Fate/Grand Order story · Part 2: Cosmos in the Lostbelt, Realm of the Thanatos Impulse, Traum
Death of a Detective
Realm of the Thanatos Impulse, Traum. Reichenbach
4 scenes, 514 lines
1. Before the battle
52 lines
...
Holmes?
...My apologies. This place brings back powerful memories for me.
I don't blame you. You did die here, after all. ...But, so did Moriarty.
That should be, but
Indeed. I certainly have no fond memories of this place.
But, that's just the sort of obstacle one must overcome if one intends to alter fate.
Don't you agree, Mister?
...James Moriarty.
Well, Mister. Did you find the answers you were looking for?
Were you able to determine my identity? My goal? My truth?
Whup. Looks like we're up, Master.
...Wait. Not just yet.
Hm?
Let me fight him one-on-one.
...Seriously?
Absolutely.
...Something tells me I need to do this alone.
... ...
All at once, Holmes seemed to flicker like a mirage.
I'm guessing he saw the same thing.
I don't know if he asked Holmes to wait or grabbed his coat to try and stop him...
...but either way, Holmes just only smiled and shrugged it off.
Was he sure about this? Of course not. But...
...Are you sure about this?
...Whatever you do, just come back.
Of course.
Even I could tell he was just saying that.
Hello, Mister.
... ...There's a mystery here.
I used to think the only mysteries that couldn't be solved were those with pieces missing.
But perhaps I'm the one who's missing something important.
In which case...
...I expect fighting you should allow me to regain whatever that may be.
Only if you win, of course.
I will.
...You won't beat me. Of that, I'm absolutely certain.
Hmph!
Hngh!
(I missed... No, it wasn't that. As I thought, my attack failed to function as an attack.)
(I didn't even feel an impact from striking his body. The entire attack was nullified.)
(...I knew it. It's just as I suspected.)
...To tell the truth, I have no memories of you at all. Perhaps it's because I was summoned in my youthful form.
My memories of my life end with my youth.
That's why I had such high hopes for you, Sherlock Holmesmy sworn enemy.
You were meant to be the only detective who could match my intellect, oppose my cruelty.
But you seem to have missed something vital, right up to your final moments.
Oh? And what would that be?
That, the moment you stood before me, you'd already lost.
And now, I'll show you why.
(Here he comes...!)
2. Before the battle
24 linesHolmes!
？！
...Hm?
...Ah, apologies. I must have been lost in thought.
I must say, this is quite unusual for a human like me...
Human?
Yes, of course. I may be a Servant now, but in life, I was human.
There are many different kinds of Servants out there. Some are descended from gods.
Some use Divine Spirits for their foundation. But as one would expect, most of them are human.
Hey there, Mr. Holmes.
Do I know you...?
I feel hazy, as though I were in a dream.
Oh, I was just hoping you could give me the answer to a mystery I've been wondering about.
Don't listen to him, Holmes.
？！
No, my dear Watson. Mysteries demand an answer.
Thank you, Holmes. All right, here is my question.
This mystery has endured for as long as the Singularity itself.
Who is the Master you were summoned to serve?
I've asked, and been asked, that question myself numerous times.
Was it the Holy Grail in the Fourth Singularity? A chain summon that arose from my bond to Henry Jekyll?
Every time I've faced the question, I... I've come up with a plausible answer that suits the situation.
But I can't ignore the truth any longer. Because now...at long last...
...the answer to the mystery of me has finally clicked into place.
3. Before the battle
271 linesMr. Holmes.
I am well aware that the plot to incinerate humanity has already succeeded and that I have no means to counter it.
Yet even so, there is a request I wish to make of you.
If and when humankind manages to resolve the Incineration of Humanity, another threat is sure to follow.
The Incineration of Humanity is an erasure of human history's past. But why did it begin in 2018?
I sense an impending crisis in that year.
The Incineration of Humanity is not what stops history from developing beyond 2019.
There was never anything beyond 2019.
The King of Mages could see that as well as I can. That is why he began collecting resources from 2018 backward.
This is the mystery I want you to solve.
How did the Incineration of Humanity come about? What created the Singularities?
That's right. Sherlock Holmes was summoned to London.
