Chapter 138 : The Cradle of Rosenkreutz

February 3, 2021 - Day 8

Alessandro and Friedrich went to the Clock Tower and there they met the magus Dorian Benard who had just finished a conference with colleagues from the Mage's Association. When he saw the two boys he approached them promptly, it was clear that he intended to speak to them, looked at Friedrich in the eyes and then, nodding, said to him:
« Maybe we have a solution. »
Friedrich and Alessandro had a moment of joy upon hearing those words, but Friedrich was the first to return with his feet on the ground and asked:
« What do you want to do with Sheol, then? »
« Maybe it would be better to talk about it elsewhere, follow me. »
Dorian took the two boys to a large antique-looking library, this was one of the two libraries that the Clock Tower was provided with. Dorian seated the two boys and then explained:
« You're probably aware of this: four days ago one hundred civilians were involved in the Holy Grail War of Yggdrasil. » Friedrich and Alessandro exchanged two worried glances, went back to listening to Dorian: « Such a large number of civilian victims is worrying, especially considering that the war has just started. The police and the army are still looking for the culprits, London is scared, but we can perhaps end the war immediately. »
« How? » Friedrich asked, perplexed.
« The Rote Mäntel have contacted us and have offered to help, they want to make a relic available to us: the Cradle of Rosenkreutz. »
Friedrich was frightened at hearing that name, got up from his chair and shaking his head exclaimed:
« No don't do it! It's dangerous! »
« Calm down, what's going on? What's this relic? » Alessandro asked, worried about his friend.
« Only the Rote Mäntel know this relic, it's a vase about fifty or sixty centimeters high, it's green and has golden engravings reminiscent of the branches of a rose, its lid has the shape of a rose. It's a unique object, it's impossibile to forget that relic. »

Friedrich was seriously afraid, he wasn't joking, his hands trembled and he hid them in his jacket pockets, then he continued:
« It was built by Christian Rosenkreutz, a German monk who visited Damascus, Egypt and Morocco. During his travels he learned techniques that allowed him to give magical attributes to some objects, making them ... special. Together with three confreres from his monastery he formed the Confraternity of the Rose Cross. Nobody knows their monastery but we know that these four monks used that magic to create an object capable of sucking the magical energy: the Cradle of Rosenkreutz. That relic, however, was used only once and from what we know killed at least seven dozen monks of the Confraternity of the Rose Cross. That object is out of control. »
« I know, the Rote Mäntel told us, but they also told us that everything is under control now. » Dorian said.
« They believe it ... but they're ignorant. They don't know the truth, the Cradle of Rosenkreutz cannot be controlled in any way, my teacher knew it. He had spent ten years of his life studying that relic and the conclusions drawn are these: that relic is a tool of death, nothing else. Once you lift the lid, the relic becomes like a black hole and sucks all the magical energy nearby, there is no way to contain that vortex. »
« But can it be stopped? » Alessandro asked.
« Of course. Just put the lid back on, but you  have to be ready to die doing it. So it happened the last time. The Rote Mäntel are crazy if they really hope to use the Cradle of Rosenkreutz  to kill Sheol. »
« I'm sorry. » Dorian intercalated with a sad look: « But there has been a broad consensus. Even if you were right I couldn't do anything about it. »
« But it's crazy! » Alessandro exclaimed shocked: « We will all die! We won't solve anything! We don't even know if Sheol can really be killed this way! You're crazy if you do such a thing! Idioti! »

