[ The Holy Grail War ends not quietly, but without fanfare. Nobody applauds for them when the curtain finally falls. Nobody blesses them - the only ovation they receive is the words of love the final Master spits at her like curses.
"I still love you. All of this was always for your sake. Nobody else understands you. Nobody ever will. Nobody-"
With his Servant dead, there's no need to kill the Master to proclaim herself victor. But if she has to listen to another moment of that prattling, Ai thinks she might die herself. It's surprisingly easy this time around - no dramatic swell of tragic strings, no terror, no fear. It's just the ugly, undignified end of a human life and Ai knows how far down the path she is to not being one of those any longer.
Still. She can't stop herself from gently passing a hand over his face to close his eyes for him. She doesn't need him anymore, but all girls are sentimental about their first loves, she thinks. And it's funny - when she'd first become a Master, she'd been reminded of Hikaru Kamiki at every turn by the Servant who'd come for her but now all she can think is how utterly he fails to live up to the real thing. ]
... I thought... I'd be sad. Or that I might regret it. But... I think I'm just relieved it's finally over.
[ The words come out of her halting and slow as she gradually rises to her feet and turns her back on the corpse. She's aware that her clothes are wet and sticky and hot and feels a mild trill of annoyance that she's such a mess at a moment like this. But all the same, once her eyes settle on Oberon, her expression softens. The smile she gives him is repulsively gentle for a girl who was just kneeling in a scorned man's blood. ]
[ the war ends not with a bang, but a whimper. a saber that expects a fair fight to the very end, and a petulant child unwilling to believe that his perfect, idealized doll is worn as ragged as she is. how did they ever last this long...?
(oberon knows, of course. that terrible little lie humans call love. what a joke. nobody of note has ever loved ai hoshino for even a moment of her miserable life.) ]
Of course not, Master. The only real danger was when you went off-script at the end. [ he frowns, gentle and disapproving. ] But I suppose that's just how humans are, isn't it? So desperate for a story's closure.
[ his wings flutter - a butterfly's glass, a moth's scales, a dragonfly's buzz. dust dislodges, slowly floats down, drifts lazily around ai.
a midsummer night's anaesthesia. not a true sleep. just enough to let her drift away, for the moment. after all, what good is stabbingherintheback if she can't even see hisbetrayal? ]
Well, it is what it is. [ a small bow - a grandiose sweep of his cape. ] Restwell,AiHoshino. And... Mayyourwretchednamebeforgottentotime.
[ he smiles down at her as she sinks down, eyes twinkling with mockery and scorn and a hundred other feelings.
and then, with as calm a walk as ever, he walks over the corpse at her side to take the grail in hand. ]
[ Her smile turns apologetic and she laughs. Laughs. ]
Sorry. I didn't mean to make such a mess. ... I just couldn't stand to hear him talk any longer.
[ Insulting her would be one thing, after all. She's more than earned Hikaru Kamiki's scorn a thousand times over. But insisting to the end that he's her one and only, spitting on the bond she's clawed out of the Throne herself?
It's repulsive. ]
But still. [ With a bloodied hand, she takes her skirt and in imitation of him - curtsies politely. A performer at her curtain call. ] I hope it was an entertaining performance.
[ Those are her final words before she slips easily, gratefully into the dream she's been granted. There's still no fear - just the buzz of anticipation, butterflies in her stomach and her chest. The most difficult part is over now, isn't it? Even an encore is never as gruelling as the main performance.
And anyway. She trusts the lead actor at her side with her life and more besides that. ]
[ an entertaining performance? absolutely not. but... it was at least adequate, he'll give her that much. she's played her part as well as any human could possibly do it.
now, all that's left is to play his. to make his wish come true. to wipe the stage clean of those last stains of humanity.
with the grail in hand, full almost to overflowing - and yet not quite complete, still waiting on one last tainted drop - he turns towards her, smiles wide. ]
Ah, I've just had a wonderful thought! A perfectly fitting end to this sordid little tale. [ he speaks to her as if he didn't just drug her - as if she's capable of truly feeling the fear that should be running through her veins. (that would be, even like this, if she had a lick of sense.) ] What if I really did erase you from Proper Human History? An idol, beloved by all, so greedy as to wish for more... forgotten by every last human on this wretched planet.
