Lingering Pt.2
Just a part two to continue the story. I wonder what happens...
What do you mean I should know? I don't, I swear.
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The day was here. The final enemy servant had been defeated, and the last two, (y/n) and Saber, were all that were left. Their masters had quickly gone their separate ways as if they had never been allies to begin with. A painful week and a half had passed since (y/n) had actually been able to speak with Mordred. Per his master's orders, he was always able to locate her, but he always disobeyed the order to attack. No command spell was ever in use when (y/n)'s master gave such orders, so (y/n) was always free to watch over Mordred from afar.
He was easily able to stay out of her range of senses especially after being around her for so long back when their master's worked together. Only once did he think to actually appear before her to promise one last time that he would end this war without any of their lives being lost. But now he was out of time. His master had gotten tired of his reports of not finding anything which led them to where they stood now during the dead of night in the middle of a closed park.
Saber's master would come to them to put an end to everything. Both of them knew this, but only (y/n) truly dreaded it. He didn't understand how his master could care for another human being as if they were the most important thing in their life only to turn a cold shoulder the very moment all other enemies were eliminated. Saber's master had been the same, and the ordeal baffled (y/n). "These mages...have they lost their humanity? Where is their sense of self, their conciousness that warns them of how wrong this is?" he thought as they waited.
Their loitering was put to an end when Saber and her master appeared. Both were good at keeping face when a battle was put before them. Their neutral expressions, especially Saber's, was worrying.
"You are much better at hiding than I realized. This city is only so large, yet my servant couldn't find you anywhere. I simply got tired of waiting," his master spoke first.
"Impatient as usual," Saber's master said. She smiled at them which (y/n) did know what to make of. They were still enemies...right? "You didn't actually come here to fight did you."
"I wish I could answer that, but there's something I want to ask you," (y/n)'s master spoke. "What is your wish? Both of us only have one command seal left, so all we can do is fight this out...unless I know why you want to win so badly. You never told me." Was there really a chance that they didn't have to fight? "I already told you that I'm doing this to bring back my brother. I can't just throw that aside without a good enough reason."
"So it's your brother or my father then. How tragic. Neither of us is willing to give up our chance to restore our families." Saber locked eyes with (y/n). Both of them knew where this was going.
"Actually...I wouldn't mind letting you take the wish. I let my brother go a long time ago. This stupid war put me in place to see him again, but I don't think he'd want me to have killed in order to achieve that. Besides, I'd rather you have someone looking after you. We don't have to be enemies." Those words changed the atmosphere entirely. "So I hope you're okay with me using my last command seal," (y/n)'s master looked to him as he said this. And it was then that he and Mordred realized something that they hadn't thought to account for. One of them would have to disappear regardless of whether or not anyone died.
"Yeah...I'm alright with that," (y/n) lied. But what else could he do? He didn't want to fight Saber, and he had promised that no one would die. This was practically the perfect solution if he were to fulfill those requirements alone.
"Like hell you're okay with it!" Saber snapped. She startled everyone with her outburst, but (y/n) hadn't expected her to remain quiet about the matter. "How could you possibly be okay with just disappearing. What about everything you said? Don't you have your own wish for the grail?"
"Saber, quiet down. This is their choice. It's either this or..." her masters words went unheard.
"I'd rather you face me in battle than have you run away like a coward," Mordred hissed. (Y/n) frowned a bit. He wasn't running, but it made sense that Saber perceived it that way.
"If I have to become a coward for you to reach your kingship, then so be it. I wouldn't mind it," (y/n) said. But he did mind. He hated himself for trying to tough this out when he was suffering on the inside. Maybe his goal was foolish to begin with, for how could someone possibly bring a war to an end with two victors?
"That's enough. There's no need to drag this out. The sooner we end it, the faster we can all move on," Saber's master spoke. Mordred was clearly not okay with any of it, but what could they possibly do?