«The Cradle can kill Sheol, believe me, but it will also kill thousands and thousands of magi. This is the sacrifice that you're accepting to make. » Friedrich said.
« What if we find a way to contain its power? » Dorian suggested.
« You can't, end of the discussion. »
« So what are you going to do? »
« We want to destroy the Holy Grail of Yggdrasil. Sheol is still tied to that Grail, if we destroy it she disappears. It's much better than genocide. »
« Well, Friedrich, first you have to be in front of the Holy Grail and we don't know where it is. We don't even know if it can be destroyed. You are betting with blindfolded eyes, if you were wrong it would be the end of the world. Do you realize it? »
« I don't think Sheol wants to destroy the world, though ... » Friedrich muttered to himself, then realized that Dorian was still listening to him: « Forget it, that's not the point. The point is, you risk doing more damage. No, I can't accept your suicidal choice. Only a fool would do it. »
« We're desperate, Friedrich, we must stop Sheol at any cost. Will two thousand, perhaps three thousand or perhaps four thousand magi die? Yes. So what? It seems to me a necessary sacrifice to preserve the human race! »
Friedrich slammed his fist against the table, got up and without saying a word left the library. Alessandro followed his friend to the outside of the Clock Tower, stopped him by taking his arm and asked him, worried:
« What can we do? »
« I don't know. I hate bureaucracy, I hate the fact that that fools make decisions for us. We're in the hands of desperate imbeciles, they have lost the light of reason. Maybe ... there's something we can do, but it is very risky. »

« What? Tell me. »

« Either we destroy the Cradle ... or we find a way to steal and seal it forever. »

« Time is against us. »

« I know ... »

Friedrich had the expression of a person who was haunted by invisible ghosts that Alessandro didn't know about. Concerned, gloomy and pensive at the same time, Friedrich had trembling hands, he was trying to hide them but his fear was revealed. Alessandro couldn't blame him but at the same time he didn't know how to help him, the best he could do was follow him and do what he said.

Friedrich Wolff by Bikowolf

Chapter 137 : The evil eye

« I don't believe in God, but I believe in this shit. » Murakawa Tetsuya asserted while he was smoking a cigarette sitting on an armchair that didn't belong to him in an apartment where he didn't live; at his feet was the corpse of a man. Lancer appeared, disgusted to have seen her Master commit yet another murder; the woman asked skeptically:
« Was this man also a member of that organization that wants you dead? »
« If he wasn't, I wouldn't have killed him, don't you think? » He said, smiling.
« What's so funny? »
« I see that you don't know what it means to have the evil eye, I've always been a unique, special case in T6: I've always had better contracts because of my original ability to kill and my colleagues have always been envious of my popularity among the clients ... and now here I am, victim of their evil eye, of their envy. I no longer have a job, I no longer have allies to rely on and no place in the world is safe for me. »

« That's the evil eye? »

« Of course. »

« You've a strange way of looking at it, Master, it almost seems that you've been cursed by a witch. »
« What do you think this is? If it's not a curse, it's a fucking joke of some psychopathic God. I had everything and now I have nothing. »
« Crocodile tears. » Lancer commented, disgusted. « You're playing the part of the victim, I find it pathetic considering what you've just done. »
« Do you think I want to be a victim? No, actually I like this situation because it's proof that I've always been right. » Tetsuya said with a satisfied expression.
« What are you talking about? »
« How do you think I committed my murders? » He asked, putting out his cigarette on the ashtray.
« I don't really care. »
« Wrong answer. » Tetsuya got up from his armchair and went to the table where there were glasses and a bottle of virgin whiskey. Tetsuya took off the cap and poured four fingers of whiskey then began to tell: « I've never liked firearms or cutting weapons, I've always felt a particular pleasure in doing my job with my own hands. »

« Like an animal. »
« More like a vehicle. » He corrected Lancer and then drank the whiskey all at once: « I was a vehicle for their aggression. When one wants another person to die, they don't want that person to be killed in an instant, they want to vent their aggression on the victims. A quick death is like a masturbation but what I offered was the equivalent of a coitus. All human beings want to let off steam over their fellow men: they want to kill them only after destroying them. I was a "destruction agent", I destroyed the victims little by little and then I killed them and my customers appreciated it. »
« Youìre even worse than an animal, Murakawa Tetsuya, I can't believe I'm forced to fight by your side. For me it's dishonorable. » Lancer's judgment was sudden and full of repulsion.
« Then you can go fuck yourself, Lancer ... unless you also have aggression to vent on someone, for example on the Servants fighting in this war, I could help you ... »

Lancer pointed her spear at Tetsuya's throat and exclaimed angrily:
« Don't you dare compare me to you, I'm a warrior with values! »
« I don't doubt it, Cleta, but I've inquired about you and I know that your Noble Phantasm draws strength from your anger. Your enemies destroyed your homeland, didn't they? What is your wish, Cleta? Do you have at least one wish or are you here just to vent your anger on your opponents? »
« Be quiet! »
« Or? »
« I told you to keep quiet! » She screamed.