I accepted Sir Babbage's request and traveled from the Fourth Singularity to the Sixth...
...because I had been told that was where I would find Tri-Hermes, the Atlas Institute's Spiritron computer.
Chaldea's Command Room was unable to record these events thanks to the Atlas Institute's comms interference...
...thereby completely preventing Leonardo da Vinci and Romani Archaman from learning about them.
This meant that a larger question was indefinitely postponed.
Could a Heroic Spirit summoned by the land itself migrate to a wholly different land without a Master?
Theoretically, such a thing was perfectly possible. It was one of my abilities as a great detective.
But...if Romani Archaman had heard of this, he would surely have thought of a different possibility:
That Sherlock Holmes was summoned by a sentient entity...a Master.
Who would that Master be? The answer is obvious.
My orders were to join Chaldea in the fight against the King of Mages' plot...and spy on them.
And the only being who would give a Servant such a mission is the Foreign God.
The Foreign God summoned me. I've been the Foreign God's Servant since this all began.
The Foreign God's first Disciple.
...Good grief. I have no memory of that whatsoever, but the circumstantial evidence is undeniable.
I must have sealed my own memories awayforgotten that I was actually the Foreign God's Disciple.
I don't know if I did so to gain Chaldea's trust or escape the Foreign God's control.
With the memories of my summoning sealed off, I'll never know for sure.
But, I can deduce what most likely happened.
I obeyed the Foreign God's commands when I was summoned.
Much as I would like to believe I would never do such a thing, I must accept that I did. It is an irrefutable fact.
So then, what was my motive?
I wasn't brainwashed. I'm certain I agreed to answer the Foreign God's summon after successfully negotiating with her.
So what reason could Sherlock Holmes possibly have to obey her?
The Foreign God summoned me to London, and then she sent me to find Tri-Hermes.
Singularities. Proper Human History. Lostbelts. Trees of Emptiness. Star shapes. Universe forms. God figures.
The celestial bodies became unobservable and numerous galaxies stood tall on Earth's surface.
What incredible isolation. What incredible solitude. It's as though this very planet were cut off from the rest of the universe.
Our world is already hollow, empty, and void. Therefore...
...I see. Yes, that would be reason enough for me to obey.
I erased my own recordsmy own memories.
But I didn't do so to hide the fact that I was actually a Disciple of the Foreign God.
I erased my memories of being the Foreign God's Disciple because so long as I had them, I would have to obey the Foreign God.
That is who I am. That is Sherlock Holmes. This is not a matter of betraying humanity, or even Chaldea.
No, I fabricated this clumsy cover story so I could betray my own principles.
My summoned self, as inscribed in human history, was a cold, calculating mana man who made his deductions without regard for good or evil.
So I created another selfone who would act with concern for good. One the people of Chaldea would find endearing.
One like my own pastor perhaps fantasticalself.
... ...I see. So that's what happened.
Holmes!
？！
Watson...
Or are you Yelena? You don't seem to be the small Da Vinci.
Or perhaps you're Mr. Fujimaru.
"Once you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth."
Though still broadly true, there is one flaw in this theory of mine.
It doesn't account for situations in which finding the truth would put myself and those around me in danger.
That is why I simply ignored this mystery.
I sealed the entire problem away outside my thought processes before I could arrive at a conclusion.
That's enough! You don't have to say any more!
？！
But now, that seal has been broken. It couldn't be clearer who summoned the revealer.
I...I am...a Disciple of the Foreign God.
My job is to
Holmes!!!
？！
Ever since I was summoned, other things have filled in for what I was missing.
This allowed me to see many truths, see through them, and arrive at the correct answer.
But right now, that's not what matters.
I now know what Moriarty is after. I know what his goal is in this Singularity.
It's Chaldea.
But then, maybe that's not a problem.
This man looking down at me is young, wild, and deliberate, but he's also arrogant and conceited.
So he is all but certain to reveal his objective to the others.
So all I have to do is tell them what sort of power this Moriarty possesses.
...I see. Even now, I still
I've found the answer!
...What was that?
Mr. Fujimaru!
Moriarty wields the power of the Nornsthe three Norse goddesses of fate!
That explains why you were so absolutely untouchable. But that won't be a problem anymore!
...!
...Yes. This is how it should be.