[ it doesn't matter whether it's the truth. it doesn't matter that she won't fear a word out of his mouth. he's rehearsed each line a hundred times over, prepared since the moment she first saw his pathetic, wretched form hunched against her. he crouches down, reaches out. those beautiful, elfin fingers stroke at her cheek. ]
Wouldn't that be a perfect, tragic end for such a gullible Master?
[ It's late out - she hadn't realised how dark it was when everything came to an end but now, staring up at the sky, she thinks - what a shame that the night sky in Tokyo is too polluted by the city's dirty lights for her to see any stars. It'd be a fitting bit of set design.
Her eyes drift back to his face and still, she's smiling. Her expression is soft and dreamy but her eyes are sharp and focused - she doesn't want to forget a moment of this. She'd fought and clawed and wrung herself dry for this ending. She won't forget a second of it, no matter how wretched our pitiful. ]
It would, wouldn't it? [ A laugh bubbles out of her. ] I don't even get the satisfaction of thinking anyone would mourn me. They'd all just move on like nothing ever happened. Maybe then they'd finally leave me alone.
[ She reaches up towards his face. His eyes really are so lovely, aren't they? Her fingers are too clumsy for her to do much more than brush his bangs back from his forehead and touch her thumb to his lips but her smile grows warmer, fonder as she does. ]
Why don't you give us both what we want, then? Now the Grail's ours. Grantmywish.
[ his mask is perfect. every word past his lips is a lie. no action, no breath, no hint of a thought can ever be true coming from him.
so if he freezes, for just a moment- if his perfect demeanor cracks, as he reads the words that tumble like honey from her lips-
it's just the audience overreading, as usual. ]
It's not your wish. [ a heavy sigh. ] But... Fine. If you're really in that much of a rush.
[ he reaches up, grabs at her hand to pull it aside - and if his touch lingers, squeezes a bit, it's just the delusions of a human who dreamed for something more. because as soon as he lets go-
he rests the grail against her chest- ]
Sorry if this stings, Master~
[ -and pushes it inside her.
there is no physical aspect of the act, of course. the grail is a conceptual container, a physical object insofar as it must contain the concept of making the physical. it is a mage's closest approximation to magic, the truest of sorts, and a gate for any discerning magi to reach akasha. but there are no magi here; just a traitorous servant and an idiot master who could hardly summon a familiar. his hand sinks into her chest without more than a token resistance; even with those long, gentle fingers inside her, it is cold claws that wrap tight around her very core.
and with those horrid, destructive claws, he begins to stitch. tiny, painstaking motions, guided by the grace of the grail without letting a single drop spill. upon her heart, he writes his own essence; in each magic circuit, he leaves his royal seal as king. upon his own origin, he hoards her smile, devours her laugh, clings to her eyes looking up at him. a woman in white looks down at him, somewhere vaguely in his mind's eye; he doesn't bother to speak for a moment, engrossed in his work. it hasn't as if he has to. his wish-
sound, music! come, my queen, take hands with me...
-her wish, ai hoshino's last living words-
make me your wife.
are all too clear to fuyuki's holy grail. ]
There. [ her soul, irrevocably bound to his. a spirit liner of a myth, encircling and burning through what reserves lie in her body. a cruel, inevitably destructive act to such a frail, human body. she'll die within the day like this. ] Grail, do you hear me? Enough of this miserable play. Grant me my heart's desire! May I finally find my beloved-
[ the light begins to shine, pure and true. the fifth magic, or whatever miserable piece has been enacted through rituals of mages and myths, begins- ]
-and may Ai Hoshino's miserable name be remembered nevermore!
[ Her first thought, unrelenting in its clarity is It hurts. His hand is cradling her heart, claws digging through her insides, up to his elbows in fat, muscle and viscera and everything else inside of her that's ugly. The worn out seams that are her magic circuits are stretched taut and aching with his presence. A doll, filled up to bursting with foreign stuffing. Ah, but... no. The sensation she feels isn't quite pain. He wouldn't hurt her, wouldn't let this moment be sullied in her memories by something as vulgar as pain. But it's raw and visceral and all-encompassing, like every inch of her skin is being scraped raw, an intensity that borders on the verge of agony.
