Fate/Grand Order story · Part 2: Cosmos in the Lostbelt, Lostbelt No.4: Saṃsāra of Genesis and Terminus, Yugakshetra
A World Where the Cycle ■■s
Lostbelt No.4: Saṃsāra of Genesis and Terminus, Yugakshetra. Bichu
2 scenes, 165 lines
1. Before the battle
45 lines...Well this is disappointing. My doctor's intuition is telling me quite clearly...
I may have succeeded at removing that cancerous Alter Ego from this world, but he was only a symptom. I wasn't able to eradicate the source.
Dammit. Even if I did only just wake up, that's no excuse for me to fail a simple operation.
It's still not enough. I need more techniques. More knowledge. No, not just me... If medical science is to advance, mankind will need more, too.
I don't have time to rest. I must return to my research... My training...
Well, it seems the other source of this world's infectionthat giant treehas been excised as well. If so, maybe that'll do...
No. No, it's not enough. There's nothing more dangerous than amateurish medical treatment.
No layperson should ever attempt an operation under anything but the most dire circumstances. The sooner foolish patients die, the sooner they can help medical science advance.
...Hm? That sounds like someone crying. ...And they're coming this way.
Waaaah! (Hic) Waaaaaah!
(Sniff) Wh-what do I do? I don't know which is the right kind...
What's wrong? Why are you crying? Are you in pain? Are you itchy? Answer my questions accurately.
Aah! ...Wh-who're you?
It doesn't matter who I am. If you're neither sick nor injured, and have no need for a doctor, then go away.
I'd offer to go away myself, but I'm afraid my own legs can't take another step.
Y-you're a doctor!? P-please, you've gotta help my mom! She's sick!
She won't stop coughing no matter what we do! I don't want her to die!
I heard the herbs around here could help her, but I don't know which one to pick...!
Calm down. So the patient's your mother, is it? How frequently does she cough? Does she cough up blood? What color is the phlegm? Tell me everything.
Hmph, what a waste of time. This diagnosis won't do a thing to help advance medical science.
...
I don't even need to go treat her myself. You handle this.
Take this and have her swallow it. It'll put her to sleep, but that's normal. Don't worry about it.
Wait until morning, and if she's still coughing, give her this pill as well. That's all.
R-really!? Th-thanks, Mr. Doctor! Thank you so much!
...His mother, huh.
For some reason, I suddenly remembered when someone asked me why I cared so much about advancing medicine.
What is it that drives me to pursue it to the exclusion of everything else?
(Hell if I know. I forgot that sort of thing a long time ago.)
Still...there is one thing I know I want.
Humans... Mankind... Carry on my work. Travel the path that others have blazed.
There is no need to fear failure.
Casting aside excellence may be foolish, but it is no less so to cast failure aside.
For anything that continues to evolve will always be defective when compared to the future.
If human medicine can reach the same heights I did, and continue on even further, they will no longer have anything to fear from the gods.
I once managed to conquer death... Will mankind ever do the same?
Yes. I'm sure they will. As long as no foolish gods try to get in their way.
How I loathe such gods, none more so than Apollo, who impregnated a human woman, only to let her die.
If human medicine can ever truly surpass death...
If it advances to a point where they can bring back the dead, and no one ever has to die again...
...then someone else will tell her in my place.
...I forgot what it was I wanted to tell her, but it's probably a trifling matter.
Some day...the mother I never got to touch, or even to lay eyes on...
The mother who was killed by a foolish, detestable god, and reduced to ash by the time I was born...
...will know how I feel...
2. Before the battle
120 linesThis is so strange, isn't it, Auntie? The Kali Yuga is over, but nothing happened. I'm shocked!
The giant tree and God's Skyboulder are gone, too...
That's true, it's so strange. But we haven't seen any kali, either. Maybe this change is for the better?
Hm? There's something outside the window... I'm gonna go take a look.
Okay, but be careful, all right? It's dark outside now, so I don't want you going off too far.
I won't!
Oh wow, it's the travelers! What a surprise!
What's up? It feels like it's been forever since I saw you...
Well, um... We...came to say goodbye.
And...to tell you what's going on.
This world's god is gone now.
There's no more reincarnation cycle anymore.
？！
...What do you mean?
Up until now...a god was putting this world through an endless cycle of reincarnation.
...Those reincarnations were...wrong. They never should have happened.
...Do you want to know what took place in them?
Do you want to know what you forgot...?
If you do...you should know it's going to be painful. Maybe you're not even meant to know about it.
But, even so Iwe feel like we're supposed to tell you...
Oh... Yeah. That makes sense.
I knew I'd forgotten something. I could tell something wasn't right.
Please tell me, mister.
I wanna know what I forgot... and what I lost...
...
Father...
So I did have a father...
...
...Know what? I'm not surprised.
