You won, and you're looking at Lancer's broken body right now; but you know better: personal experience and one to many incidents with trolls have taught you that you always slit the throat of whatever you've killed if it can ignore lethal wounds. And Lancer definitely was shrugging off anything and everything you threw at him, no matter how impossible it was for his body to pull off. Tendons cut, muscles shredded, bones shattered; he still fought on.
You edge slowly to his body, keeping an eye on him to make sure he doesn't move and isn't playing dead on you. Finally, when you reach him; you pull out a knife and slit his throat. Then, you ram the knife right into the heart; just to be sure. There, job done. You stand over the body, the Irish hero's death starting to sink in. He was a bastard who was tough as nails, and was completely mad by the time you fought; but he was still a hero, still worthy of being a legend.
From your bag of holding you pull forth your guitar and begin to strum, but before you begin playing an epitaph for Lancer; Rider speaks out, "Why did you cut his throat, and stab his heart; he's already dead. Even with his Battle Continuation he couldn't have survived that."
"Personal experience, if it lived through and ignored most lethal wounds; it doesn't get to keep its throat or heart." You then play a mournful song;
a proper lament for the death today. It was brief, but mournful; full of emotion for the life lost today: a hero who lived life as fire, bright and glorious; yet ultimately short and fleeting.
"You were a man who lived for the moment, Hound of Culainn; one who decided that it was better to burn out, than to fade away. Had things gone a little different, maybe we'd have fought side by side; who knows? If I had gone a little lighter with the insults maybe this could've been avoided. But then again, you were a man who lived for the fight; the chance to fight against other heroes and legends was what called you here. I may not have been a friend, hell; I've done all I can to piss you off and keep you off balance, all for the sake of victory.
And look at how well that turned out..."
"...But you were still a hero, and as a fellow hero myself; I give proper respect to your demise."
You strum your guitar one last time, and close your eyes in respect. You then hear footsteps coming from behind you; turning to see who it was, you see Shirou and the woman you saved. She still looked like she had one foot in the grave; but at least now she had her arm back, somehow. Oh, and she was conscious; that too.
She looks at you, her mouth and eyes void of emotions, and asks you, "Did you mean that; what you just said? About him...and his life?"
"Yeah; he was a man who died content in his first life, and lived solely for battle, women, and glory. Did he make mistakes? Certainly, but he simply moved on from them; what regret he had never truly lingered. It was the same here, win or lose; he was truly in it for the fight. I might've gone for cheap blows, but his sole reason for being in the war; it was just for the fight. He didn't have a wish." Legend Lore; thank god that you're thorough.
"...I see..." she then hobbled towards Lancer; Shirou helping her move kneels down by his head. She puts it in her lap and runs her fingers through her hair, tears budding in her eyes.
Mournfully, she tells him, "I'm sorry Lancer, I failed you as your Master. Heheh, I summoned you because I wanted to save you; and instead I caused your death once again. I'm sorry..."
Then, a miracle happens; Lancer's chest glows, right around the heart. His throat heals, and some of the lighter cuts and bruises are healed; but his legs are still gone, and the majority of his body's still too ravaged to move. His eyelids twitch, and slowly he opens his eyes. For a brief moment he's speechless, but eventually he regains his voice, "Bazett...you're alive?"
Surprised, the former Master of Lancer's eyes widen and she hesitantly asks, "L-Lancer? But, but how?!"
Lancer laughs, and forces his arm to move and rip open what was left of his armor and jumpsuit. Over his heart was a circle of runes, glowing with power but fading gradually by the second; "Rune of Resurrection. It was supposed to be my trump card; but the bastard hit me harder than I thought he could. *cough* *cough* The rune's powerful, but not
that powerful; I'm not gonna live for much longer. But how about you, I saw that bastard kill you..."
You decide to pitch in right about now, "That was me; we found her near-death outside the church, I cast a few healing spells to stabilize her. Then I went to fight you."
When he hears this, he begins to chuckle. Then it escalates to outright laughter, but it was short-lived; cut off by a bout of coughing. "*cough* *hack* Damn...that's fucking
hilarious. Guess you're not much of a bastard after all, though you still piss me the fuck off. Fight was pretty fun though."
Again, he begins hacking; this time with blood spilling out of his mouth, "Damn, guess this is how it ends; at least I go out with a fight. Hey, jackass," he gestures to you, "Get over here."