"Thanks for everything. I wish I could have been able to grant you your wish. It was quite admirable," (y/n)'s master spoke to him. He almost laughed at those words hearing them from someone who had a wish just as pure. "I won't forget you. Never," his master added as he rose his hand in front of him to give his last order. Just a moment longer and he wouldn't have to hold back his distress any longer. "By order of this command seal...return to the grail."
Immediately, his spirit origin began to fade. He himself began to glow in gold as shimmering light surrounded him. "I owe you. Because of your sacrifice, I can now rest assured that I didn't have to be the one to harm my servant's fragile feelings," Saber's master spoke. She looked to Mordred and smiled. "You might want to say goodbye to him," she nodded towards (y/n). It was surprising that Mordred didn't say anything in retaliation to her master's words of obvious insult. Perhaps Saber was too focused on reaching (y/n) who stood still upon being caught in Mordred's hug.
"I'm sorry," he mumbled as he hugged her back. She was silent, not wanting to let him go and it was this distraction that brought the real problem into view. Saber's master had shot forward faster than they knew she could and in mere seconds, (y/n)'s master was impaled by magic blade the girl had summoned against him. Shock was not the word to use. She clearly betrayed everyone and the boy she had mercilessly attacked gave her a look of question. Why had she done this? The sinister laugh that followed sent a chill through all of them.
"You fool. I didn't think it would be this easy. Hahaha, I can't believe how stupid you are. The only thing that matters to me is the revenge of my father! And guess who killed him! You're dead brother. And you actually believed I was on your side all this time? I just wanted to make sure that I killed you in the end," she ranted. And the moment she stopped speaking, Mordred's sword went across her neck rendering her lifeless faster than one could say any word.
(Y/n) had rushed to catch his dying master, the kind boy still wide eyed from the sudden attack. "Saber, the necklace, quickly," (y/n) spoke. He was fading faster now, so he lay his master into the grass. The necklace could at least save his master, but now he and Mordred both would disappear and there was no victor in this war at all now.
"Is this really going to save him?" Saber asked as she pulled the item free of her neck and put it onto (y/n)'s master. She got no answer from him. The grail had already reclaimed his spirit origin leaving her alone. All hope was lost...
...or so it seemed. All it had taken was a contract between a former master and former servant. The winners of the war were decided in that moment and their wishes were granted. Normally, a servant brought into a time where they didn't exist would not retain any memories, but Mordred had been awfully specific with her wish.
(Y/n) opened his eyes under a star lit sky, far away from any town or city. Despite not knowing where he was, he did immediately recognize the face of the person who greeted him with an hug of no warning. "Saber..." he whispered in relief, not hesitating to pull her closer to him.
"My name is Mordred," she spoke. "Just call me Mordred from now on, alright."
He looked past her to see his former master standing near a fire with some older person. It didn't take much guessing to realize that the person must have been his brother. "Did you use your grail wish on me?" (Y/n) asked although he already knew such was the truth.
"The grail wasn't happy about what happened, so we couldn't claim victory right away. But yeah, I did. I wasn't going to let you get away with running. You promised you'd...take me out somewhere." All the while Mordred kept her face hidden as she spoke to him. He let free a sigh of relief before reaching up to rest his hand in Mordred's hair which was free of its ponytail at the moment.
"I did, didn't I. Then where do you want to go?" For a moment, Mordred didn't say anything. Maybe he had upset her somehow? Her silence grew his anxiety until finally she answered.
"Right here is fine. I don't want to be anywhere else right now," she muttered. His heart nearly skipped a beat when he realized the meaning of those words, and this time he didn't dare to waste his opportunity. The desire had been lingering since the last time she had willingly been this close to him. They were granted their peace and for once in a grail war, there were, in a way, two victors. But wait...had he ever told Mordred his name?!
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I rewrote this three times and I still don't know if I did this right so...hopefully it was to you guys' liking. I'm thinking about doing only oneshot books once I finish the last remaining drafts in my que. Until next time you awesome readers!
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