I tumble down the falls.
Not because I was wounded, but because now that I know the truth, I must disappear.
I may have been the Foreign God's Disciple, but by averting my eyes from that truth, I've been betraying my Master all this time.
And neither can I deny that I have betrayed Chaldea as well.
After all, my job is to .
Which makes this the perfect timing.
After all, this is a problem even you overlooked!
It is not that the problem was so difficult even a great detective failed to recognize it.
It is that Sherlock Holmes was simply ignoring it.
That is what she meant. It was also a warning.
I'm sorry, Ms. Sion. I'm sorry I didn't realize what you were trying so delicately to convey.
But what else could I have done?
A gentleman detective like myself, intentionally ignoring a problem? Unthinkable.
Yet, that is the emotion I experienced as a great detective working on the case of Proper Human History's murder for justice...
...an emotion that ill-befits the Heroic Spirit of Sherlock Holmes.
...I enjoyed my time here immensely. Every day of it.
The fiendishly difficult cases. The impending crises. I may not have had Watson here...
...but I will deeply miss the days I spent traveling with so many allies.
I turned a blind eye to the truth so I could remain with them.
But, I chose the best outcome in lieu of the worst. I wielded a detective's greatest weapons, reason and intelligence, right to the end.
And now, I'm smilingsmiling at Moriarty as he looks down on me.
He stares back at me, his puzzled expression so clearly asking me, "Why?"
Why else?
Because weChaldea, will win.
There's no call for me to make some grand deduction. No, I can say this with absolute confidence.
We will win.
I have no fear of death. All I have is confidence in our victory...and a slight sense of relief.
...James Moriarty.
You may have won, but the ultimate victory is mine.
Goodbye, people of Chaldea.
Goodbye, Mr. Zemlupus. Goodbye, Ms. Sion. Captain Nemo.
Goodbye, Da Vinci. Goodbye, Goredolf.
Goodbye, Yelena.
Goodbye, Mr. Fujimaru. Goodbye, Ms. Kyrielight.
Goodbye, my dear, dear friends.
Ahh...what a wonderful time this has been.
...I won... At least...I think I won...
Chills crawled down his spine.
He wasn't afraid so much as bewildered.
What was that acquisitive chuckle...?
Still don't get it, do you?
Who's there!?
...Are you...me?
Why, yes. Think of me as you, thirty years from now.
What did you come to tell me?
That you've made rather a dreadful mistake.
You haven't a clue what you're doing. And who would know that better than me?
No one knows you better than yourself, no?
...Ha.
Don't give me that. I just defeated the man you spent your entire life losing to.
Ah, indeed you did.
You fought Sherlock Holmes man-to-man, and you won.
Very dramatic. But...
You do have other things left to do, don't you? Well, good luck to you. You're going to need it.
...Tsk! Not yet! This isn't over yet!
That's right. I can't be spacing out like this.
I still have to
Well, Chaldeans. As you've seen for yourselves, Sherlock Holmes is dead.
That's one thing done, so I have just one more to take care of here.
...What's that?
To take control of Chaldea. To gobble up your entire organization for myself.
...
？！
Oh, don't tell me that's any surprise.
I believe I can win the war you're fighting far more efficiently than you can.
With all due respect...which I guess is none at all...
...did it never cross your mind that we might be just a little furious at you after you killed one of our own?
...Hmm. Yes, I suppose I can see how you might feel that way.
Of course I understand.
No, you don't. You don't understand a damn thing.
Read. My. Lips. Piss off, shitbird.
I wasn't asking you.
Well, Kadoc? What do you think of my proposal?
...Is that your way of saying you want me to become your Master?
Wha... Wha...!?
Right you are.
I have no interest in Fujimaru there whatsoever, you see.
You are far more diligent, passionate, and most especially, sarcastic than he is.
Is... Was that supposed to be a compliment? Sure didn't feel like one.
Anyway, no. Hard pass. I'm done with betrayals.
Hm?
Ah, I see. So that is what you're misunderstanding.
You needn't betray Chaldea. I'll be the one doing the betraying.
...Seriously?
So, what? You're just gonna give up being a Foreign Disciple?
That's just it. I'm a Foreign Disciple, not a Disciple of the Foreign God.