« You're no different from humans. Heroes are just ideals, humans are actually violent, very violent ... because they love to be. Heroes like King Arthur were nothing more than fairy tales told to justify violence in the human heart. Aggressiveness, this is the true nature of mankind, everything else is just a lie. You heroes believe you're superior but you're only ideal, you're fairy tales ... little more than masks. No matter how wonderful your legends are ... they will only be excuses to continue killing. Point that weapon at me and prove that I'm right. Here's what you are. »

Tetsuya filled the glass with two more fingers of whiskey, drank it and then placed the glass on the tip of the spear which was aimed at his throat; he turned commenting with irony:
«You need an anti-stress ball. »
Lancer, moving the rod, threw the glass and then destroyed it in midair; she didn't say anything to her Master, she was still angry with him but in her heart she knew that Tetsuya was right about her.

Murakawa Tetsuya by Bikowolf

Chapter 136 : Gratitude

Friedrich was sitting on the sofa playing the guitar, he was rehearsing some chords, Specter was there close to him listening to his melodies that lasted a maximum of two minutes each, she was fascinated by his music because she perceived loneliness and sadness from it; the vibration of those strings was the voice of his soul communicating with the world. Specter had never heard of music in her entire life, that was the first time.

Friedrich realized that his Servant was listening carefully to every single note, she was quieter than usual: she wasn't bothering, she wasn't making idiotic jokes, she was like enchanted. With his hand he stopped the chords and asked, curious:
« Have you ever played a musical instrument? »
« No .» She replied with a melancholy look: « Not all demons live surrounded by luxury. I'm a bitch of a more powerful demon and therefore I've never had the pleasure of playing anything. »
« I'm sorry, it must have been sad. »
« You can't be sad when you don't have something you don't even know. I've never known music, this is the first time I hear it. »

Friedrich was slightly shaken by that statement, surely because he was human and didn't know the lifestyle of a demonic creature, it was strange for him to think of a life without music. Strange and sad.

« How does it feel to play an instrument? To make music? » Specter asked, intrigued.

« It's not simple ... it's something personal. »
« It's all right. Tell me. »
« Well ... music for me is like a language, a way to give voice to my interiority. There are things that cannot be expressed in words, there are things that not even science can understand ... and these things are human feelings and these are translated into music. Music is my life. That's all. »

« Who taught you to play? »

« I'm a sort of self-taught. I learned on my own. With the experience and advice of some, I followed my heart and found my music. When I travel ... I need to give vent to my emotions, otherwise I feel ... closed in a cage, which is silence. And I hate silence. »
« Why? »
« Because silence leaves room only for negative thoughts and I need to silence them. »

« So you play music only because you hate negative thoughts? »

« Yes and no. I hate negative thoughts, yes, but they have no control over my music. »

« What are these thoughts? »

« The fear of being nobody, the fear of being an intruder and of being harmful to others ... sorry, I don't want to talk about it. »

« It's okay. So you composed your music? »
« Ah, ah! I'm not an artist, I don't create things. Generally I play songs that I like. » He replied, smiling.
« Well, it's a little sad ... but I have no expectations. I leave you to your music. »
Specter got up from the sofa and headed for the kitchen but Friedrich, leaning the guitar, hugged her from behind. She, a little embarrassed, stammered:
« Wha-What are you doing? »
« Thank you. »
She blushed.
« W-Why are you thanking me? I didn't do anything. »
« You saved my life. I know maybe it was just your duty but ... I still wanted to thank you, Specter. »
« Tch! I'd do it another hundred times, Master ... now I'm getting attached to you. »

« That's fine with me. »

« Really? »

« Yes. »

Specter blushed, squeezed Friedrich's hands and said:

« Don't die. »

Friedrich by Bikowolf

Chapter 135 : A moment of sincerity

Saber entered the bedroom she shared with her Master, when Alessandro saw her in her bathrobe he blushed for a moment but then resumed reading the sheets that Friedrich had left him. Saber, noting that he was very busy with those sheets, asked:

« What is it about? »
« Sheol is stalling, Saber. She's playing with us. Wherever she goes she brings destruction ... but I perhaps know how to destroy her: by destroying the Holy Grail of Yggdrasil. It would be nice if it really worked. » He sighed: « But there's something I have to tell you, Saber. »
« Tell me then, I'm listening. »
Alessandro got up from his chair, put the papers on the desk, and said:
« I never told you about myself and I think I've to apologize to you for this. I have thought about it a lot and I realize that you attach great importance to our friendship. I'm sorry for being such an idiot with you. But you have to understand that these things are difficult for me but ... err .. you want to be my friend, yes? »
« Yes, it's true. I would love to be your friend, Master. I don't just want to be your Servant. » She confirmed, smiling.
« Can I at least ask you why? What do you gain from being my friend? »
« Well ... » Saber approached Alessandro and started stroking his hair: « In Rome friendship was of great importance, in some cases more than love. I know I've never been an expert in love, but ... »
« But what? »

« I want to be honest, Master, I don't know what will happen between the two of us in the future ... but whatever happens I want your trust, after the battle against Rider I know I've disappointed you and I promise that it will never happen again. I promise you not as Servant but as a friend. »

« Saber, I ... »

« I know you look at me like I'm some sort of criminal. I know I shouldn't have killed those people and I'm sorry. I'm really sorry. »

« Saber ... you're not a criminal. »

« So who am I for you, Master? »

« I ... for now I just want to see you as a friend. But ... I want to know you better. »

The girl hugged Alessandro with a heart full of joy, he returned the hug and hugged Saber satisfied with having made her happy.

But then that happiness became restlessness and Alessandro separated from Saber, his head was clouded by inauspicious thoughts, the future seemed dark to him.
« Is something wrong, Master? You seem worried. »
He looked at her with anguished eyes and replied:
« I'm afraid, Saber. I'm afraid of dying. This war really scares me ... »
Alessandro then began to tell of his nightmares, of what he had learned from Friedrich and then he took advantage of that moment to also tell her about how he ended up in the Coven. Saber, at that moment, realized the fragility of her Master, understood for the first time that feeling she had when he evoked her: she was in front of a person who had suffered a lot and who was still living a life full of unhappiness.
She cried.
« Sorry, I didn't mean to sound so pathetic. » Said Alessandro.
« You're not pathetic ... you're strong. If despite all that pain you still manage to go on then it means that you're stronger than you think. As a friend, I swear to you that I'll do everything necessary to guarantee your victory. You won't die, I swear to you. »

« That day ... when I summoned you, I was sad, really sad. I was sad because I had been involved in a war against my will. I don't want anything and I've never wanted anything from the Holy Grail. I just want a peaceful and happy life. »

« I will give you that happiness. With my body, my soul and my blade I, Gaius Julius Caesar, descendant of Venus and Mars, belonging to the gens Iulia, descendant of the First King, Romulus, swear to you that I will dedicate myself to your cause until the end of times. »

« Thanks, Caesar. »
« No, thank you, Alessandro, I'm glad to be your friend. » She hugged him again and kissed his cheek.

Alessandro and Saber by Bikowolf

Chapter 134 : New path

February 2, 2021 - Day 7

It was night. Friedrich and Specter had returned to Alessandro's apartment with their suitcases, he decided to have them placed in the living room and they gladly accepted. After a pizza dinner the two girls stayed in the dining room while Friedrich asked Alessandro to follow him into the bedroom, closed the door and suggested that he sit on the bed because he had many things to report to him:
« This afternoon I met Dorian and he gave me things that terrified the magi of the Clock Tower. Here you are. » He handed Alessandro some sheets of paper which he had folded in his jacket pocket.
Alessandro took a look and saw a map of Sheol's movements, she had been practically everywhere: Japan, India, Russia, Iran, Egypt, China, Brazil, Italy, France, Spain, Mexico, Congo, Algeria, Greece, United States, Canada and Australia. Those had been her movements in chronological order. They were completely random, there was no logic.
« She's stalling. Why? » Alessandro asked, worried.
« For fun, perhaps? I don't know. The Mage's Associations is frightened, wherever she has set foot there have been famines, diseases and natural disasters. We two have not paid much attention but lately the newspapers have not talked about anything else. »
« The Grail. » Alessandro intercalated: « She don't want the Holy Grail of Yggdrasil. If she had wanted it, she would have come here immediately. She's probably not interested in it. »
« Yours is just a guess. »
« But it could be true. In addition ... there's one thing that we've not thought about, it was the Grail that allowed Sheol to manifest in this world. Precisely because the Holy Grail of Yggdrasil is so powerful and anomalous it gave that monster the opportunity to take part in the war. If we destroy the Grail, perhaps we can prevent Nidhoggr from destroying the world and we can also destroy Sheol. »
« What if Yukiko was right? What if we were destined to die again this time? »