For the first time, her composure cracks. She'd been so determined to remain calm and at ease but a choked cry escapes from her lips before she can stop it. Tears sting her eyes, spill down her cheeks, her hand comes up, fingers scrabbling uselessly until her hand finds his wrist. ]
Oberon - [ Her voice comes out strained and trembling and frightened and she hates the sound of it. Her next breath catches in her throat, the next words she means to speak struck through by a pained noise. ] Oberon, it's -
[ It's too much. It's a violation beyond anything a human body should be able to endure. It's the weight of a world, a universe, a history, an entire concept pressing down on her shoulders. This is a miracle, this is a wish granted, this is a gift from the Grail itself - but she's human, a miserable, dirty, imperfect human and her body was never meant to bear the weight of a Queen's myth. She can feel the life being crushed out of her, like an insect crushed beneath a boot.
This was what she'd asked for. Her wish. She's certain the Grail will grant it, because when she and Oberon tell a lie in tandem like this, even the Throne and the Grail have no choice but to accept it as truth. If her miserable human life is the price she pays, that's fine by her. But in these last fleeting moments where the miserable human is still fighting the magic, she's- ]
I'm scared. [ She blurts the admission out like an apology, tears still streaking down her cheeks. She wants this. This is always what she'd wished for. But she's still so wretchedly, pathetically human until the end. ] Pl-please- help.
[ he doesn't reach down, doesn't grasp that terrified hand in his own. his work is vital. a king's call cannot be interrupted by mere human need - and just for this moment, he is oberon, the fairy king, a worm that has crawled into the throne of heroes.
he is connected. he can feel the throne spill over from the grail, a beautiful and perfect circuit down and into ai hoshino's heart. the fifth magic's approximation lies at his fingertips, imperfect yet whole, a pretender in its own right. and to that pretender his spirit origin cries: look, we are reunited! the fairy king and his queen have returned! remember this name, o throne:
oberon, or vortigern- titania, or ai-
are two great legends who existed within this history! ]
Ah, enough whinging already! [ harsh. cold. a single moment of the wyrm underneath thrashing at its restraints, begging to devour his beloved. ] Die alone and forgotten, Hoshino.
[ he leans in. he kisses at her cheek, one final act of betrayal. the wyrm's claws crush down, eradicate that feeble human heart-
thump. thump. thump.
-and a new heart beats in its place. part spirit, part fae - not a single bit of humanity remaining. blood continues to circle in those feeble veins, and with it magic fills every last bit of those pathetic circuits - erodes them forward, out, filling deeper and deeper channels than any human could possibly hold.
good thing his wife was never human, then. she can bear it. she can hold out. he kisses at her lips, spits out- ]
Pleasetellmethatbitchisgone.
[ -and the words tumble from his lips, spoken into visual reality. plain and present, there for ai to see. ]
[ Golden light, hot and pure and dazzling, spills over and through her. She understands intensely and with that same frightening clarity - oh. This truly is real magic. Everything before this has merely been cheap, shoddy imitations, and the fact that a human as pathetic and worthless and small and insignificant as Ai Hoshino is now allowed to feel it is nothing short of an incredible honour. It's so bright, searing away every ugly, dirty part of her, washing her clean of the filth of the human world that's stained every inch of her for as long as she could remember. In the midst of that blazing, all-consuming light, she can feel the fear being stripped away and the panic and the desperation and every last ugly, miserable little human folly.
It doesn't hurt. That terrifying intensity, her sureness that her body would break beneath the strain isn't gone but there's something else - there's something warm, something golden. A shaft of blinding midsummer sun. A star, brilliant and blinding, illuminating an ink black night. It threatens to wink from her vision but before it can vanish, she reaches out and closes her fingers around it, pulling it into her chest even as it sets her skin ablaze. No. You're mine now.
It burns. The only thing she feels at all is the horrible cold of his claws wrapped around her heart. But then even that ruptures, her flesh giving way and a single pulse of golden blood flowing out from the gaping wound, the only proof left behind. Her fingers curl tighter, a silent and instinctive refusal to let go, and she's- ]
Ah...
[ It's destiny, after all. Ai Hoshino's story ends at age twenty, no matter what strand of Human History she flees to. Her heart has ceased - she's nowhere, she thinks of nothing. That girl will never smile again. ]
The light doesn't fade from her sight. Her vision remains dazzled but her center of gravity has shifted. His hands, his lips, his voice - Her love. Her King. Oberon's words ring in her ears, a clarion call, a command and a promise all in one.
