Elimination Battle
I cannot say Saber has let me catch much sleep tonight, but I kept her up just the same. This has been our last night together for sure, and I cannot help but feel like I would rather stay below the soft, warm covers for forever, Saber and I being as physically close as possible.
But, this will not do, and I know that. As much as it pains me, this is the end. We can neither procrastinate nor change this much. There is the hope to stay in the Moon Cell after we won—if we do beat Leo, that is—but at this point we cannot be completely sure this will work. For the most part, this is just our hope and how we try to make it less hurtful and I am sure Saber knows this as much as I do.
I try to wake Saber, who is still kissing her own pillow. "Saber, get up. We need to get ready," I shake her. "I am not going to kiss you if you do not wake up soon!" Even this threat seems not to work. Saber is completely in deep slumber this morning, but who could blame her? I must have tired her out within those hours.
Rin comes in, but not before knocking and asking for permission, which I grant. "I wanted to tell you yesterday but… you two seemed like you didn't want to be disturbed," Rin says, blushing.
"Have you…?"
"Yeah, I heard… pretty much everything." I suppose this would be more embarrassing if I would know I have to face Rin for much longer, but I am not likely to have to. So, even though it is really embarrassing, I can let our carelessness slide.
"So, what is it?" I ask her as I get dressed. She surely has come for a reason, I assume. She takes out her terminal.
"I finished the Code Cast, but it won't work for much longer than about 15 minutes." That does not seem like much, but we will make it work.
"Thank you!" I say, hugging Rin tightly. She really saves us, maybe this makes us even. For the most part, at least.
"What's with all that noise?" mumbles Saber groggily. So, she has finally woken up.
"Rin just transferred the Code Cast to block the sun to me. Can you beat Gawain within 15 minutes?" Saber sits up, letting her gaze wander from over Rin to me.
"Piece of cake."
I wish I would have her self-confidence, but I do believe we will be the ones to come out victorious myself. And with that, we make our way to the elevator. Our Triggers open up its door, for the probably last time. Rin escorts us there, wishing is good luck for the fight. She plans to wait for us here, for our return. If we do return, that is—even if we win, I do not know if I will be deleted right away or if I get the chance to come back.
In the elevator, we meet Leo and Gawain. For the first time since meeting those two, Gawain avoids meeting my or Saber's gaze, and I do not think I could blame him. The two of them are on very bad terms, after all.
"Ritsuka?" Leo speaks up, catching my attention. "I would suggest that we back out of this fight. From what Gawain has told me, this is a matter between the two of them. I do not think we should interfere much." I nod at him.
"Not much means what exactly?" Leo shrugs, smiling innocently.
"Good to see you are so observant—I will turn a blind eye to anything you try to disable Numeral of the Saint, that is all." He seems to really be aiming for a fair battle, but I believe this is where he overestimates himself and his Servant. I would shake his hand to seal the deal, but a barrier is keeping our sides fully separated.
"Agreed," I say, and even the two knights seem to approve of this decision. If we were to get involved, whoever was the victor would not feel like they deserved it, I suppose. The elevator comes to a halt sooner than I would like to, and before its doors even open, Saber materialises her full armour—but leaving her helmet off.
"Let's see if you improved, pretty boy," she says, glaring at Gawain as we step out of the elevator.
"More than you would wish, I assume." There are not much more words spoken, until both of them charge at each other.
Fast as they are, I almost have no time to cast the Code Cast Rin prepared for this very occasion. I take out my terminal and run the program: block_sun(15);
The whole Arena turns dark, albeit lit enough to still be able to make out things.
"Interesting approach," says Leo. "Instead of hacking my Servant, you hacked the sun. Was it your idea?"
Metal clashes against metal—but from my position and with their speed, it is hard to make out of their swords meet each other or the other's armour. Either way, none of them slows down, so it is obvious that neither has been wounded yet.
"Not exactly," I admit, truthfully.
"I see."
Mordred charges again, but Gawain seems defensive enough to block her attacks.
"Let us end this, shall we?" He asks, raising his sword in front of his face. I assume he is about to unleash his Noble Phantasm, and I doubt we could do much about this. Unless…
"I agree," Saber answers, bringing Clarent to the same stance. She told me she would prefer not to use her Noble Phantasm, and I am sure that is because it is tied to her father and her rebellion. I know she would not like to repeat this whole event, but maybe for a battle such as this, using it is appropriate.
"The Reborn Sword of Victory," chants Gawain, as a gigantic, probably artificial sun materialises above him, in which he holds his sword.
"Rebellion against my Beautiful Father," chants Saber, as Clarent becomes engulfed with a black light and dark red lightning, looking like the manifestation of her hatred for Arturia Pendragon.
"Excalibur… Galatine!"
"Clarent Blood Arthur!"
The sun that charged Excalibur Galatine with its might disappeared just a second before Gawain strikes, sending a wave of flames towards Saber at the very same time as Saber brings down a sword, shooting a beam of Clarent's whole might against the heatwave.
A big explosion is the result of both Noble Phantasms clashing, blocking my view from everything, making it even hard to breath. It would not be surprising if both Servants disappeared in the force, though I hope Saber made it. I do not want her to die, when I was not even there in her last moments.
The smoke clears slowly, revealing that both Servants are down on their knees, and the barrier signalling the battle's end has already formed. Who exactly is the winner?
"You were… and still are a brat. Not worth of being the king's son," Gawain mutters, before falling to his side. Saber coughs up blood, and the sun starts illuminating this place again. We barely made it, it seems.
"Worthy enough to kick your ass twice," Saber remarks, and I rush to her side to support her stance and heal her wounds immediately—as good as I can. It seems that Rin's Code Cast put a relatively big strain on me, but that is to be expected—it hacked the sun .
"How… could this happen? How could I lose?" Leo seems more than shocked about this development.
Gawain and Mordred might have been Heroic Spirits with about the same strength, but I am sure Gawain's downfall lays in the very skill that almost made our victory impossible—Numeral of the Saint.
He never had to take care of an armour that could withstand the strongest blows that well, because he was spoiled by the protection of the sun. Saber got this far by relying on nothing but herself, which in turn let her become the victor.
"I am sorry, Leo." I tell him, and I can see tears running down his cheeks but a smile as well, before he disappears, along with Gawain.
We are the last ones standing—we won this tournament, the Grail is ours.