Chapter 73 : Countdown

Yukiko and Alessandro were face to face. Alessandro snapped his fingers and said:

« Dis. »
The girl was overwhelmed by a push that threw her back, Alessandro followed her and meanwhile snapped his fingers and said:
« Gladio. »
A magic sword appeared. The boy was ready to eliminate Yukiko with one strike but the girl immediately got to her feet and dodged his blow and then recited a magic formula:
« Jag är Stark. »

The girl hit Alessandro so hard that she flipped him over, then with an incredible speed she grabbed his arm, pulled him towards her and kicked him, but she didn't let him go, she kicked him and only after a dozen blows let him go and concluded the combination with a powerful punch in the stomach that made Alessandro fly to the ground. The boy got up and Saber helped him but he pushed her away telling her that she had to be ready for Berserker. 

Alessandro told Yukiko:

« That Magecraft is very cool, you know? You use it to boost your strength. And who taught you martial arts? »
« My mother. Not bad, right? So, do you really want to keep fighting? »
« Do you really expect me to give up? »

« If I'm not mistaken when we were at the hotel you ran away and left Harumi all 

alone. »

« Things have changed since then. »
« You remained weak. »
« Do you really think I'm weak? Now I'll show you why I was the strongest magus of the Coven. »

Alessandro snapped his fingers and exclaimed:

« Lapis! »

From the floor, under the feet of Yukiko, a platform was raised that turned into a giant stone hand that slammed the girl to the ground and then threw her at Alessandro who, snapping his fingers, said: 

« Gladius Flammae. »

A fiery sword appeared out of nowhere and started like a bullet towards Yukiko but the girl dodged the blow in mid-air and was about to hit the boy with a fist, however Alessandro made it clear with a grin that the attack was not yet finished. The fiery sword came back, after turning, and pierced Yukiko to her right side, then the giant stone hand grabbed the girl again, squeezed, strangled her and then slammed her back on the floor.

The stone hand disintegrated and Alessandro said:

« As you can see you did wrong to underestimate me. The last time I was not prepared, but now things are different. I won't get killed. »

Yukiko stood up and said, with a strangely satisfied smile:

« Do you think this is enough to kill me? You are a fool. I will have so much fun to see your life slowly leave your body, I will enjoy every single moment of your death. Jag är Oövervinnlig. » 

Alessandro snapped his fingers again and said:

« Dis. »

The push had no effect on Yukiko. She had become immune to Magecraft and then the boy began to worry. The girl hit him with a fist so strong that Alessandro crashed into a wall of the Abbey, he struggled to his feet and realized that the only way to fight the girl was to use the Magecraft that even at the hotel was required not to do to conserve magical energy. Doing the magic to remove the mana supply would surely have made the battle more honest but at the same time it would have deprived Saber of the possibility of using her Noble Phantasm or having any other kind of support in the battle against Berserker.

Alessandro had only two choices: either risk and use the Magecraft, or try to resist and in the meantime think of a way to get all the lost mana.

« Do you want to make a bet? » Asked Yukiko. 

« I hate bets. »

« Anyway, according to you who will die first: you or Saber? »
Then Alessandro saw Berserker appear who head for Saber at full speed. Yukiko said:
« I bet you will be the first to die. But you never know, if things go well for you, Saber will be the first. »

Chapter 72 : Family

The purpose of Yukiko Kumahira was just to destroy the world by summoning Nidhoggr but Alessando still had the chance to stop her, but he had spent a great deal of mana during the previous battles and didn't know how long he would endure in a fight with a magus as powerful as Yukiko . He had to study a strategy but in the meantime he wanted to waste time and so he asked her:

« What else did you lie to me about? »
« What do you mean? »
« Did you really want to be reunited with me? Or was that a lie too? »
« What do you want from me, exactly? »
« I want to know who you really are. »

« Don't you understand? I can be the cute sister who is always by your side, I can be the ungrateful little sister who no longer wants to talk to you and I can even be that sister who forces you to have an incestuous relationship. I have no definition because I am already dead. What did you expect? A little sister who loved you? » 

« A family. »

« A family? »
« Yes, a family. My mother has always been very oppressive towards me, she has always prevented me from living my life in my own way, I knew I was not loved by her, that's why she forced me to join the coven, only to have fun with other men without having the son around the feet. My father abandoned me and apparently he only saw me as a sacrifice to do for Nidhoggr and now I also have a half sister who wants to destroy the world. My family is a circus that entertains only those who have free time to get depressed. »
« So? »

