Chapter Text
Epilogue: Mairu
It was cold.
So, so cold.
Mairu was shivering as he pushed his eyelids open, and took in a few feet above him, a roof of beaten, nearly completely worn down wood. Besides the cold, what he felt most was a low, dull ache. Every single part of his body felt like he had gone three rounds outside the Sanctus Cerevisia. He'd had to hide bruises from a few nights after he'd snuck back in to Clocktower.
"Ohhh," he moaned, placing his right hand down on what he could now feel was a wooden bench. He pushed up, and tried to roll ov-
"Woof"Clump
Only to roll completely off the side of the bench.
"Wha-," Mairu blinked, his vision blurring as he felt his face pressed down onto a somehow colder and less comfortable dirt floor, "Why didn't I ca-," he pushed his arms toward the ground to try and push himself up, but quickly fell of balance when only his right hand pushed up. He then laid there on the ground, as he lifted up his left arm, and saw that there was only a stump at the elbow.
…
"That bitch," that failed Pharaoh had cut off his arm. He remembered now. He remembered. His plan had been coming together. Yes, it had meant having to rely on that cocksure shithead Euron, and managing to pull off that lie to that cult of assassin wannabees, but it was working. He'd come close, so very close, to getting his revenge, and taking his rightful place as the truce master of Chaldea.
He thought back, cursing at all the work that had been lost. He'd made Euron a demiservant, but he'd learned from Grazdan, so he'd only given him so much power. The process of learning how to do that, to make someone only a tenth of a servant or so, had taken over a month of study and some advice from Onos. It had been worth it though, to keep the plan moving. And to get a taste of someone realizing that for all their power, they owed fealty to Mairu in order to keep it. Oh, Euron had been planning on betraying him early, but once he realized he was so constrained, he'd kept in his bowl like the good little fish he was.
The Facelessmen had been even easier. He'd met one who'd fought the Counter-Guardian before, and wanted some revenge. It had only taken a few lies, and a bit of a demonstration, to promise them that he'd be able to use Emiya in a ritual to summon for their "Faceless God". Getting a few hundred bodies to throw around would have been more than enough to make that worth it, but even better was when he'd heard Onos speak on how similar they were to the order of assassins. He'd then realized he could use them to commit a summoning ritual to bring forth King Hassan using the Counter Guardian as a sacrifice to create a ward that would serve as an all use command seal. The thought of absolute control over the Grand Assassin was something that, even now that it was out of reach, warmed Mairu.
It had even started well in the city. Everything had been working perfectly, they picked apart Chaldea's group slowly, and Euron had managed to pull together his plan to turn the pirates against the city, a distraction that would allow the summoning of Grand Assassin. It had…snagged, a bit, when Cu Chulainn's son had managed to break free, ruining his plan to keep the lancer from fighting, and run off to warn the others before Hassan could be brought to heel. But his back up plan, to stall until that summoning was complete, had seemed to work perfectly.
Mairu sneered as he finally managed to push himself up to where he was sitting, So many at Clocktower had only ever thought him a fool. But would a fool have been able to work together to create a new spell to replace the command seal in the servant system. True, they weren't as versatile as the command seals, but it had worked. He'd done it. He'd created a new spell, and brought one of the shit head's servants to heel. Watching that Pharaoh march to his orders like a puppet on strings had been everything he'd hoped it would be-
And then the bitch had broken the spell. She'd cut off his arm. Left him bleeding, crawling on the ground. Until Onos-
"Onos," he croaked, his one good hand rising up to his neck.
"So you realized I'm here."
Mairu froze. He turned his head to the side, and finally saw the figure of the strange sorcerer. He was leaned up against the wall, looking down at him the exact same way he had in the alley at the back of the pub all those months ago. Arms folded, head down, star eyes gazing down upon him. Mairu could only shake under the stare coming from this strange man who knew magics far beyond anything he'd ever seen at the Clocktower.
"Yes, Lord Onos," Mairu snapped out quickly, "I was merely waking up. I have been-"
The sorcerer held up a hand, and Mairu quickly snapped his jaw shut. He watched as the figure lowered his hand, and simply shook his head, "It seems we have come full circle," Onos sauntered over to him, and reached down and grabbed Mairu by the back of the shirt, "I find you face down in the dirt, and I have to pull you back to your feet," which Mairu did once more. Mairu soon found himself standing up straight, his feet touching the ground, as Onos let go, "Though, I must tell you," Mairu looked over, and saw the stars in Mairu's eyes seem to go supernova, "I see so much less in you now then I did then."