My contracted allegiance is not to her, but to the system she possesses.
Yes, the Foreign God summoned me and gave me power, but I'm under no obligation to obey her.
I've severed my ties to that fate.
...Right. The three goddesses of fate!
Exactly.
As Holmes told you, I have three Divine Spirits embedded in me.
Urðr, Verðandi, and Skuld, the three Norse goddesses of fate.
I can cut a thread to sever one fate and spin a new one.
...No wonder nothing could kill you.
You kept changing your fate to make you undying every time you were attacked.
That's right. This power also allowed me to throw off my shackles.
I'm free now.
However, I'd hate to continue the pretense that I'm still a Foreign Disciple. It is, as they say, not a good look.
Besides, I only became a Disciple to defeat Sherlock Holmes.
I was always planning to break my contract once that was done. And once I do, I'd rather have a new Master.
One like you, Kadoc Zemlupus.
...I see.
I look closer at Moriarty as he stands near the top of Reichenbach Falls.
His abilities are extraordinary. His tactics and strategies are highly refined.
And more than anything, he's speaking from the heart. Even I can tell that much.
So he probably really does mean to betray the Foreign God.
If we let him join Chaldea, we might actually be able to handle situations like this even more efficiently.
I can't just dismiss his notion out of hand. Except...there's just one thing.
I'd be throwing away my pride.
I wouldn't normally give a rat's ass about that.
But that's human thinking. I'm not just a human. I'm a Crypter and a mage.
I'll approach this rationally, then tell him what I decide.
All right. You want me to be your Master? Fine.
Kadoc!?
？！
Excellent. Then let's get right to
Not so fast. I have two conditions.
Conditions...?
First, you need to fight Fujimaru and win.
I want to see just how good you really are.
Second, you have to accept the results without complaining.
That's it. Just those two conditions. Should be easy for a guy with the power of the goddesses of fate, right?
Hmm. It will hardly be a productive battle, but very well.
...You can do this, right, Fujimaru?
Pop him one in the face for Holmes.
Charlemagne!
？！
You'd better believe I'm here!
Charles the Great, the father of Europe, and the first Holy Roman Emperor. You're undoubtedly an A-rank Servant...
...but you're leaking magical energy like crazy. You wouldn't be able to fight for more than a few minutes, at best.
Plenty of time to kick your ass, then.
...Ha. Asinine.
All right then, how about I call in one more Servant?
？！
Another Servant? Ahh, you mean one of your summons.
Please, by all means.
Come to me...
？！
...my first Servant!
？！
Starting Unsummon Program Assault. Commencing Spiritron Conversion.
All systems are go. Commencing emergency order.
...I'm sorry I took so long, Master.
First Servant, Shielder, Mash Kyrielight, reporting for duty!
... ...
I'm okay. If Holmes were here now, I'm sure he'd say:
"Now, now. Calm yourself, Ms. Kyrielight."
...I'm not here to take revenge. I'm here to fight for what I believe in.
I like it.
I knew you were one of the Knights of the Round Table, but looking at you now, I'm tempted to make you my thirteenth paladin!
Let's do this, Mash.
It would be my honor, Charlemagne!
Ridiculous. If you truly think you can take me, you're welcome to try.
Haaaaaa!
(Insolent girl. She'll only wear herself out. Oh well, I suppose I should take this chance to show them the sheer difference in our abilities.)
(Weave the threads of my fate, Norns. Her attacks will never touch me.)
(That is fate. It is the way things are meant to be.)
Wha...!?
But...how!?
I hit him!
Nice! Let's keep it up!
Right! Here goes!
W-wait! Stop! What's going on!?
My thread of fate... It's almost snapped!? No... It's been weakened!
That's right.
In his final moments, Holmes told us, "That won't be a problem anymore."
Now, I know what he meant.
When you defeated him, you also ended your fate.
James Moriarty, you were Sherlock Holmes's greatest rival.
But the reverse is true as well.
Holmes was fated to be your rival!
...All right, Chaldea.
I will sink to whatever depths I must to claim victory. And not by a thin margin, but an overwhelming one.
A victory without employing cheap tricks. A victory that will have you all kneeling at my feet, awed by my might!
That is the only victory I will accept!
