
"Die!" he muttered under breath. "Die! Die! DIE!"
He repeated it again and again. From a low growl to a guttural roar.
For a moment, he thought he heard the faint sound of something snapping. If there had been, it likely would've been what remained of his sanity.
As he pressed further, the resistance from the man under him started to weaken out. Soon, he stopped struggling entirely. Tokiomi arms limped and fell to his sides. It was then that Kariya's strength finally gave out and his grip loosened.
Although free, the man didn't move. He simply lay under Kariya. His pupils froze in abject fear, his last expression was one of pain and humiliation. Even in death, all Kariya could see was the worthless, pathetic face of a man he envied.
But, for the murderer who'd achieved his lifelong desire, he was still trying to process what just happened.
After all, "I-I did it! I… I killed him! I finally… killed… Tokiomi! I… Haha… Hahaha… Hahahahahahahaha!"
He felt like shouting. He felt like celebrating. He finally did it! After all these years he actually did what he always dreamed of. Kariya killed the one who stole his life, his happiness. At long last!
"Indeed, you killed a weak and crippled man who couldn't fight back. Congratulations." The celebratory laughing was cut short. The arrogant tone of the voice had Kariya's gaze on the ceiling focusing on someone standing on the chapel's second floor. "Then again, this is probably the best a mongrel like yourself can do."
There, standing in one of the church's inner balconies, two figures sat watching him. The young Kotomine and the blonde Servant sporting regular clothes had been sitting there, watching the show from above. The blondie, Archer, rose up from his seat and started.
"This was better than I expected," Gilgamesh said with a satisfied grin. "Not the fierce battle between two rivals I anticipated, but to hear a madman's ravings… Although crude, it is passable every now and then, Kirei."
Kariya's mouth was agape. "What?"
"Ah, here I was, hoping Tokiomi would put up at least a good show of resistance… But sadly, this was as far as someone as pitiful as he could go. Hahaha!" Gilgamesh laughed. "Rejoice, mongrel! You, a walking corpse filled to the brim with rot and maggots, managed to entertain me. Even if it lasted only a few moments, be honoured to have earned my amusement! Now, call upon your mutt so that I may top off my evening wine by slaying that rabid dog!"
Now that adrenaline left Kariya's body, he started to think again. Wait, didn't Tokiomi sign a Geas? Why didn't Archer attack him the moment Kariya jumped on his master. What was going on?!
"Milord." Kirei stood up and bowed to the Servant of all people. "It appears that he's been left stupefied by tonight's happenings. Perhaps, I may clarify with him so that your entertainment may continue posthaste?"
"Granted. But hurry up before I finish this glass, lest my patience runs thin." Gilgamesh nodded while taking a light sip of the half-empty champagne glass.
"I see that you're confused, Matou Kariya." Kirei started again but stared down on Kariya's form with a smug grin. "It is understandable. To cut a long story short, my teacher wasn't the one who called you."
"But… the Geis!" still reeling but managing to piece things together, Kariya spoke.
"Tokiomi, my former master, could do little in his position, as you've no doubt ascertained with your bare hands. So he did as I told him to." Kirei said with a cruel smile. "He wasn't fit to be a Master of his Highness any longer. So I took upon this role myself."
"You… betrayed, Tokiomi?!"
Kirei shrugged. "Call it what you believe. You, however, did get what you wanted, isn't that correct, Matou Kariya? The one responsible for your suffering is dead. Tell me, how does it feel? After finally ending it, after killing the man you most despised? How… Does vengeance feel?"
Kariya looked down at Tokiomi' s lifeless corpse. He finally got what he deserved, after all this time. There… was only one answer. "It feels… amazing."
"Is that so?" Kirei smirked. "I'm curious, will I feel the same way when I kill Emiya Kiritsugu?" When the man downstairs didn't know how to answer such a question, Kirei cleared his throat. "Moving on. Now, where are your allies?"
"W-what are you talking about?"
"Don't try to fool us, mongrel." Glass shattered as Gilgamesh discarded his empty wine glass to the floor near Tokiomi's face. The Servant himself didn't seem at all bothered by maiming the face of his deceased former master. "Now! Out with it! We're well aware Lelouch and his lackeys will attack us." Gilgamesh had on an expression that looked forward to killing both Berserker and Avenger. Knowing one of the two servants was a major pain in the goldie's ass since the start of the war, Kariya finally snapped out of his victory high. He didn't even flinch when the King addressed him again. "So, mongrel! Drop the act! What is their plan? They prepared something outside the church, had you not? What's your move?! Where is your trap?"
"Move…?" All the pieces clicked back into places. All the conditions had already been cleared. Lowering his gaze to the floor, Kariya's voice echoed all over the chapel walls. "Trap? Where, you ask? Heh. Heheheh. Ahahahahah!"
"Hm. Hearing it once was acceptable as insanity is a flavour best tasted rarely. But this just spoils my mood." Kirei was suddenly subjected to criticism by the King on his work as the madman continued to lose it. "Any more of this, and even your precious wine wouldn't be enough to appease me, Kirei."
"Apologies, milord." Kirei bowed with a modicum of respect, but he followed up with an initiative that his former teacher lacked dearly. "Let me handle it."
Hopping down to the floor below, Kirei smashed the stone earth and glass fragments with the sole of his boots before grabbing the deranged, laughing lunatic by the fringes of his greying hair. Three sets of black keys were drawn, all blades on the man's neck who, despite the threat of immediate death, continued to laugh.
Even Kirei was starting to bore from this. "Answer me, Matou Kariya. What are your allies up to? What did Lelouch Lamperouge and Kayneth El-Melloi Archibald do while they had you distract us with this farce of a revenge plot."
"Heheh… Farce?" the man suddenly spoke, only good eye meeting Kirei's own while the dead one stayed on Kariya's own reflection against the blades. "Wasn't this you're doing, to begin with, priest?"
Kirei withdrew the blades. But instead of letting the man go, he landed a strong haymaker on Kariya's nose. Something snapped, likely the aforementioned snout. But Kariya didn't seem to register the pain.
Even as he was picked up by his hair once more, "Heh… Heheheh… Hahahah…"
The man just laughed. Kirei, losing patience, asked once more.
"What's so funny, Matou Kariya?"
"You… you guys were looking for a trap, yeah?" At this reply, Kariya tugged on his coat. With his one good arm, he pulled out a small box… that vaguely resembled a detonator.
"Well, I'm that trap."
Kirei's eyes widened upon hearing a click.
It was followed by an explosion that rocked the chapel to its very foundations.
***
Author notes:
Hope you enjoyed this chapter. Kariya finally got his revenge while Tokiomi got what he deserved. I changed it from Aoi to him because Tokiomi isn't needed anymore. I had few ideas but decided that killing him is the best option. Also, now Lelouch knows more about Sakura and will try his best to save her.
On an unrelated note, I got Kama when I was only rolling for CE, but now I'm in qp hell. Got her with 12 sq :D (I deserve your hate/salt.)
Special thanks to Beta-Reader for amazing work: ReavesTheReader!
Anyway, until the next chapter!