"Please," Mairu shot out, "Please, Lord Onos, let me explain-"
"What is there to explain," Onos's face maintained a calm surface, "You were given numerous goals, and you failed at every single one of them," Mairu reached up to try and speak up for himself, "Nearly a year of work on this plane, enough money to ingratiate yourself with the higher classes of every single sect of nobility on this continent, spies and information brokers at your disposable, and worst of all," the world seemed to slow, "You wasted my time."
"Lor-"
"Every second I spend with a worm like you makes me want to rip your head off," Mairu nearly fell backward, "So please, shut your mouth before you die," he sighed, "I already will have to get my heads dirty with your filth, I'd prefer to not sully my ears with your begging."
Mairu shut his mouth. Onos snorted, before turning his back to him, and walking over toward a small window along the wall. Mairu could only stare at the man's back, and grip his hand tightly. He could feel tears flowing from his eyes, and he tried to consider the spell he could summon that would allow him to try and escape. Even now, he doubted he had anything that might let him kill Onos. He was smart enough to know that this sorcerer was far beyond his ability to kill. He choked, realizing that with Onos's ability to cross planes of existence, any chance he had of escaping was impossible for him.
'Damnit,' he felt his tears flow freely down his face, 'I should never have taken his offer.'
"Come with me," he saw the hand offered to him, bronze skin orange in the alley's single light, "I will give you a chance to gain your revenge on RItsuka Fujimaru and Chaldea. I will give you what you deserve."
'What I deserve?' he cried in his head, 'I deserve to be Master of Chaldea,' he wept, desperately trying to keep his cries from escaping his mouth, 'That was what they said. I deserved to go. I completed the training. I deserved to become the hero of all human history. I deserved the adulation and the adoration and the affection. I passed,' he then dug his fingernails into the palm of his one remaining hand, 'And that little shit head stole it from me. He stole what I earned,' Mairu bit at the side of his jaw, while he glared at the back of the more powerful sorcerer.
"I can still kill Fujimaru," Onos twitched slightly, but ultimately he kept his stance along the window, "I'm a better mage than him. I have a set of circuits tuned to serve as a Master of Servants under the system," Mairu leaned forward, knowing he was already going to die, and thinking at least this gave him a chance to regain his position, "Let me take you as my servant, and with my mana," Onos still refused to look back, "You keep speaking about a partner, that's your Master," there was a harder flinch now than there had been before, but Onos refused to look back at Mairu, "They've never done anything. Even you speak about how they annoy you. I will be a fine enough source of mana for you, just chose me, and we can work toge-"
"Fine."
"Ther to-," Mairu stopped, and stared. He then looked more deeply at the man in front of him, and then said, "You…you want me to-"
"I will be fine if you were to take up the role as my source of mana," Onos said. He reached up a hand, and rubbed the tips of his fingers along the stone wall on the side of the window, "My partner only just managed to…disrupt some of my plans. It had taken quite a bit for me to follow my quarry, and I had nearly brought them down, but," he stopped, before sighing, "I was ordered to return here," he then turned around, and looked Mairu in the eye, "Well, perhaps having a partner that clearly knows their place would be more tolerable an existence."
"Yes," Mairu said quickly, "ha, yes, give me a moment and we ca-"
"Shut your mouth," Mairu's mouth snapped shut, "I do not want a pathetic creature to be my partner. I have some standards," he then paused, raised a hand, and rubbed his chin, "Nor would it just be a simple as I declaring I wish for you to be my partner, and the command seals to appear on your hand," Onos nodded to himself, "And how could I tell that you would be more useful as a source of mana…without a test."
"A test?"
"A simple one," Onos leaned forward to Mairu's face, a full smile almost seeming to cut his head in half, "Kill my partner, and you will take their command seals," he then turned his head around, to the window, "And the good news is that you will have your opportunity imminently."
"Imm-" Mairu paused, "Your partner is coming now?"
"Of course," Onos turned back to Mairu, "They are less than a minute from opening that door," he pointed behind him with his thumb, "So, my dear Mairu," Mairu could feel himself beginning to sweat despite the cold, "Tick tock. Consider Grazdan a ball, and this, as your final strike."