Finally, her eyes flutter open. They're startling to see - captivating and dark. The abyssal gaze of a Faerie Queen. She doesn't respond immediately. A beat. A second. Then her expression softens, a warm smile blooming across her face. Her lips part. ]
Oberon.
[ Ah. She can see him so clearly like this. A Fairy King in all his glory. A wretched wrym, writhing and coiling and hungry. Does she look even half as lovely to him like that now? She hopes so.
She reaches out to touch his face. Her hand is gentle, tender, reverent and her voice even more so. ]
[ the grail tumbles from his fingertips - empty and worthless now, just a worthless hunk of metal that'll dissolve in moments. those fingers rest against his cheek - cool like a recent corpse, warm like the summer kingdom, familiar after weeks of tangled bodies and entirely new all the same.
she's here. she's finally, finally here. ]
T...Titania. [ he reaches up, fumbles at her hand, takes it into his own. the hand that was once in her chest cradles her close, every muscle in his body trying to pull her flush against him. ] Myqueen.You'rehere.You'refinally,finallyhere.
It used to frighten her, sometimes, when she met his gaze. She didn't understand what it was, but it felt like he was gouging her open, digging through layers of filth to see what she was keeping hidden. If she has the eyes of someone who deceives people then his are the eyes of someone who sees them entirely too clearly.
But now she sees it, too. She can hear his words but - there's something else, too. She sees them, understands them to be true even as she doesn't understand how it could possibly be the case, but if it's true, if those beautiful words really are real, then...
Her eyes sting. Tears, again, find their way down her cheeks but this time the air is hot and heady and sweet and the laughter that bubbles from her lips is high and breathless. ]
Yes. I can see you. Properly, after all this time, Oberon -
[ Her head is spinning. She feels like she's drunk, dazed and a little bit lightheaded like the aftermath of an evening of midsummer merrymaking. She throws her arms around his neck, her head pressed to his shoulder, breathing in the scent of him. ]
I love you.
[ The words come out like a sob. Her tears are still flowing but she laughs again, giddy and disbelieving. ]
I love you - tell me again? Say it so I can see it one more time, please- I love you.
[ she laughs. she says those words - i can see you - and looking in her eyes, he knows she's speaking true. of course she has the eyes of a faerie. what other choice would there be, for his wife?
he clings even tighter, digs his fingers in as if he had claws to latch on with, breathes in his queen's scent and sound and beautiful, wonderful laughter. and hesitantly, slowly at first, he spits out- ]
Ihateyou.
[ but there's no sense in listening to the drivel he speaks now, is there? not when every last word is spelled out for her, so pristine and beautiful. so he says unimaginable, worthless things, curses against her name, and the whole while she sees the truth- ]
I love you. I love you, Master- Ai-, no, Titania. My wife. My queen. I've been waiting all this time, and now-
[ his voice trembles. his breath quavers. ]
You're here with me. And- and I'll say it as many times as you need, you little minx. I love you. I love you. I love you. Humanity, fairies, mages - they can rot, or they can thrive, and not a bit of it matters. You're here. I love you.
[ Confessions of love are the things an idol hears more than anything. Eventually, they become white noise - really, that's all they were in the first place. The words are meaningless, the feelings behind them worth even less.
But this is different. It's real. It's true. The words neither of them have ever been able to say, bitter curses spat out and softening into the loveliest words of love she's ever heard in her life. ]
I was waiting too. My whole life, all I wanted was for someone to know what I really am and say that anyway. Even though I'm dirty and hopeless and all the rest - I just wanted someone to love me anyway. I thought I needed a wish for it, but- but you were the one. Before we ever had the Grail.
[ Her laughter and tears come out in tandem, hiccuping sobs that shake her whole body as she clings to him. ]
Stay with me forever. That's all I want. You're all I want.
[ With those words, she pulls back - just enough so she can look him in the face and see him again, properly, with these eyes of hers. Oberon, Vortigern, Faerie King and wrym - she looks at him and smiles, radiant and warm. She wants to see him, properly, when she calls him what he really is. ]
I love you. More than anything. All this time, you were the one I was waiting to love. My darling husband.
