Gamestar Forum

2 YEARS LATER

Henri Mahagany was sitting on the cold floor of his basement, sketching out a series of runes on the ground with red chalk.  At each vertex, he placed a drop of his own blood.  Or, more accurately, his bloodline, which was what the diagram was trying to channel.

"You're sure about this?" Danny asked from the back end of the room, outside the boundaries of the diagram.  Danny had been one of the first recruits to Cody's cause, turned by his fervent speeches toward the side of full public disclosure.  He had joined their ragtag band along with a few other recruits, and they were rapidly becoming a full-fledged political organization, a force to be reckoned with.

Danny became one of the members of Henri's group, which oversaw managerial and strategic tasks.  Their magic worked well together - Danny specialized in altering the properties of objects and surfaces, usually disrupting the opponent enough for Henri to catch them in a wave of hexes.  They soon realized that their personalities clicked as well, and they started a steady relationship that had lasted for six months so far.

Henri and Cody were still friends, though, and Henri felt a lot more comfortable interacting with him now that he didn't have to deal with his crush.  They certainly needed to coordinate - as Henri had predicted, more and more enemies were appearing, and while the Magus Association proper was relatively quiet on the subject, many of its constituent members weren't afraid to show their objection to Cody's plans a little more directly.

Which explained Henri's actions now.  Basic spells wouldn't cut it any more, too many mages had basic magic resistance charms that negated them.  He was usually able to overload them with enough spells, but he needed to be more versatile.  As the last heir of the Mahagany family, he had access to his bloodline's spells.  He just had to access them.

"Yes.  We've both agreed, it's the right choice."  Danny was silent.  The problem with this magic was that if for some reason he wasn't considered the legitimate heir, the magic would backfire and he and probably everyone within a large radius would die.  It could happen for any number of reasons written into the family's Magic Crest.  He had never completed his magical training.  Wasn't cooperating with the Magus Association.  Even his sexuality could be a problem if the Crest mandated that he have children.

No time for turning back now.

"My name is Hendrick Mahagany.  I am the final and rightful heir of the Mahagany family.  The lives of my parents, however, were torn away before they could pass on their Magic Crest to me."

The lines of the diagram began to glow with energy.

"I request access to these secrets.  Magic grows, generation after generation, passed down through blood or parenthood.  My blood is freely offered to you, Sanctum, and all I want in return is what is rightfully mine."

Now was the time to cast a spell.  Its legitimacy would determine the outcome of the ritual.

"FAMULUS PRISMATIS!"

The magic lines began to fade, receding back toward the center of the diagram.  The wounds on Henri's hands that he had drawn blood from closed, the blood refilled.  And more.

All the glass in the building shattered, and Henri felt it move - felt himself move it - in front of him.  It reformed itself, turning almost liquid, into a humanoid figure.  Its heart was made of stained glass.

"Looks like it worked," he breathed.  He raised his hand with a few Spark spells and reached his hand toward the familiar's heart.  It received and cooperated with his magic, its heart becoming a fiery, molten color while its outer skin solidified.  If Henri was right, it would be able to channel his spells just like his old trident could.

Henri gestured Danny over, and he began to apply his magic to the surface of the familiar, making its shape more malleable, its body less brittle, its attacks stronger, its air resistance lower.  After he was done, Henri waved his hand, and the familiar moved under his command, jumping across the room.

Danny grinned and put his arms around Henri's shoulders.  "Glad you didn't kill yourself there."

"So am I."

Suddenly, a white glow clouded both of their visions.

...

Henri

Freaking friendzone.

"Life.  On our terms.  I bet there'll be some groups wanting retaliation against us for ending the Sanctum Wars."

Henri

A flash of inferno...

The Key burned up, his home burned up.  The Key burned up, his home burned up.  The association echoed through his mind, the best way Ruler thought he could get him to stop destroying the Key, but it was already fading.  The influence receding.

A voice spoke to him.  He couldn't make out the words, not exactly, but the voice was familiar.  His delirious brain decided on the words he associated most with this voice, the ones he had first heard from him.

"I... didn't know there was anyone else here."

Henri fainted from a mana deficiency.

Henri

Henri had his eyes closed, the Sanctum Key perched on his pinky finger.  His eyes were closed, as if he couldn't tear himself away from his thoughts.