At that, Onos simply leaned backward, resting up against the wall of this hut, while crossing his arms together, and smirking at Mairu. It dawned on him that Onos was not going to actively help him take out his current Master, and that if Mairu was to save himself, he would do so on his own. He quickly raised his right hand toward the wall, and activated a low level fire spell that he held in the palm of his hand. It wasn't his most powerful, but it was low level enough to not give off too much residual mana, so there would hopefully be no way for this "Partner" to tell what he was doing. That, and well, it was a simple one, and he did not have time to plan out a intricate spell with so little time.
'This is it,' Mairu held his hand outstretched, warm mana coursing over the palm of his outstretched hand, 'This is your last chance,' he could now hear footsteps from outside the door, seeming to step on what sounded like a path of stone, 'So show Onos,' he paused, as he saw the door to the world outside begin to swing open toward him 'no, show them all, why it is you who is the rightful master of Chaldea.'
"Thanks fo-"
BWOOIISHHSH-FLUME
He fired the second he heard a voice from the doorway. He could vaguely make out it had been a woman's voice, a girl's really, but that didn't matter. He had shot his flame spell directly at the doorway, and then used the relative simplicity of the spell to simply allow himself to funnel more and more energy into it. Still, the mix of high energy he was using alongside his wounds lead to him losing steam within only ten seconds or so. However, when the flames dispersed, Mairu cups only see a pile of ashes where the door had been.
"He he," Mairu hacked out, the use of that much mana had been more than he'd been prepared to use. But, "That," he gestured toward the soot," turning his head to Onos, who was looking at him, "That was your partner?"
"No."
THWACK
Mairu did not know what happened at first, as he suddenly found himself falling forward. As he landed down on the floor, he felt a great stinging on the back of his knees, and he could only guess that the voice had belonged to someone who had landed a kick to each. He could do nothing as his face hit the dirt, and he felt the air pushed out his lungs. He let out a low groan, and moved his hand to try and push himself back up, before he felt a sudden weight push down between his shoulder blades, keeping him against the dirt.
"Just so you know," he recognized that the voice was a woman's now, "Totally knew you were waiting to kill me," no, a girl. A teenage girl. Her voice was almost laughing as she pushed her small foot deeper into his back, "It was easy enough to guess once I saw that you all were speaking," Mairu blinked, wondering how she could have seen him-
"You think so lowly of me?" he heard Onos say, and suddenly realized that the girl on top of him must have turned to speak with the sorcerer, "After everything the two of us have gone through together, you believe that I would betray yo-"
"Oh, I don't think you ever expected him to actually kill me," the voice was laughing, her heel digging further and further into his back, "You were probably just bored, and wanted to see if anything interesting could happen if you told this putz to try and kill me," she openly laughed, before he felt a shift behind his head, and then hot breath on his right ear as she spoke once more, "A putz that was always a pathetic little worm, clinging to his own victimhood and wounded ego, and that we had to lift out of a drunken stupor so he'd stop crying into his beer like a bitch."
"You bitch," Mairu growled. He began to push all his remaining mana into his right arm, planning on it using it to force a general push, and hopefully knock this woman off so he could use his greater size to overwhelm her, "When I get my hands-"
"Hand," she corrected, and Mairu felt the foot fall off his back, and tried to push himself free, only to fall back when he felt a hand wrap around his wrist, and that foot that was once on his back place itself directly on his elbow, "You'd think after losing one, you'd know that. Maybe you need to realize that even having one hand is a blessing."
Mairu could not help but let out an audible gulp as he felt pressure begin to build against his elbow. He tried to stand up, but the angle of her foot and his exhaustion from the use of his spell had robbed him of most of his energy. So, for the next few seconds, all he could do was lay there as he felt her foot push further, and further, until finally-
SNAP
"YEEEAGHGHGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!" he screamed, as he felt his right arm fall uselessly to the ground, his front arm bending the exact wrong way from where it was supposed to. He could not help but shriek and writhe along the floor as he stared at his ruined arm. He cried out, "GHYUAHAHWA!" crying at the pain that was somehow worse than when the pharaoh had cut off his left arm.
"Like-a-bitch," he could hear her say out behind him. He made to reach over and grab his elbow, but he only cried harder when he moved his arm, but a phantom limb grabbed at his shattered joint. He laid there for a moment, trying to take in as much air as he could, while behind him, he heard the girl speak again, "All this talent, all your magical circuits," he could hear her step around him, as she continued to speak, "Your good looks, your family connections, your decent grades, and what does it come to," even through his tears, he could see a pair of shoes in front of his eyes, "crying, in the dirt, on some distant world, waiting to die," she paused, "Though considering how you usually end up in these timelines, this really is more a lateral move all things considered."