[ She's a newly wedded bride, isn't she? So it's only natural that she seals those words with a kiss. ]
[ she sobs, and she kisses him, and for a moment he just freezes against her lips. when he pulls away, words tumble from his lips, filling the space with excuses, the dashing sounds of a king looking after his crying queen, and all that is truly said is- ]
I'm- scared. [ he doesn't want to say it. he can't say it. and yet, the truth is as visible as day, just as inescapable as the lies of the fairy king. he can no more lie to his wife than he can stop loving her, after all. ] I'm terrified, Titania. You're here with me, now, and I love you, and I have no idea what to do. What if I fail you? What if you leave me? Happiness is here, for the first time, and I don't know what to do with it.
[ he reaches up, pulls a stray lock of her hair into place. his words don't matter. all that matters is the truth, now. ]
What do you want me to do? Name anything, and I'll do it. My beloved, my master, my queen.
[ Something warm bubbles up her throat - equal parts fond and protective and maybe just a little mischievous. It's truer than anything he's ever told her and as much as it makes her heart ache to suddenly see him so frightened, there's another part of her just as eager to reassure him. She's been keeping so many shameful words tucked away in her heart for all this time and now she doesn't have any choice but to let them pour out of her. ]
You're silly. [ Her voice is low and sweet - her tears give it a raspy edge that make it even warmer than it already was. ] Where would I even go without you? Here, see...?
[ She catches his wrist and slowly drags his hand down until his palm cradles the side of her throat. Under his touch, her pulse beats steady and true. ]
It's kind of a corny line, but... technically, my heart really is yours, isn't it?
[ Her chin dips down and she lifts his hand just enough to press a kiss to his palm. He'd been so careful with her heart that of course she'll do the same in return. ]
So... will you take me home? [ Her tone takes just the slightest turn for bossy, a playful imitation of a queen who expects her every word to be obeyed. ] This is a horrible place to spend a wedding night, you know.
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no subject
"I still love you. All of this was always for your sake. Nobody else understands you. Nobody ever will. Nobody-"
With his Servant dead, there's no need to kill the Master to proclaim herself victor. But if she has to listen to another moment of that prattling, Ai thinks she might die herself. It's surprisingly easy this time around - no dramatic swell of tragic strings, no terror, no fear. It's just the ugly, undignified end of a human life and Ai knows how far down the path she is to not being one of those any longer.
Still. She can't stop herself from gently passing a hand over his face to close his eyes for him. She doesn't need him anymore, but all girls are sentimental about their first loves, she thinks. And it's funny - when she'd first become a Master, she'd been reminded of Hikaru Kamiki at every turn by the Servant who'd come for her but now all she can think is how utterly he fails to live up to the real thing. ]
... I thought... I'd be sad. Or that I might regret it. But... I think I'm just relieved it's finally over.
[ The words come out of her halting and slow as she gradually rises to her feet and turns her back on the corpse. She's aware that her clothes are wet and sticky and hot and feels a mild trill of annoyance that she's such a mess at a moment like this. But all the same, once her eyes settle on Oberon, her expression softens. The smile she gives him is repulsively gentle for a girl who was just kneeling in a scorned man's blood. ]
You're not hurt?
no subject
(oberon knows, of course. that terrible little lie humans call love. what a joke. nobody of note has ever loved ai hoshino for even a moment of her miserable life.) ]
Of course not, Master. The only real danger was when you went off-script at the end. [ he frowns, gentle and disapproving. ] But I suppose that's just how humans are, isn't it? So desperate for a story's closure.
[ his wings flutter - a butterfly's glass, a moth's scales, a dragonfly's buzz. dust dislodges, slowly floats down, drifts lazily around ai.
a midsummer night's anaesthesia. not a true sleep. just enough to let her drift away, for the moment. after all, what good is stabbing her in the back if she can't even see his betrayal? ]
Well, it is what it is. [ a small bow - a grandiose sweep of his cape. ] Rest well, Ai Hoshino. And... May your wretched name be forgotten to time.
[ he smiles down at her as she sinks down, eyes twinkling with mockery and scorn and a hundred other feelings.
and then, with as calm a walk as ever, he walks over the corpse at her side to take the grail in hand. ]
no subject
Sorry. I didn't mean to make such a mess. ... I just couldn't stand to hear him talk any longer.