« I would have liked to have a family but from the first day I saw you I realized that I couldn't trust you, I knew you were a liar. But now I ask you: can you be honest? » 

« Tch! Have you ever tried to ask a doll to tell you the truth? »

« You're not a doll, you're real, Yukiko! » He exclaimed.
« No, I'm not real. I'm just an imitation and that's why I have no family to give you, brother. As far as I'm concerned you can die. I have already prepared the ritual, now what I need is your death. »
« Very well. »

Alessandro advanced towards Yukiko without fear, he was ready to fight her and was not afraid of dying on the battlefield. He had come to win and would have won at any cost. He looked his opponent straight in the eye and said: 

« I am not an imitation, I am a real existence, I exist here and now, I am here and now, and I will stop you here and now. I wanted to shed tears for your condition but now it's too late to cry. There was a time when I probably would have gone along with it but now things have changed. I left the Coven, I lost the only person who understood me and I found a person to fight for until the end. This is my existence. My real existence. »

« Fantastic, then I conclude that the time for chatter has finally come to an end. »
« I'm sorry to ruin this beautiful place, but you have to do what needs to be done to win a battle, don't you think too? »
« It will be fun to face you, big brother. »

Personal considerations 💬

Faced with the possibility (and hope) that Fate/Yggdrasil will go on for some more time (I do not know if we are talking about months or years) I don't know whether to still consider F/Y a fanfiction. Because of the collaboration I started with Bikowolf1 I believe that F/Y can no longer be considered a simple fanfic. 

I spend much more time writing the chapters and creating a story that is completely independent from the original franchise, let's also say that it's an autonomous story that stands on its own. 

I have to be honest, in July I thought that defining Fate/Yggdrasil a fanfic would not give me any problems, after all we are talking about a product that is inspired by the original franchise and is literally limited only to this blog. Nobody advertises this story, I don't get paid to write it and I spread it for free. 

I am aware of the plot holes, and I know that I have adopted a style of writing that some may not like but with which I feel at ease. But defining Fate/Yggdrasil a fanfiction risks giving it the image of a "false" work something that has little value and that has been written as a hobby.

But with the increase in readers, I have the chance to make a profit with this story and with the others I will write in other blogs. Fate/Yggdrasil is not a story I thought of in one day, I didn't write it in an hour of free time. Fate/Yggdrasil is my story that I carry on with dedication and love. 

Consider this as a sort of official announcement. I consider Fate/Yggdrasil a blognovel (or even a light novel) completely independent from Fate's original franchise. Calling Fate/Yggdrasil "fanfiction" diminishes my work. You may like it or you may not like it but the fact remains that I sacrifice time to think about the story and write it down.

Thank you for your attention.

Have a nice day! 😎

Chapter 71 : The Miracle of Eden

Alessandro and Saber entered Westminster Abbey. The immense church with tall stone columns, gothic arches and wide naves was as silent as a cemetery, only the echo of the footsteps of Alessandro and Saber could be heard. The two stopped in the middle of the immense latin cross that was the shape of the cathedral, in front of them there was Kumahira Yukiko who was pleased to see both Saber and Alessandro. The girl wore the black gothic dress with the black right sleeve longer than the left one, she approached the two and said:
« You apparently killed Harumi. So we are the only ones left in this war. »
« From the way you smile, it seems you had planned everything. »
« Actually yes, I knew that a strong magus like you would never have fallen on the battlefield. Now we're here, face to face. Dear brother, are you still going to fight me? »
« I know what you want to do, but you'll never have my blood. »
« What do you think you know? »

« I know about the ritual and I know you want to evoke the Holy Grail with my blood so that you can bring Nidhoggr, the devourer of the worlds, back to life. I know everything. You're continuing our father's crazy plan: you want more power too, don't you? »

« No. »
« Don't lie to me, I'm not stupid. »

« No, you're not stupid, but you're biased. Do you really believe that I'm going to seal Nidhoggr and use it as a tool to become even more powerful? You're wrong. »

« Then why do this ritual? »
« I recovered and buried the chest of gold with a piece of Nidhoggr's skin inside, I learned the oldest Nordic magic, I got help from the New Order of Nidhoggr to start the Holy Grail War and I got a Servant strong enough to make me fight every battle. And do you think I did all of this just to get more power? »
« So what do you want? »
« Total destruction. The end of the world. » She replied with a demonic smile.
« You can't be serious! » Alessandro exclaimed, shocked.
« Do you think I'm not? »
«You too would die! »
« I don't think so, after all you can't kill what's already dead. »

Yukiko tore off her long right sleeve and revealed a skeletal arm of a color similar to mercury, full of curvilinear designs. When Alessandro and Saber saw that arm they were speechless.