The main reason his eyes were closed, though, was that he wasn't sure he would be able to resist the urge to use the Sanctum Key to kill his enemies if he saw how much danger Cody was putting himself in.  Have to keep my mind on what's important... if Cody lives but the Key isn't destroyed, more people will be hurt...

But wouldn't it be better to grant you and Cody power, rather than someone like Nick?

No...

You're right, it's pointless anyway.  He could never love you.

The phrase "devil's advocate" appeared in some small part of Henri's mind that wasn't swamped by the incessant struggle in his brain.  This fight needs to be over quickly.

Henri

Henri stared at the chaos of the battle.  Useless.  In the end, I'm useless.  He supposed that this was a lesson unto itself as to why the Sanctum War was so terrible.  These Servants of the past were infinitely more powerful than any human on Earth, and they could cause near-infinite damage as a result.

We get rid of the Servants, we get rid of the problem plaguing us.  Even Avenger, even Ruler, are Servants in the end.  But what do they serve?

Henri halfheartedly summoned a volley of lightning spells and cast them in Avenger's direction.  Her incredible strength made them fizzle out before they even reached her.

It's up to Caster and the Maria-Lancer pair now... we're screwed, aren't we.

Jestina

Jestina was walking along the block across from the concert hall, trying to identify any vulnerabilities, when she noticed Ken Sy approaching her.

"Hello.  It's a pleasure to see you here, Mr. Sy.  I was wondering... I feel like if I entered this concert, there's a significant risk that my Mod would identify me.  I'm sure there'll be some type of security.  Would you be willing to help me out on this mission, to go inside and give me a signal at some point to break in?"

Henri

Arash appeared in front of Henri, and Henri kneeled.

"Archer... Arash... thank you.  This war's made me reconsider a lot of things.  So many figures from the past summoned, and while we call them Heroic Spirits, they all seem to be broken somehow.  Not true heroes, not the people they were idolized to be.  Arash... I know we've had disagreements, but I know that you always had my back, but more importantly, the back of everyone.  You've been a great ally, and a friend."

Archer smiled, and Zamiel's bullet struck the arrow.  He visibly jolted, and he crumpled to the ground just as the arrow fell into the ocean.  The sandy circles faded, replaced by wilted grass.

"Thank you," Henri breathed.

Henri

Henri's eyes were burning with rage as he stared at James's dying body.  He wanted to scream, to throw lightning at something until nothing was left but dust.  What's the point?  Tragedy after tragedy after tragedy.  He walked over to James.

"That's no excuse.  The actions you took were your own decision.  I don't think Ruler can make someone do something if those feelings aren't there to begin with."

Meanwhile, Archer had turned to Assassin.  His exposed skin, previously a light brown, was slowly changing in hue to solid gold as his arrow continued on its course.  Assassin faced him, but Archer felt no fear.  His life and death were already bound to the course.

Another arrow fired into the ground, and almost the entire battlefield was turned into a sandy desert.  Archer held out his hand, and the sand began to swirl around Assassin, combining with the smoke to cloud his vision.  Archer stretched out his bow to an incredible length, loading in an arrow, and fired.  It speared through the smoke, unwavering, through Assassin.  Arrow after arrow after arrow, gold streaks flying through the air.

His face dark, he pointed his bow toward Zamiel and fired.  The arrow passed through Zamiel's flesh, and the hole it created closed over with black slime.  Zamiel laughed in a low, discordant voice, and the bullet embedded in his body exited him, swirling around him before re-entering.

Archer ran forward, light trailing behind him, and grabbed Zamiel, intending to teleport him somewhere else for a more powerful attack.  But something was off.  Zamiel's life force moved with Archer willingly, and he felt no resistance as they teleported to another offshore island in the course of his ultimate Noble Phantasm.  When he arrived, Zamiel was laughing.

"I can't be killed in this state.  I'll die soon, of course, once my arrow hits the ground... but not before then.  You aren't invincible."

Zamiel's bullet flew out of one of his eyes, forming a trail of red and black energy.  It rammed into Archer repeatedly from multiple directions, but his now-golden flesh was impermeable.  Arash prepared another arrow, but before he could, the bullet flew off in the sky.  Directly toward Arash's arrow.

Arash's face hardened, and he pummeled Zamiel with arrows, before teleporting back to Avenger.  Lack of mana and the damage from the arrows would kill Zamiel before he could find a way to return.  But Arash now had minutes rather than hours left to live.