"Usu-," Mairu slurred out between the pain. He couldn't stop the tears, or the pain, "Wha- wha are u talking about."
"Oh," Mairu felt his hair get ripped upward, lifting his face from the ground, and showing him black shoes over black pants, "I've seen so much more than any person should see," she lifted further, until he was at her stomach and chest, and saw a white button down shirt, a familiar sight from a brochure he'd studied in hope and bitterness, "I've seen dozens of timelines so let's just say, that this really isn't much worse than how you usually end up, shithead."
Mairu's mind raced as far as it could. He was in such pain that he could barely form complete thoughts though, so he could only ask, his voice straining against the pain, "Who are you?"
"Oh," he was lifted up finally to see the girl face to face. She had a roundish face, joined by round eyes, and a tiny nose and mouth. Her hair was toward the nape of her neck, bangs flowing over her forehead and seeming to cross between her eyes, but with a side tail on her left, all a strangely vibrant orange. And her smile was almost infectious, or it would have been, had it not so clearly not matched the dead stare of her orange eyes, "I am Fujimaru Ritsuka."
He blinked, but before he said anything, he felt the force of the hand on his hair change, and he watched as his face hurtled toward the floor.
___________________________
It was cold.
But now, he was hurting more than ever from all over. His remaining arm was shattered at the elbow, and the forearm and hand were feeling dead. His face was stinging and he could feel that his nose was slightly to the side of where it should be. The rest of his body seemed to be revolting against the overuse of mana he had committed to his last spell, with the magic circuits throughout his body screaming in pain.
But none of that was anything in comparison to that name.
'How,' he asked himself, as he laid his head to the side, and watched the orange haired girl drawing lines away from the stone table he had been laid on. The stone table was colder than almost anything he'd ever felt, and he could see why with all the small mounds of snow. Above them, there were large clouds bulging, barely containing what was likely an even greater snow fall that would soon blanket the whole of the hill top they were on.
None of which seemed to bother the girl, though that was less important than, 'how could she be Ritsuka Fujimaru?' she paused for a moment, pointing down at the line, mumbling to herself, 'That shithead has always been a guy. I literally have touched him,' he then stopped, remembering that time in Pentos, 'regrettably.'
"So the secondary grounding line crosses the maintenance rune at a," he heard her speak to herself, before suddenly, drawing something, "Thirty degree angle, right. And that leads to," he watched her walks backward while dragging a piece of chalk down the line, "The Catalyst," she then stood up, wiping her hands slightly as she held the piece of chalk, before walking to the side.
As she moved out of the way, she could see that there was a stone pillar about waist high at the end of the line. It was pristinely cut, and on top of it stood a large lump of gold. It took a moment for him to realize that it was a golden skull.
"What?" he barely managed to get out, "What is that?"
"Oh, you woke up," he heard the female Fujimaru say, "Honestly never thought you'd wake up again," she sounded mostly surprised, "I mean, probably worse for you, considering what's going to be happening in about," Mairu finally brought his head to look at her, and saw she was looking at her wrist, where she quite clearly wasn't wearing a watch, "Ten minutes?" she shrugged, before smiling at her far too large smile.
"Should we find a way to silence him," another female voice spoke up. Despite the ache in his neck, Mairu turned to the other voice, and saw that there was another red haired woman standing there, standing next to another pillar, with a long, somewhat familiar sword sitting on it, "He may try and disrupt the ritual."
"Oh, at this point he can't do anything," the second woman scowled. She was darkly beautiful, almost elegant, with long red hair and flowing red robes seemed to almost merge together around her. But her eyes, they seemed to burn with a fire that caused his spine to shiver, "Come on Melisandre, I can guarantee you that I have personally made sure he can't do anything. I mean, I did break his arm."
"I have seen magics that do not require a finger," Mairu watched this female Fujimaru placed her hands behind her head, before he finally heard Melisandre sigh, "Though, if Azor Ahai trusts you, then I shall place my trust in you as well."
"Yeah, yeah, Azor Ahai," Fujimaru sighed, "Speaking of, for this ritual for Azor Ahai, you need to get up to the stand up there," she pointed up, and Maiur followed the finger up to a stone platform sitting at the edge of the hill they were on, at least fifty yards away from the nearest pillar which she had placed the sword on. Mairu heard a sigh from the woman, but Fujimaru added, "You know he'd appreciate you being punctual."