His Spirit Origin values are rising rapidly! Looks like he's finally getting serious!
That's okay. We're serious, too!
？！
Absolutely!
All right! Time to pull out all the stops!
You're a straightforward one, hm? I'll meet you with all the power I possess, then.
That, and that alone, will give me the perfect, dominating victory I seek.
My name is James Moriarty. I am the Foreign Disciple, the Napoleon of crime...
...and the one who will soon command all of Chaldea.
...Here I come!
4. After the battle
167 linesMake no mistake. Fate is not set in stone.
It is, in fact, easily undone by something as small as a single pebble.
Tell me, why do you think you lost?
...Sherlock Holmes.
I should have waited to kill him until I had defeated all of Chaldea.
Wrong. You're nowhere near the answer.
...Is it because I underestimated Fujimaru?
Wrong again. You had a firm grasp of his abilities from the outset.
Who then? Charlemagne? Mash Kyrielight?
All wrong. Again. Isn't there someone else you're forgetting?
Someone rather important to you?
...Kadoc Zemlupus?
But, he didn't do anything. He just stood back and watched.
He hasn't even fulfilled his role as a Mas
Wait. You don't mean
Right. He made your thread of fate visible so it could be cut.
Remember this for next time, greenhorn: arrogance begets forgetfulness, and that leads you into traps aplenty.
Now, here's another question for you: What do you think you should do now?
Surely you're not about to wait graciously for them to kill you?
... ...
Well, well, it seems we have another idealist in our midst! You'll never grow up to be me if you keep this up!
Then again, perhaps all the other elements you've mixed in are preventing you from arriving at this conclusion.
I can't blame you for being so accepting of death when you have the power of the three goddesses of fate.
Remember this too, pretty boy:
Escaping swift death may be difficult, but escaping the death that comes for you slowly is easy.
You need only let go of your arrogance.
...This is as far as I go. That was the very last of my power.
It was more than enough. Thanks. You really helped me out, right up to the end.
What else could I do? It was my Master's dying wish.
Right...
Well, goodbye, Kadoc Zemlupus.
Before you go, I just want to say...thank you. I wouldn't be here now if it wasn't for you.
You're welcome. Master's Master.
...Bye.
...It would seem I've lost.
Yes. You did.
Your Spirit Origin is half-destroyed, your magical energy is rapidly fading, and your equipment is so damaged you can no longer use your Noble Phantasm.
You've lost, James Moriarty.
Yes, you're right. Quite right.
By the way, Mash, I know you were the one who cut my thread but...you were the one who made it possible for her to do so. Weren't you, Kadoc?
Yeah, that's right. I never said I wouldn't help them.
Besides, I don't even have a Servant of my own. If my help was enough to throw you off, you had no business in this fight anyway.
Hahaha, I can't argue with that.
...Well, now that I have nothing more left to do than die a miserable death, allow me to make a proposal.
A proposal...?
Ahem. Would, um...
...Would you spare me?
... ...
(Completely dumbfounded)
？！
...Are you serious?
Looks that way. What do you wanna do, Master?
Just say the word, and I'll cut his head off right now.
Why in the world would we spare the one who murdered Sherlock Holmes, our trusty administrative advisor?
If I may, I believe I can legitimately claim self-defense there.
S-self-defense!?
... ...Oh.
Hehehe, well done, Mash Kyrielight. I had a feeling you would be the first to realize!
What're you talking about?
Mash?
Well... This goes back to when they were still alive.
People thought both Holmes and Professor Moriarty died when they fell down the Reichenbach Falls...
...but Holmes resurfaced sometime later alive and well.
Professor Moriarty, on the other hand, was presumed to have really died in the fall.
So, um...if we take those events into account...
Exactly!
First, he killed me, now I've killed him! That makes us even!
What? No way. That can't be right! ...Can it?
What kind of nonsensical argument is that for James Moriarty to resort to!? You owe the Archer of Shinjuku an apology!
What do I need to apologize to my older self for? All I did was speak the truth.
Well, anyway, not much to worry about. I'm in the same boat as Charlemagne now.
My Spirit Origin is half-destroyed, I'm hemorrhaging magical energy like crazy, and the goddesses' thread of fate has been cut.