Even when I'm talking to my auntie and uncle at home, or when I go outside to play...
...I wanted to call out for someone, but I couldn't, and it felt like something was missing...
I was wondering why I felt like that. Now it all makes sense...
W-wait! Please don't get the wrong idea! This wasn't okay!
Your father...Ajai wasn't defective or evil in any way!
He could be overly blunt, and he was kind of awkward...but he had an inner strength that kept him going no matter what things were like around him...
He loved his family, and he fought bravely to protect them...
And...
Thanks, miss! It's hard for me to imagine, but I think I get it.
I'm sorry. I wish I had more than words to convey what he was like...
I did the best I could, but I'm still not sure if this means anything to you...
...
Hey, are there proper reincarnations?
...Huh?
You said this world went through wrong reincarnations before, right? So I was just thinking, if there're wrong ones, maybe there're proper ones too...
O-oh no, did I surprise you? Did I say something weird? I'm sorry.
Not at all. I think...there must be proper reincarnations too.
Not at all. I don't know...but I'd like to believe in proper reincarnations too.
？！
Hehe. Yeah, I think so too.
So...if my father went away in a wrong reincarnation...
...do you think maybe I'll get to see him again when there's a proper one?
...I hope I can...
...
Y-yeah... I'm sure...you can...
(Mash...)
？！
Thank you both for telling me all this!
Well, I should get back home, before my auntie and uncle start to worry about me... Oh, you guys are all leaving on another journey now, right?
I'm gonna miss you guys, but I hope you have fun! Come see me again sometime, okay!
...That's enough, Mash.
？！
...
I'm sorry, Senpai. I know this was incredibly selfish of me...
But, I just felt like I had to tell her...
Maybe...I'm just trying to make myself feel better...
...Maybe. But that's okay.
...No, I think you were right to tell her.
？！
...
...If you ask me, I think it's still too soon to come to conclusions.
My job is to tell the truth, and the truth is, we are doing what we must to save the world.
That is a fact, and one we must not forget. We must not resent it for purely personal reasons.
Mash, everything you've experienced up to this point, good and bad alike, has helped shape who you are.
Similarly, do keep in mind that everything we've done here is necessary for what we're trying to accomplish.
...At least for now, of course.
Time will tell whether the actions we took were the right ones or not.
Though I can't yet say if that answer will be revealed to us...or to others who will pass judgment on us.
Regardless, once we are done, the people judging our actions will be those of Proper Human History...and that is how it should be.
...Yes. You're right.
I learned in Russia, Scandinavia, and China...that we would have to fight other worlds' futures in order to take back our own.
That we would have to make difficult choices, but we can't let them hold us back.
Fou...
I'm okay now, Fou. I feel calmer now.
I have to apologize to you too, Master. I'm all right now.
Now come on! Let's head to where we need to go and get that part activated!
Oh, look at that, Master. The starry sky is so beautiful here! I think this'll be the perfect night for a drive.
...Good night.
My blanket is nice and warm. It still smells of sunlight after being hung up to dry.
My tummy is nice and full, thanks to the yummy meal Auntie made.
When I open my eyes, I can see the beautiful earrings Auntie and Uncle gave me for my birth anniversary lying on my nightstand.
I'm so happy right now. So happy.
Although...maybe I don't deserve to be.
I remember the nice travelers...and what they told me...
...and it makes my chest go tight.
I remember how sad and lonely I felt on my birth anniversary...when it felt like someone was missing.
Now I know there was supposed to be someone named ■■■■ there.
If ■■■■ had been there, would my birth anniversary have been more fun? If ■■■■ was here now, would I be even happier?
Huh...? What was his name again? Who was I thinking about?
I know they told me about him, but I already forgot. Even though I really cared, and wanted him to be there...
Oh, right. I prayed about this before I went to bed. I'm sure I can still remember that.
That nice man said that there could be proper reincarnations from now on.
So, I'll pray that, in the next reincarnation...or the one after that, or even the one after that...
...■■■■ will come back to me.
(Sniffle) H-huh?
That's weird. All of a sudden, I can't stop crying. I don't understand.
It feels like someone I was close to used to scold me whenever I cried before, so there's no point in crying now. I don't need these tears anymore.
But, no matter how hard I pray for our god to take my useless tears away, they still keep coming.
I only just remembered that the nice man also told me...
...that god isn't here anymore either.
Now what do I do?
Does this mean nobody will hear my bedtime prayers?
Does this mean they'll never come true?
That thought makes me even sadder, and now my tears are coming even faster...
If god really is gone now...
...then who's going to get rid of these tears I don't need?
If god isn't here anymore...who am I supposed to pray to from now on?
...However, prayers are heard simply by virtue of being prayers.
And not by a proper reincarnation cycle...
Fa...ther...
...but by the transient dreams of a young girl crying herself to sleep.