Alessandro got up and looked out the window.
« You know ... I have been having nightmares for some time, they're almost always identical to each other, they're very realistic and in these I see the end of the world. I feel like I can see the future. »
« The end of the world? »
« Yes. »
« Who do you see in these dreams? Do you see by chance a girl with pink hair, green eyes and with a black Gothic dress and a long sleeve? » Friedrich asked anxiously.
« Yes, right! How did you guess it? »
« Yukiko. She's Yukiko Kumahira. If you've seen her in your dreams it's probable ... but it's a very forced theory, that you see the previous world through dreams. »
« This is absurd. »

« I know, but there's no better explanation. »

« God? »

« No. If Yukiko wants to bring the end of the world at any cost, it means that even in the previous cycle she must have done it and if you make nightmares about her it's possible that you fought against her in the previous cycle, so maybe ... you can know her way of doing and we can try to stop her. If we stop Yukiko we can destroy the Holy Grail of Yggdrasil without having to worry about Sheol. »
« But how is it possible that I have memories of something that technically never happened? »
« I don't know, I'm not an expert on these things. But maybe I could ask Dorian. Tomorrow morning we will meet him, we must prepare, don't you think too? »

« Yes, good idea. »

Chapter 133 : Sergei Rybakov

January 7, 1995, Grozny

Sergei Rybakov had been sent to Chechen to fight the war that had erupted the previous month. Just three years earlier, he was a novice within the Order of the Blessed and was now in the epicenter of a conflict that seemed endless. That night, in a building completely abandoned and crushed by the explosions of the morning before, Sergei was lurking in a room, sitting a few steps from the shattered window. Three Russian soldiers who were with him got up to change the observation point. Igor Yerzov entered.
« Sergei, I've bad news: Vorobyov is dead. Orders have changed, tomorrow we'll protect the soldiers. »
« And that Islamic magus? What do we do with him? »
« After the clash we had today I don't think he will have enough magical energy to hurt our men, for a while he shouldn't bother us. »
« Why am I here? » Sergei asked, worried.
« You're a good magus. You have a magical energy control that is truly exceptional. »
« Yet I don't feel ready for this life, Igor. Do you believe in me too? »
« I think you're good but ... you have to grow up. You're too naive. »
« What are you talking about? »
Igor closed the door behind him and began to speak in a low voice so as not to be heard by the soldiers:
«Two days ago we were ordered to eliminate all the magi enemies. They were Islamic, they had to be killed, you knew it, yet I saw you save a man that begged you to be spared. If I hadn't intervened ... »
« I'm not an animal. I don't want to kill mercilessly. I want to be compassionate, I want to be a true Christian not a murderer who kills in the name of God. » Sergei said, getting up from his chair suddenly.
« Lower your voice. »

« Why? I'm not ashamed of being a human being. »

« Be ashamed of being insubordinate, Sergei. If you are ordered to kill, you must kill. Don't think, don't ask why, just kill. »