« See, Alessandro, our father was very, very, very bad. Marco Serpi not only tried to sacrifice me but, dissatisfied with the result obtained with his first ritual, he decided to bring me back to life using the Miracle of Eden. Do you know it? »
« Yes, it's a forbidden Magecraft of Coven used for the first time by the Grand Master Marco Pacifico II who brought his sister Lucia back to life using a piece of his skin and his blood combining them with mercury. »
« Exactly. I was a victim of the same fate as Lucia. I am this. Nothing. Nothing can be born from my body and nothing can die of my body. I'm dead. I am the walking death. I'm a corpse. I could call myself an imitation of the real Yukiko Kumahira. »
« But what drives you to do something so foolish as to want to destroy humanity? »
« Alessandro, my dear big brother, you really are a fool. I am nothing, I have no reason to exist, as I killed our father, I will also kill you and the whole world. »
« You killed our father?! »
« Exactly. I rebelled, the New Order of Nidhoggr welcomed me and I tore out our father's heart to prove my loyalty. »
« This New Order of Nidhoggr you talk about, are they the same people who wanted to destroy the Grail? So it was all a lie. But who are they actually? »
« Imitations. Just like me, they are empty beings who want to end this feeling of total nothingness. They are nothing, I am nothing and you will be nothing. »

Chapter 70 : Alessandro against Clovis

Clovis fired two magic bullets at Alessandro but the latter immediately snapped his fingers and said:

« Defendere. »
The bullets collided with the magic barrier that defended the boy. Clovis, unnerved, said:
« Are you going to hide behind that barrier? »
« Manus Sancti. » Alessandro said, snapping his fingers again.
An immense glow blinded Clovis Wolff and he suddenly felt weakened and weighed down, tried to use magic but was unable to. He realized he no longer had enough magic energy and then screamed:
« What did you do to me?! »
« I took away all the magical energy you had. This magic is very powerful and I can't use it everytime due to the enormous consumption of mana, if I had to do it a third time I would completely finish my magic energy reserve. »
« You are crazy! »

« Yes I am. I'm a fool, a loner, a cynic, a bastard, an empty being, a murderer and even a marionette. And only for today will I be your worst nightmare. » 

« I will not let you win the Holy Grail War! It's my daughter's life! »

« Do you think I care? By now it's too late to appeal to that shred of goodness I had in my heart, now I am reincarnated death and I will kill you. I don't give a fuck about your daughter! »
« Son of a bitch! »

Clovis tried to hit the boy with a punch aimed at his face but Alessandro kicked him in the testicles and knocked him to the ground and then said, snapping his fingers:

« Gladio. »

A sword appeared in Alessandro's right hand, a blade made of energy, a transparent weapon of a blue color with a straight blade and a cross-shaped hilt.

Alessandro stepped aside from Clovis and prepared to behead him. 

« I will not die, asshole! »

Clovis punched Alessandro in the stomach and then jumped on him and tried to strangle him but the boy freed himself, rolled to the side and tried to get back on his feet but was again intercepted by Clovis who didn't want to let him escape. The two began to fight on the asphalt until Alessandro was unable to get up and hit his opponent with a kick in the face, Clovis broke his nose and the boy smiled cynically seeing him suffer like a dog.

« You see it? Even the most fearsome magus is just an insect before me. »
« You will die, Alessandro Serpi! You will die! »
« No, you will be the only one to die. »
« Screw you! I'm not going to let you kill me, not after all the sacrifices I've made! I arrived here only to have the Holy Grail and save my daughter, I will succeed in my mission and you will certainly never be able to stop me! »
« Do not bet on it! »
« Ah! I know why you are so stubborn that you want to stop me, is it because I killed that bitch? »

Then Alessandro no longer saw from anger. He jumped on Clovis Wolff and started punching him repeatedly on the face. One punch after the other, on the bloody nose, on the teeth, on the cheeks, on the eyes, one punch after the other, drop of blood after drop of blood. Alessandro was a fury: he screamed, he cried. He screamed and cried and kept saying:

« All of this, is your fault! It's your fault! It's your fault! It's your fault that I'm so sick now! It's your fault if I'm suffering! Die! Die! DIE! Die and leave me alone! Bastard! »

Then Saber realized why Alessandro had always been so contradictory with her: why were there times where he seemed as hot as fire and others where it seemed as cold as ice? What was that pushed Alessandro to hide his feelings and avoid love? The answer was so obvious: the fear of suffering. Alessandro hated suffering. Alessandro hated being sick that's why he didn't bind himself sentimentally to anyone, that's why he tried to shut himself up like a clam and that's why he resisted his love. The fear of suffering, the fear forced him to inflict these pains but was it really what he wanted? Perhaps it was another lie that Alessandro was telling himself: perhaps this would never have made him happy and little by little he was realizing it. That's why he was reacting that way.