"Fine," he watched the red woman nod, turning her back to them, "For Azor Ahai," she seemed to glide toward the stone platform, passing outside the circle, the snow almost seeming to melt as she passed. As the cold continued to chill him to the bone, Mairu vaguely wished she would stay nearby, but then he heard a snort.
"Oh, how did Davos stand her," Mairu turned his head back to Fujimaru, who did air quotes, ""Azor Ahai", Blah," she shook her head, "Though, I guess we do need an expert on channeling magics for this thing to work, plus, well," he watched as her smile begin to dig into her face, a sharpness now there that he hadn't seen before, "I guess it'll be fun to get to watch her see where this is all leading."
"Azor Ahai," he managed to get out, "Is…is that what Onos is calling himself," he vaguely remembered that that had been what that slave religion that the Jeanne copy lead had been worshiping when they burned people at the stake. He had considered trying something in Volantis, though he had decided against it when he realized that trying to take that woman would have been too difficult with how deeply the cult seemed to follow her.
"Oh, he's used to that sort of role," Fujimaru laughed, not even bothering to look over at him, "Guess being a god of light kind of suits him, you know cause the sword is sort of his name and all that jazz," she folded her arms, "he's always like tricking people too, considering that's what he does. Plus the flames probably remind him of home," she then paused, and looked around, "Though maybe this place is closer to where he lives. Never managed to ask him if Dante was right about that."
"Wait, what?"
"I'll give you a minute."
"Azor Ahai," Mairu could feel himself begin to sweat, his body shaking now despite instead of due to the cold, "had the sword Lightbringer," it was an easy enough name to remember, "He's a powerful sorcerer, so powerful and so knowledgeable that he is able to make a mockery of the laws and rule of Magecraft," Fujimaru just nodded along, smiling at him as though she was listening to a five year old complete his times tables, "And…he seems to be a servant, with such power and strength, that is supposed to bring the light," he almost broke out crying again, "So…he's Lucifer," his voice cracked under the strain, "He's Satan!"
"Actually Satan," Fujimaru pointed her finger offhandedly toward him, "The actually is important I think."
"He's the Devil" Mairu hadn't paid enough attention in his classes to really understand the concepts of Beasts, but he knew that anything that involved the devil himself appearing and implementing magic spells and rituals was something that meant a danger beyond mortal comprehension. Whatever faults could be laid at the feet of Clocktower, summoning Satan himself was something that was considered so taboo that it was never even considered. He looked over at Fujimaru and shrieked, "And you're working for him."
"With him," Fujimaru raised up her hands in a shrug, "I am working with Satan," she then pulled down a sleeve, revealing a long set of tattoos, though a few seemed to have worn down to non-existence, "Technically, I'm his master," she then smirked towards him, "Though, I don't think you have anything approaching a high ground here either," she then hunched over, "Oh, I'm sad and depressed and drunk, and here comes a magical stranger offering me power beyond my wildest imagination so I can kill a guys who saved proper human history and then turn his friends into a harem of sexy girls that have to listen to my every command," she then stood up, and looked down at him with contempt, "Yeah, you really aren't in a position to judge my work pal."
"You're actively working with the devil!" Mairu cried., "Had I known that the man calling himself Onos was Actually Satan, I never would have taken the deal!"
"Too late for that," the little imp smirked at him, "You already are way too down the road to damnation," she turned her back to him, "And even worse, with you, there weren't even any good intentions," she then stopped, rubbed her chin, "Damn it, should have said road to hell. Though maybe that turn of phrase might work well enough in the ne-"
"Are you listening to me!?!" Mairu cried, though Fujimaru just waved him off, walking down past another pillar, this one with another sword, almost the same as Blackfyre, though somehow just slightly different, "You're going hell you bitch!"
"Already there!" she waved down the hill, "And speak of the devil!"
"You take far too much joy in revealing that," Mairu stopped, as now the threatening voice he had grown accustomed to had taken on a new level of menace. He watched as Mairu walked up, dragging something behind him, as he stared down into the female Ritsuka's eyes.