January 10, 1995

The Russian bombing of the Grozny Presidential Palace had begun. Sergei and Igor were commissioned to protect the soldiers from attacks by some enemy magi. During the battle someone hit Igor in the back injuring his arm, Sergei saw the magus run away, helped his friend to get up.
« Igor! Igor, are you okay? »
« Don't think about me! Kill that asshole! »
Sergei was hesitating, Igor screamed again:
« Kill him, Sergei! »
Sergei ran after the magus and then came into a small house where there was only one poor family who was frightened to see him enter. The father stood before his wife who embraced the three children who trembled like leaves; the woman wept and begged for mercy. Sergei apologized, left the house but was hit by a magic bullet that wounded his shoulder. The magus was inside the house.
Sergei was injured, he left. He didn't want to fight the enemy in a house with an innocent family inside. He saw Igor arriving enraged:
« I knew it! I knew you were going to be a fool once again! »
Igor, despite being injured, pushed Sergei and threw a fireball from his hand. The house burned.
« NO! NO! Igor, there were people in there! There were civilians! » Sergei screamed in tears.
« Fuck you, Sergei! There was no one in there! There was only the enemy and the enemy only! »
« No! There was a family! They had nothing to do with this fucking war! They were innocent! Why did you kill them? »
« This is war, Sergei! Deal with it! »

Sergei fell into tears in front of that stake, the smell of burnt flesh together with that of wood gave him a sense of nausea, his wet eyes burned from the smoke, slumped to the ground, Sergei asked for forgiveness for he did to the family:
« I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! Please ... may your souls forgive me! May the Lord have mercy on me! »

That nameless face accuses me in the night,
That house inhabited by flames calls me at every sight,
My nights in Chechen are red.
I sleep, I die, I breathe, I suffocate.

Sergei Rybakov by Bikowolf

Chapter 132 : The saint and the murderer

Piccadilly Circus. Sergei Rybakov had stopped to admire the splendid luminous signs, enchanted like a cat, he watched the digital writing flow and meanwhile he was thinking about the war. His thoughts were obscure, they only involved destruction and death in the Holy Grail War, he had made yet another nightmare the night before: he was in prison, after being defeated by a girl, and from the small window he saw the stars die, one by one, devoured by black and then death came.

That day Sergei went to St James' Church Paddington where he prayed. Despite being an Orthodox Christian, Sergei, needed to turn to God, even if he was in a Protestant church, he needed to feel safe because nothing was certain in that war.
Leaving the church he met Tetsuya Murakawa who was clearly waiting for him. Sergei immediately sensed that he was a Master but ignored him.
« I don't want to kill you, I just want to have a chat with you. »
« We're enemies, it makes no sense to speak to me. »
« I was very careful to stalk you when I could have murdered you without problems, generally I don't reserve this special treatment to my enemies. »
« Why did you follow me here? Do you like the idea of ​​speaking in front of the house of the Lord? »
« I was just curious. » He lit a cigarette: « I didn't think you were religious. »
« You don't believe in God? »
« I only believe in myself, but I'm not here to tell you the story of my life. I want to know one thing: you're the Master of Assassin, right? »
« Yes, so what? »
« I had the "privilege" to witness the clash between your Servant and Archer, a really interesting battle. »
« Get to the point. » Rybakov exclaimed hurriedly.

« The bad luck of having a Lancer-class Servant is that I can't afford to get rid of the Masters stealthily. Only an Assassin-class Servant can do such a thing. Therefore … »

« You want my help. Why? »
« There are annoying Masters in this war, especially that of Specter. I don't like him and I want to get rid of him but I need you. »
« I had already tried but his Servant is very good and she saved him. »
« Maybe I can help you this time. »
« How can I trust you? »
« Useless question. » He threw the cigarette butt at Rybakov's feet: « We're at war, sooner or later we will kill each other. I'm not asking you to become my best friend, I just want to work with you to eliminate some Masters. Then I'll kill you. »
« I appreciate your sincerity … »

« So? »
« Гусь свинье́ не това́рищ. (Gus' svin'ye ne tovarisch) » He said with a disgusted expression.
Sergei turned his back on Tetsuya and left. Tetsuya didn't tolerate being treated that way and so he followed the man, grabbed his shoulder and turned him over; Rybakov punched him and Tetsuya parried him and kicked back; Rybakov took his leg and threw him in the middle of the street but Tetsuya landed on his feet.
« You made a mistake, Russian. »
« The mistake I made was to have listened to you. »
Tetsuya raised his middle finger in response and left. Sergei Rybakov didn't delude himself that he had finished the matter, he knew that sooner or later he would meet Tetsuya again.

Murakawa Tetsuya and Sergei Rybakov by Bikowolf