[ Insulting her would be one thing, after all. She's more than earned Hikaru Kamiki's scorn a thousand times over. But insisting to the end that he's her one and only, spitting on the bond she's clawed out of the Throne herself?
It's repulsive. ]
But still. [ With a bloodied hand, she takes her skirt and in imitation of him - curtsies politely. A performer at her curtain call. ] I hope it was an entertaining performance.
[ Those are her final words before she slips easily, gratefully into the dream she's been granted. There's still no fear - just the buzz of anticipation, butterflies in her stomach and her chest. The most difficult part is over now, isn't it? Even an encore is never as gruelling as the main performance.
And anyway. She trusts the lead actor at her side with her life and more besides that. ]
no subject
now, all that's left is to play his. to make his wish come true. to wipe the stage clean of those last stains of humanity.
with the grail in hand, full almost to overflowing - and yet not quite complete, still waiting on one last tainted drop - he turns towards her, smiles wide. ]
Ah, I've just had a wonderful thought! A perfectly fitting end to this sordid little tale. [ he speaks to her as if he didn't just drug her - as if she's capable of truly feeling the fear that should be running through her veins. (that would be, even like this, if she had a lick of sense.) ] What if I really did erase you from Proper Human History? An idol, beloved by all, so greedy as to wish for more... forgotten by every last human on this wretched planet.
[ it doesn't matter whether it's the truth. it doesn't matter that she won't fear a word out of his mouth. he's rehearsed each line a hundred times over, prepared since the moment she first saw his pathetic, wretched form hunched against her. he crouches down, reaches out. those beautiful, elfin fingers stroke at her cheek. ]
Wouldn't that be a perfect, tragic end for such a gullible Master?
no subject
Her eyes drift back to his face and still, she's smiling. Her expression is soft and dreamy but her eyes are sharp and focused - she doesn't want to forget a moment of this. She'd fought and clawed and wrung herself dry for this ending. She won't forget a second of it, no matter how wretched our pitiful. ]
It would, wouldn't it? [ A laugh bubbles out of her. ] I don't even get the satisfaction of thinking anyone would mourn me. They'd all just move on like nothing ever happened. Maybe then they'd finally leave me alone.
[ She reaches up towards his face. His eyes really are so lovely, aren't they? Her fingers are too clumsy for her to do much more than brush his bangs back from his forehead and touch her thumb to his lips but her smile grows warmer, fonder as she does. ]
Why don't you give us both what we want, then? Now the Grail's ours. Grant my wish.
no subject
so if he freezes, for just a moment-
if his perfect demeanor cracks, as he reads the words that tumble like honey from her lips-
it's just the audience overreading, as usual. ]
It's not your wish. [ a heavy sigh. ] But... Fine. If you're really in that much of a rush.
[ he reaches up, grabs at her hand to pull it aside - and if his touch lingers, squeezes a bit, it's just the delusions of a human who dreamed for something more. because as soon as he lets go-
he rests the grail against her chest- ]
Sorry if this stings, Master~
[ -and pushes it inside her.
there is no physical aspect of the act, of course. the grail is a conceptual container, a physical object insofar as it must contain the concept of making the physical. it is a mage's closest approximation to magic, the truest of sorts, and a gate for any discerning magi to reach akasha. but there are no magi here; just a traitorous servant and an idiot master who could hardly summon a familiar. his hand sinks into her chest without more than a token resistance; even with those long, gentle fingers inside her, it is cold claws that wrap tight around her very core.
and with those horrid, destructive claws, he begins to stitch. tiny, painstaking motions, guided by the grace of the grail without letting a single drop spill. upon her heart, he writes his own essence; in each magic circuit, he leaves his royal seal as king. upon his own origin, he hoards her smile, devours her laugh, clings to her eyes looking up at him. a woman in white looks down at him, somewhere vaguely in his mind's eye; he doesn't bother to speak for a moment, engrossed in his work. it hasn't as if he has to. his wish-
-her wish, ai hoshino's last living words-
are all too clear to fuyuki's holy grail. ]
There. [ her soul, irrevocably bound to his. a spirit liner of a myth, encircling and burning through what reserves lie in her body. a cruel, inevitably destructive act to such a frail, human body. she'll die within the day like this. ] Grail, do you hear me? Enough of this miserable play. Grant me my heart's desire! May I finally find my beloved-
[ the light begins to shine, pure and true. the fifth magic, or whatever miserable piece has been enacted through rituals of mages and myths, begins- ]
-and may Ai Hoshino's miserable name be remembered nevermore!