"Oh, you do too," the girl cackled, "I mean, you can't help yourself sometimes. If Melisandre had ever heard a Rolling Stones song she'd probably have tried to set you on fire," she waved him off, "Though," she turned her head to look down at what he was carrying, "I can see you managed to get our final catalyst," there was a vague moan coming from the object, and Mairu felt himself grow faint, "Glad to see you actually managed to get the old bastard out alive. Must have been a pain in the ass to get through all his defenses even with me telling you where to go."
"You called me away from finishing off Chaldea's command structure to find this," Satan raised his arm, and Mairu could see it appeared to be an ancient man. Excet, he was not just an old man with pale skin and a long red birthmark along his face, but almost some kind of strange tree, with a root sticking out of one of his eye sockets, "We already have his catalyst, I don't know why you feel the nee-"
"The arrow would summon him," Fujimaru snapped back, a bit more quickly and more viciously than before, "We can't take a risk of him somehow managing to take over one of our servants from his little hidey hole," she then pointed backward with her thumb, "so go place him up there with the arrow, and we'll get started."
"You should be glad I need you, you little harlot," Satan walked past him, dragging the body along the ground, a continual groan coming from the strange tree man, "Otherwise, I'd kill you where you stand."
"Love you too Lucy," Mairu watched as Satan walked past his feet, and then placed the body of the man on top of another one of the pillars, next to a strange white arrow with red feathers on its back. He then turned his attention back to the girl, who was walking up beside him, "When it comes to some servants, you have to just lay down the law a bit," she then stopped, and let out a little growl, "That'll teach him to go off freelancing like that."
"That samurai running around would have endangered every one of our plans!" Satan shouted back, "I didn't even get to kill her. Or the inventor!"
"Well too bad!" And for the first time, the smile softened on her face, and her eyes seemed slightly less beaten, "You had the element of surprise, an opponent operating on only half power, and exclusive use of my mana," she sighed, "Honestly, you should be glad it went as well as it did all things considering," she said with a hint of pride at the back of her voice.
For the next moment, all that was left was grumbling. Mairu watched as the two walked around the circle, with Satan inspecting the drawings beneath his feet, and not saying anything, all the while Fujimaru walked by his side, arms behind her back, chest puffed out in pride as the Prince of Darkness said nothing. As they did so, he was able to see the different catalysts on seven different pedestals. There was the skull, the broken tree man and the arrow, the two Valyrian Swords, but two more pedestals as well. Two sets of gems, one set red and one set blue, each opposite of one another, though the blue seemed to have been one jewel that had been shattered instead of the many different red gems.
All seven pedestals were spaced out evenly from one another, and all were an equal distance from him and the table he was on in the center. Mairu tried to move his legs to push himself off, to see if he could do anything, but as the bitch had said he was so damaged from her attack and from his overuse of mana that he could not actually push himself free. He could only stare, as the two finally came to a stop at the final jewel, and Satan sighed in defeat.
"It seems that despite yourself, you managed to set up the summoning circle correctly," the girl seemed to puff herself up with pride, "Though i'm sure my diagrams made the whole thing easy enough," the girl didn't seem to be effected at all by the snide remark, "And, with all your assistance, it does appear that we are ready to go. We have the circle, we have the catalysts," Mairu watched as Satan looked over at him, "We have our offering."
"Offer-you are going to use me as a sacrifice like you were going to use the Counter Guardian."
"That is correct," the devil nodded.
He waved his hand, and the girl walked over to the table Mairu had been laid up on, and then hopped up. She took the chance to tower over him, and then grabbed the buttons of her shirt, and popped them free. He blinked, and a dirty part he knew was wrong wondered if this would involve some kind of mana transfer, but that was killed the instant the shirt fell. Her entire torso was naked as she remained standing above him, hands outstretched, with her magical circuits shining to life in a bright blue light, covering her body in an unearthly glow that covered her open skin. He watched her closer her eyes, and he could feel the stone table begin to hum with mana from the girl standing on it.
"To be completely fair, now that you can do nothing about it," Mairu turned his eyes back to the man he'd known as Onos, "There never really was a three strikes thing."
"What?"
"Oh no," the devil shrugged, giving a contented sigh, "You see, this was always the plan, for you to be the sacrifice once we gathered up all the catalysts and Chaldea was so deeply entrenched in this world to retreat easily," he then patted his hand on Mairu's shoulder, "You actually managed to kill one of the servants. So, I must congratulate you on exceeding my expectations."