I'll be dead and gone long before I can leave this Singularity.
Not even a temporary contract with you would change that now.
...Yeah, I guess you're right.
Unless you've got some other trick up your sleeve, you'll be dead pretty soon.
And you're obviously in no state to keep anything that big hidden.
You're gonna die in this Singularity.
Be that as it may, there's more to this Singularity than that.
There's also something incredibly important here. Something that will drastically affect your own future.
...!
I'm the only one who knows where it is. I'm the only one who can take you there.
So, what will you do?
I'm just a Servant.
Sounds like Chaldea business to me, so I'm gonna keep my trap shut.
You guys should be the ones to decide.
I'll keep my opinion to myself, too. I know I don't have any right to weigh in on this.
Hnnngh... A valuable lead, huh...
... ...
I think we should accept Moriarty's proposal, Director.
Huh?
If Holmes were here, I think he'd do the same.
He would never get so caught up in his emotions that he'd lose sight of the bigger picture.
...True, that does sound like him.
And if you think the same, well, then there shouldn't be a problem.
That just leaves you, Fujimaru. What do you think?
It's all right with me.
Okay. But I want to get him back once first.
？！
...I see.
Very well then, if you agree to submit to strict oversight, we will refrain from taking your life.
Get me back? ...Ahh, you mean corporal punishment. Yes, that's fine.
Ow ow ow ow...
？！
Are you okay, Master?
Not used to punching people, are you?
Now then, about my temporary contract
I'm not making any contract with you. You know why.
Good grief. So earnest.
Very well then, my contract is yours. You should be honored.
And yet, I'm really not.
You do know you don't need to share every thought that crosses your mind, right, (temporary) Master?
'Kay.
...I would hope you appreciate the gravity of this situation at least a little more than that.
Ever hear the one about beggars and choosers, Moriarty?
？！
There, that should give me a little more time, but certainly none to waste on idle chatter.
All right, looks like things are all settled here.
Hey, Moriarty.
I hate to entrust this to an embodiment of evil like you...
...but I'm also pretty sure you're the kind of guy who keeps his promises.
So I'm counting on you to watch out for our Master. Got that?
...Yes, I do.
It would be absolutely inappropriate to betray him after I begged him to spare my life.
We also know you don't usually worry about how inappropriate something is before you do it, which is why I'll be watching you like a goddamn hawk.
Hahaha, I didn't know you knew me so well. Although, if you're saying that sort of thing, then
Oh, right. It's time I was on my way too, Master.
...Thank you, Charlemagne. Really, I can't thank you enough!
？！
Aw, stop.
Me? I just stick with whatever is awesome. You? You're awesome.
That's really all it comes down to with me. Wherever Rex Magnus Karl is in the digital sea, I bet he's happy about how this all turned out, too.
...No, wait. If he was here now...
...he'd probably say something about wanting to welcome Mash as his bride.
Huh? Where'd that come from?
Not feeling very reassured here!
？！
Hahaha, now, now, it's all good.
I was kinda worried how things were gonna go at first, but now, I'm really glad I was summoned.
Me too. I'm glad I met you.
？！
Aw, thanks. Sure am happy to hear that.
Next time, I hope we get a Singularity with a lot more fun and hijinks! Something I can bring all my Twelve Paladins to have fun with!
In fact, we could invite the Knights of the Round Table, too. Ooh, maybe we could even have a soccer match!
That sounds great!
？！
Aaanywho, if you ever need my help, just call for me. So long!
... ...
...Ah, dammit. I never did get used to these kinds of sad goodbyes...
Farewell, Charlemagne.
Okay, Moriarty. Show us the way.
And remember, we're all watching you!
Hahaha, not to worry. At this point, I'm so weak, a bad fall could do me in.
All right, before we go any further, I want you to tell us something.
What is this important thing, and where exactly is it?
You did know that this was United States before the Rayshift, yes?
Yes.
Though it certainly doesn't look like any state I recognize.
If anything, the architecture seemed predominantly European.
Well, I assure you, what I am about to show you could only happen in the United States.
It's deep within the Righteous Realm, in what would normally be the state of Nevada...
...in a certain blank area even Sancho, competent as she was, failed to notice.
Don't worry. You'll see what I mean when we get there!