[ -and reality rewrites itself. ]
no subject
For the first time, her composure cracks. She'd been so determined to remain calm and at ease but a choked cry escapes from her lips before she can stop it. Tears sting her eyes, spill down her cheeks, her hand comes up, fingers scrabbling uselessly until her hand finds his wrist. ]
Oberon - [ Her voice comes out strained and trembling and frightened and she hates the sound of it. Her next breath catches in her throat, the next words she means to speak struck through by a pained noise. ] Oberon, it's -
[ It's too much. It's a violation beyond anything a human body should be able to endure. It's the weight of a world, a universe, a history, an entire concept pressing down on her shoulders. This is a miracle, this is a wish granted, this is a gift from the Grail itself - but she's human, a miserable, dirty, imperfect human and her body was never meant to bear the weight of a Queen's myth. She can feel the life being crushed out of her, like an insect crushed beneath a boot.
This was what she'd asked for. Her wish. She's certain the Grail will grant it, because when she and Oberon tell a lie in tandem like this, even the Throne and the Grail have no choice but to accept it as truth. If her miserable human life is the price she pays, that's fine by her. But in these last fleeting moments where the miserable human is still fighting the magic, she's- ]
I'm scared. [ She blurts the admission out like an apology, tears still streaking down her cheeks. She wants this. This is always what she'd wished for. But she's still so wretchedly, pathetically human until the end. ] Pl-please- help.
no subject
he is connected. he can feel the throne spill over from the grail, a beautiful and perfect circuit down and into ai hoshino's heart. the fifth magic's approximation lies at his fingertips, imperfect yet whole, a pretender in its own right. and to that pretender his spirit origin cries: look, we are reunited! the fairy king and his queen have returned! remember this name, o throne:
oberon, or vortigern-
titania, or ai-
are two great legends who existed within this history! ]
Ah, enough whinging already! [ harsh. cold. a single moment of the wyrm underneath thrashing at its restraints, begging to devour his beloved. ] Die alone and forgotten, Hoshino.
[ he leans in. he kisses at her cheek, one final act of betrayal. the wyrm's claws crush down, eradicate that feeble human heart-
thump. thump. thump.
-and a new heart beats in its place. part spirit, part fae - not a single bit of humanity remaining. blood continues to circle in those feeble veins, and with it magic fills every last bit of those pathetic circuits - erodes them forward, out, filling deeper and deeper channels than any human could possibly hold.
good thing his wife was never human, then. she can bear it. she can hold out. he kisses at her lips, spits out- ]
Please tell me that bitch is gone.
[ -and the words tumble from his lips, spoken into visual reality. plain and present, there for ai to see. ]
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It doesn't hurt. That terrifying intensity, her sureness that her body would break beneath the strain isn't gone but there's something else - there's something warm, something golden. A shaft of blinding midsummer sun. A star, brilliant and blinding, illuminating an ink black night. It threatens to wink from her vision but before it can vanish, she reaches out and closes her fingers around it, pulling it into her chest even as it sets her skin ablaze. No. You're mine now.
It burns. The only thing she feels at all is the horrible cold of his claws wrapped around her heart. But then even that ruptures, her flesh giving way and a single pulse of golden blood flowing out from the gaping wound, the only proof left behind. Her fingers curl tighter, a silent and instinctive refusal to let go, and she's- ]
Ah...
[ It's destiny, after all. Ai Hoshino's story ends at age twenty, no matter what strand of Human History she flees to. Her heart has ceased - she's nowhere, she thinks of nothing. That girl will never smile again. ]
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The light doesn't fade from her sight. Her vision remains dazzled but her center of gravity has shifted. His hands, his lips, his voice - Her love. Her King. Oberon's words ring in her ears, a clarion call, a command and a promise all in one.
Finally, her eyes flutter open. They're startling to see - captivating and dark. The abyssal gaze of a Faerie Queen. She doesn't respond immediately. A beat. A second. Then her expression softens, a warm smile blooming across her face. Her lips part. ]
Oberon.