"Why?" Mairu's mind raced. He'd…he'd been given more mana enhancement, spell work and resources than he'd ever thought he had. He had been sure that at multiple points he had Chaldea's Master and its servants dead to rights, only to see it slip away, all the while being threatened for his constant failures. He strained, trying to use his shoulders to roll himself off the pedestal, "Why have have me do anything then, if you just were going to sacrifice me!?!"
"To be a proper sacrifice for this ritual, we determined the easiest way to pull this sort of ritual off would be to use a mana source tied both to Proper Human History and to the magics of this world. It couldn't just be a mage from this world due to a lack of grounding in my rules," Satan seemed to take great pride at those last few words, "So, we grabbed up you, our desperate mage with just enough potential to have been a candidate to be a Master of Chaldea, and then sent you to perform ritual after ritual, spell after spell," the lord of hell smirked, "And what do you know, you sucked up this world's mana like a sponge."
"It was only setting up that Ritual in Braavos that you'd absorbed enough anyway," he heard the female Fujimaru say, her eyes still closed, "The extra stuff after that was just gravy. But we turned you into the perfect fuel for getting our line up."
"Why though?" he asked again. He was only barely keeping himself together, "Why do all this. Why sacrifice me?" he looked between the two, hoping that at least to cause some kind of tension, "Why is a Fujimaru Ritsuka working with Satan?"
"Ummm," Fujimaru leaned her head to the side, "Spoilers," she laughed, and Mairu felt his jaw drop, "But, just as a final gift, for turning into such great kindling on this pyre, I'll tell you that you and I do share one thing in common," her smile was bigger, and more manic than ever before, as her pupils turned to pinpricks, "We both want to wring the neck of Ritsuka Fujimaru," she then turned her head to the side, "But unlike you, I'm going to actually do it," she then kicked out her foot, and knocked him back by the point of his chin, "Now quiet, I'm trying to concentrate."
Mairu felt his mind fall into a daze. He tried to regain control of himself, but…but everything was too crazed now. If this was another Fujimaru, why did she want to kill the male one? Was it some kind of dimensional war of one of them trying to replace another. Did the male cross over into her timeline and do some kind of damage? And how did Satan play a hand in this? How did they come together, and what was the devil getting out of this partnership? There were just too many questions. Just as he made to open his mouth again, however, he felt something sharp poke at multiple points into the his back.
"Fill, Fill, Fill, Fill, Fill, Fill, Fill."
And the sharpness tore further and further into his back, sharp stabbings seeming to hook further into his back from the initial stabbings. He could feel the points dig deeper and deeper through him, cutting through muscle and sinew and bone, as the attached themselves deep within him. He opened his mouth, and tried to let out a cry, but couldn't, as it felt like two of those hooks were cutting through his lungs, and he could not let out enough air to scream.
"Fill the cups, seven times, let them sit, for soon they shall be parch seven thirsts."
"Oh, the light of Azor Ahai-"
Mairu stopped, as a second voice sang from further away. He could only barely move his eyes, the seven hooks in his back cutting into his body and keeping him from turning his head. He could see the red woman, Melisandre, waving her hands up into the sky. Beneath her, a long trench seemed to light up with red hot flames, charing forward towards the circle.
"Let Steel of Old Valyria be your Essence!"
Mairu was drawn back to the girl standing on top of the table he laid back on. She was glowing more brightly than ever before. The ponty tail on the side of her hair had been unfurled, and her hair fluttered in the wind.
CRAACKKKKTHOOOMMM
Above, Mairu could see that flashes of lighting were coloring the great clouds above. Within seconds of that great flash of lightning, another flash of lighting occurred, and then another, all joined at the exact moment by roaring thunder.
"You who used the heart of your beloved for your flame-"
"My will shall create your body," he could hear a pain in the back of Fujimaru's voice, one that almost seemed to rival the pain in his back as the hooks of mana cut his torso apart, "And your swords shall point our destiny."
The trench of fire had not just hit the outer circle, but they had consumed it. Along the outside of it, the flames were already climbing high into the air, first up to, and then over the stone pedestals, consuming the catalysts. Mairu could vaguely hear a scream come from where the wooden man had been left, but at this point, he was beyond caring for the stranger.
For the pain in his back was only growing worse and worse. The hooks had stopped cutting into him. Now, they were all pulling into different directions, all trying to take him towards the pedestal they were attached to by long chains of mana. It seemed that the hooks were almost barbed into him, as it was as though the force of these chains was beginning to rip his body into seven different pieces.