Alessandro was like a caged animal asking to be left in peace, he was a little animal huddling in his nest and avoiding opening his heart for fear of being sick. Saber's task was to get him out of that cage and protect him, she had promised and she had to do that.

Saber grabbed Alessandro and pushed him away from Clovis:

« Enough, Master. That's okay. Thats enough. Take it easy. »
« Saber … » Alessandro's bloodied hands were shaking and Saber stopped them and stroked them gently.
« Now it's all over. There is no need for this anymore. »
« I'm sorry you … witnessed this. »
« I like it that way. You don't scare me, on the contrary, you gave me proof that you are human and that you have a big heart, the greatest heart I have ever seen. »

Clovis, meanwhile, tried to get back on his feet and Alessandro intercepted him. He snapped his fingers and said:

« Gladio. »
« Master, wait! You don't have to kill him. »
« I will purify my soul only thanks to this murder, Saber. I will make this asshole burn in Hell! »
Alessandro, with the sword in his hand, pierced Clovis's heart. The man died murmuring his daughter's name one last time.

Chapter 69 : Two destinies (part 3)

Archer had his Master in his arms, Fukano Harumi, with a hole in her stomach caused by Clovis Wolff's lethal magic bullet. Archer was in tears and shook the girl, stroked her and apologized several times but she consoled him:

« Sshhh, don't cry for me, Archer … there is nothing to be sad about. »
« Oh, my princess, my fearless princess, how can I not cry? You, who deserved more than all the Masters to win, are abandoning this war prematurely. »
« Archer … Thomas … now there's nothing left to do. This is the destiny I chose. My only satisfaction is that my uncle will never touch me again, but my only regret is that I will never be with you again, my prince. »
« Princess! Don't abandon this world! Don't abandon it, I beg you! Stay with me, smile with me, fight with me! We have so much to do! »

« Thomas … all this time I was lost but you saved me, you brought a light where there was only darkness and for this I love you. Both in life and in death, I will be faithful to you, both in health and in illness, I will be by your side, Thomas. »

« Princess, my princess, I don't want to forget you. »

« Neither do I, Thomas, and I won't. »

She stroked his face with her bloody hand, Archer grabbed her arm and then her head and kissed her. She closed her eyes and returned that kiss.

« Fall asleep, my beautiful princess, with this kiss I give you a peaceful sleep. We will meet again in Heaven. »
Harumi let herselef go, her face turned pale and her heart stopped beating. The last breath was accompanied by the last smile and the last tear that fell on the ground that caused a dark silence to fall. Archer rested the body of his Master, stood up and turned to Saber:
« I enjoyed myself, Saber. It was a good fight until it lasted. »

« I cry with you, Archer, that your Master can find peace in a better world. » 

Alessandro remained silent. Archer disappeared and Saber immediately noticed that her Master had not said a word, had not even shed a tear. That girl who had managed to touch his heart had to mean a lot to him and yet Alessandro didn't cry. That girl who was very similar to Alessandro was dead and yet he didn't cry. 

He approached her helpless body without paying attention to Clovis, for him that magus was not a threat. He bowed and prayed:

« God that you all know, the death of my sister Harumi leaves me depressed and uncertain and it seems to me an injustice: it gives hope to me that I turn to you, help me to rediscover the depth of your love, which makes me pass from death to life. I beg you. Accept this pious soul into your eternal dwelling as your daughter, to the love she has never received, to the security she never had, to the hope that never enlightened her short existence, since your glory is great and yours benevolence is infinite. Amen. »
Alessandro kissed his fingers and then touched Harumi's forehead. He stood up and turned to Clovis who was ready to face him but Alessandro didn't have a pugnacious look, his eyes weren't fiery but they weren't even cold, when Saber saw them she noticed that they were struck by murderous lucidity, those were the eyes of a man who only wanted blood.

Chapter 68 : Two destinies (part 2)

The territories of Gaul disappeared and with them also the legion, even the archers of Thomas de Camoys dissolved. Both Saber and Archer were injured, exhausted, but still they didn't want to give up for any reason in the world.