You walk over and stand right next to him. He says, "Closer."
You kneel down. "Closer."
You move your head right next to his, and then he headbutts you right in the face; "Ahh, mother
fucker! Ah...shit; you hit me right in the nose.
Fuck, I think you broke it too."
He laughs, "Hahahahahaha; gotcha bitch! Anyways, do me a favor: keep an eye on Bazett for me. At least for this war; the son of a bitch who took her Command Seals is still alive, and he might want to finish the job. Or he might not give a damn; that fucking priest confuses the shit outta me."
You recover, and realign your nose. Then you tell him, "Alright, I can do that. She'll be safe with me; anything else?"
"No, not really; unless you'd be willing to hand me my spear over there...that'd be great..."
You cast a minor healing spell on your nose, "Yeah, not happening."
He shrugs, "Eh, had to ask." Then he breaks out in coughing again, with even more blood spewing out.
"Lancer..." Bazett mutters, tears coming out; now holding her dying Servan't head to her chest, "I'm sorry". Lancer, seeing his master crying; tries to calm her.
"Hey lass, don't be crying for me; like before, I died as I lived: fighting to the end. Even got one last lick at him too. And if anyone should be sorry, it should be me; I couldn't win you the grail, so you won't be able to get that wish of yours."
Bazett laughs bitterly at this, "My wish...it was for you to live; to avoid that tragic end of yours. The moment I heard your legend as a child, I fell in love; and when I heard the end, I wanted to save you from that tragedy."
The tears continues, and she sobs; "But...you never thought you death was tragic, did you? Even with all the mistakes in your life, you had no regrets to the very end. Heh, I guess I was too blind to see it..."
Lancer, after hearing the confession of his true Master, tells her; "Ah...what a pity, it seems even now I have such terrible luck with good women. Look, I made you cry. A man shouldn't make a woman cry, he should make her smile and laugh; beca-*hack*" Again Lancer enters a bout of coughing, his life nearly spent.
"...Because women are more beautiful when they're happy; their smiles radiant like the sun and their laughter the sound of angels." You finished for him. This was a simple truth that all men knew; especially one who knew his way around women, like you.
"Heh, yeah; that's right. Guess you really aren't half-bad after all," Lancer looks at you, "Take my armor; I crafted it specifically for beating you, and even swore a geas on it to make it even stronger. It was a simple one: to the victor goes the spoils. It's pretty beat up now, and it probably won't work as well; but it's something, right?"
"Yeah..." You pick up and remove the armor, "I'll put it to good use."
The Irish hero scoffs, "You damn well better. Now get on outta here, no reason to linger."
Bazett tries to argue with Lancer, "What? But Lancer-"
"No; I won't have a pretty lady mourn over my broken body. Leave Bazett. Please."
She hesitates, unwilling to leave her hero; her first love. Eventually though, she lets go and lays his head down; standing up with the help of Shirou. You join them and all head over to where Rider's standing; and the four of you begin to leave. Bazett looks back though, and says; "Goodbye, Lancer."
Lancer barely responds; only able to move his arm slightly to show that he heard her. With one last tear and sob, Bazett turns away; and you all begin to head away from the fallen hero of Ireland.
As you head away from the battlefield; you feel...edgy. As if something is...wrong. But what could possibly...?
Immediately, you hear something and your instincts go wild. You dive tackle everyone and yell at them; "Get down!"
The ground shakes, and you're all sent flying. Nobody nearby, so it was an attack from afar. Bombardment. Probably Archer. Before you can even respond; you see a red streak of light flying overhead, striking at where the attack came from. You note where it was, on the edge of the graveyard and away from the church. But what was that red li-
Lancer. He must've seen the attack, and with his last dying movements retaliated. You can barely imagine him forcing himself to leap at his spear and throw it with the last of this strength. But he did, and this time; he struck true.
You're injured and not at peak form, Rider used her Noble Phantasm and is probably low on Mana, and Shirou is stuck keeping Bazett from keeling over. On the other hand, Archer isn't a class meant for close combat and just took a spear to the face.
What do you do?
[X] Retreat, head back to base; you're in no condition to fight
[X] Head to where Archer is; you may be injured, but so is he now. It's an even fight, and you can probably win
[X] You shouldn't decide this alone, talk to:
- [X] Rider
- [X] Shirou
- [X] Bazett
- [X] Multipe people (Write-in)
[X] Write-in