"You shall be at my beck and call," the girl was gritting her teeth, closing her fists in rage. Over her exospeed skin, from the middle of her neck down to her clear left arm, over to her shoulder blades, and then extending down her chest and around her back. The glow of her mana seemed to change, twisting and turning until symbols began to form over her body. He could only feel his mouth drop as new command seals began to coagulate all over her body, "So by more order, answer me!"
And in the background, he could hear them. Seven voices, coming from the pedestals, all engulfed in flames. Atop those pedestals, he could begin to see shadows, forms of people…no, forms of servants.
That he was going to fuel.
"When the stars blee-"
Outside the flame, he could still hear the voice of the Red Priestess as she sang her horrible song. It wasn't competing with this Fujimaru's summoning chant, rather sitting in the back of it, a mesh of words that served as a blanket for her words to rest on.
Even worse was that it was starting to rain. Not snow, for snow might have been something he could have lived with, perhaps the soft cold of the flakes a least easing the pain from the mana hooks in his body. But no, the storm above had opened up with a torrent of freezing rain. Each drop of ice managed to cut into him as it landed on him soaking his already frigid body shaking further and screaming in more pain as the weather itself seemed to wish in joining in the torture. All he could do was lay, and freeze.
"Seven Hells, gather to make the world know our pain!"
Mairu watched, and saw that the dark forms inside the flames seemed to be pulling at the chains, grabbing at them, and slowly but surely getting the chains to pull himself further and further apart. He could hear his body crack and tear, and could feel parts of his body begin to bleed. It was as though massive hole was appearing in his middle, though when he looked down, he could see that his belly was still intact.
Mairu looked around. Or rather, some part of him looked around, for his eyes could not see in the full hill top as he did now. He could first see himself, his body bleeding and broken, but still mostly together. Rather, he could see it was some strange glowing form that was almost now completely torn into seven distinct pieces, hooks of mana cut into all of them. Mairu understood at a moment, he was looking at his soul, being torn into seven parts, to be devoured and used to create the seven servants waiting among the pedestals.
He could see this Female Fujimaru Ritsuka, her teeth grit in concentration. Over her skin, the command seals were already becoming full and detailed. She was standing firm, holding her body in a perfect position, all the while he could see tears just on the verge of coming loose.
He could see Melisandre, standing on her pyre. He could see on her face a mix of both certainty and worry. There were strange things happening now, but he could see her eyes focused on a figure standing in the great circle of fire, not on any of the pedestals. And that figure's visage was enough to steal her heart, for she knew this was what needed to be done to ensure that he shall complete his mission.
And now he stares at him. Azor Ahai. Onos Mahgagon. Lucifer, first of the Angels.
Satan.
For it is Satan. Not the body that he is inhabiting, but the actual Satan. He is both more beautiful and more terrible than anyone could describe, a being of pure light and pure hate. His skin would be perfect were it not for burns and scars that cut deep and left it blackened and red. His eyes are both stars shining out new light and black holes sucking it in. His hair is golden curls and dead, moldy strings. All of it was a contradiction, all of it contained in a false vessel that the wounded thing seemed to cling to for survival. A rotten dead, evil thing.
A rotten dead evil thing that was standing there, arms crossed in satisfaction, staring as Mairu was torn asunder. The devil turned its head, horns almost seeming to grow out of its head as it did so, before turning his head to his side, and saying.
"ɮǟƈӄ ʏօʊ ɢօ."
And then he was back on the table, his body cold. His soul in pain.
"Come Forth. Carry forth your vengeance! Bring low my enemies!"
And then, he felt the final sinews of his soul snap into pieces.
"MY SEVEN LORDS OF DRAGONS!"
His soul was now in seven pieces, and each was dragged instantly into the flames on the pedestals. He couldn't help but scream now, as he felt his very essence begin to burn in heats he never thought imaginable. He could feel parts of his soul begin to singe and curl as the flames destroyed them.
It was only made worse as the freezing rain began to pour in waves. Already, his body was soaked, but now, from wherever he was, he could also feel his body begin to freeze, the icy water clinging to his unmoving form. He could see the fingers curl into a final rigor mortis as his body lost what little life was left in it now that his soul had been ripped out.
The last thing that Mairu would ever perceive, as his existence both burned and froze away, was the chanting of the woman outside the flames. He could hear the last words of her song, that told him all he would need to know.
"So hear this lament, our song of ice and fire!"