At that moment Harumi ran to Archer and stood in front of him, his wounds were not healing because she no longer had magical energy while Saber was able to recover in a short time and her wounds regenerated. Harumi was in tears and turned to Alessandro, shouting:
« Why? Why do you want to hinder me? You have nothing! You don't want anything! I must win! Why are you hindering me? »
Saber was on the point of returning to fight but Alessandro stopped her raising his hand and answered Harumi:
« Because the Grail of Yggdrasil is dangerous. If you use it you will condemn us all, it's no different from what happened to Fuyuki. Maybe you don't know but if I let you go you would never be able to face Yukiko and Berserker. I used the magic of before to deprive you of magical energy so you won't get in my way. »
« Go to hell! » She screamed.

« Would you have preferred to die? » 

« Why do you think I'm here? Because I like living? If I had had a good life I would never have accepted to fight the Holy Grail War! But I don't have a good life! I lost everything when my uncle put his hands on me for the first time, I completely lost the love for my life! How can I love what has now been tainted by the perversion of a heartless man ?! How can I prefer life to death when life is the disease of my soul and my body? » She screamed in despair.

« So you fight to change things? »

« Does it seem so strange to you? Are you so empty that you can't even pity a person who suffers? Are you so cold you don't even give me the right to die fighting? Do you want to take away from me even a dignified defeat? »

« I was told to let you live. »

« NO! Screw you! I am not a child who needs protection! I have already suffered enough to be treated like a weak person! Your arrogance bothers me! »

« Stop crying, you won't pity me. You are not the only one to have suffered: I lost a father, I was betrayed by all those whom I considered friends and now I have to face my sister. I was forced to participate in this war, I didn't even want to do it, but I am here and I will not let myself be stopped by you. » Alessandro said.

« You will always be alone if you continue to lack love for yourself … I know … »

Those words hit Alessandro like an arrow in the heart. In that single moment Harumi was able to read him, to understand what he felt: a lack of love for himself. Precisely because he never had a great self-esteem, precisely because he never loved himself he was always manipulated, betrayed and always alone. Precisely for this reason he has never managed to get his happiness: how can a person who does not love himself be really happy? In Harumi's words he revealed a connection that united them that made, in a sense, both of them loners who had no love for themselves and yet tried to get on with what they had.

« I'm sorry … » Alessandro murmured, with tears in his eyes.
Saber was shocked to see her Master cry like that, even Harumi and Archer never expected such a reaction from him.
« I'm sorry if I'm like this, I'm not looking for forgiveness for how I treated you but I need you to understand that if I don't stop Yukiko it will be the end. But I promise you that when the war is over, when the war is … when the war is over I'll give you a place to stay. We will both go to the Clock Tower. »
« Why do you say these things? »

« Because now more than ever I want to start again. I want to become a new person. » 

« No, it can't be done … it's impossible. It can not be done! »

« Yes, it can be done! »
Alessandro took Harumi by the hands and she blushed, both were crying and he said to her:
« We have to start over. Life is too short to be wasted in this pain. We must live! We must be happy! Don't you think so too? »
« What you say is impossible to happen! I can't escape from the past! »
« You mustn't run away from the past, you must build a present. Let's do it together, Harumi! »
He embraced her and at that moment Harumi realized that even Alessandro, like her, had been alone for so long to lose all hope for the future, they were similar. Two people without self-esteem, without love for themselves who found themselves in the Holy Grail War, was it perhaps destiny? Was it the hand of God?
« No. » She said, pushing away Alessandro.

« Why? »

« Because I'm not here for that. You say we can start again, but I don't want to start again. I want what I decided to fight for, I can't follow you. I'm sorry. No. »

The girl wiped her tears and prepared to continue the battle. She knew she no longer had magical energy, she knew that Archer was injured, but she didn't want to give up, she didn't want to follow the fate of Alessandro Serpi, she had a destiny of her own, a path to follow, and no one would have made her change her mind. She would go on until death.

« All right. » He said.

He respected her. For the first time he respected one of his adversaries and she was Harumi, Alessandro slowly moved away and prepared to launch the next spell: the last.

« You will die. »

« If this is my way, that's fine. But I prefer this to nothing. » 

« Alright then. »

Alessandro prepared to attack Harumi but a magic bullet touched him and hit the girl's belly. It all happened in an instant and the girl fell into Archer's arms:
« Princess! Princess! PRINCESS!!!! »
Alessandro turned and saw Clovis Wolff.