[ Ah. She can see him so clearly like this. A Fairy King in all his glory. A wretched wrym, writhing and coiling and hungry. Does she look even half as lovely to him like that now? She hopes so.
She reaches out to touch his face. Her hand is gentle, tender, reverent and her voice even more so. ]
I'm here. ... I'm sorry I made you wait.
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she's here. she's finally, finally here. ]
T... Titania. [ he reaches up, fumbles at her hand, takes it into his own. the hand that was once in her chest cradles her close, every muscle in his body trying to pull her flush against him. ] My queen. You're here. You're finally, finally here.
[ his shoulders shake. he clings even closer. ]
Do you have any idea how much I've missed you?
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It used to frighten her, sometimes, when she met his gaze. She didn't understand what it was, but it felt like he was gouging her open, digging through layers of filth to see what she was keeping hidden. If she has the eyes of someone who deceives people then his are the eyes of someone who sees them entirely too clearly.
But now she sees it, too. She can hear his words but - there's something else, too. She sees them, understands them to be true even as she doesn't understand how it could possibly be the case, but if it's true, if those beautiful words really are real, then...
Her eyes sting. Tears, again, find their way down her cheeks but this time the air is hot and heady and sweet and the laughter that bubbles from her lips is high and breathless. ]
Yes. I can see you. Properly, after all this time, Oberon -
[ Her head is spinning. She feels like she's drunk, dazed and a little bit lightheaded like the aftermath of an evening of midsummer merrymaking. She throws her arms around his neck, her head pressed to his shoulder, breathing in the scent of him. ]
I love you.
[ The words come out like a sob. Her tears are still flowing but she laughs again, giddy and disbelieving. ]
I love you - tell me again? Say it so I can see it one more time, please- I love you.
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he clings even tighter, digs his fingers in as if he had claws to latch on with, breathes in his queen's scent and sound and beautiful, wonderful laughter. and hesitantly, slowly at first, he spits out- ]
I hate you.
[ but there's no sense in listening to the drivel he speaks now, is there? not when every last word is spelled out for her, so pristine and beautiful. so he says unimaginable, worthless things, curses against her name, and the whole while she sees the truth- ]
I love you. I love you, Master- Ai-, no, Titania. My wife. My queen. I've been waiting all this time, and now-
[ his voice trembles. his breath quavers. ]
You're here with me. And- and I'll say it as many times as you need, you little minx. I love you. I love you. I love you. Humanity, fairies, mages - they can rot, or they can thrive, and not a bit of it matters. You're here. I love you.
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But this is different. It's real. It's true. The words neither of them have ever been able to say, bitter curses spat out and softening into the loveliest words of love she's ever heard in her life. ]
I was waiting too. My whole life, all I wanted was for someone to know what I really am and say that anyway. Even though I'm dirty and hopeless and all the rest - I just wanted someone to love me anyway. I thought I needed a wish for it, but- but you were the one. Before we ever had the Grail.
[ Her laughter and tears come out in tandem, hiccuping sobs that shake her whole body as she clings to him. ]
Stay with me forever. That's all I want. You're all I want.
[ With those words, she pulls back - just enough so she can look him in the face and see him again, properly, with these eyes of hers. Oberon, Vortigern, Faerie King and wrym - she looks at him and smiles, radiant and warm. She wants to see him, properly, when she calls him what he really is. ]
I love you. More than anything. All this time, you were the one I was waiting to love. My darling husband.
[ She's a newly wedded bride, isn't she? So it's only natural that she seals those words with a kiss. ]
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I'm- scared. [ he doesn't want to say it. he can't say it. and yet, the truth is as visible as day, just as inescapable as the lies of the fairy king. he can no more lie to his wife than he can stop loving her, after all. ] I'm terrified, Titania. You're here with me, now, and I love you, and I have no idea what to do. What if I fail you? What if you leave me? Happiness is here, for the first time, and I don't know what to do with it.
[ he reaches up, pulls a stray lock of her hair into place. his words don't matter. all that matters is the truth, now. ]
What do you want me to do? Name anything, and I'll do it. My beloved, my master, my queen.
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You're silly. [ Her voice is low and sweet - her tears give it a raspy edge that make it even warmer than it already was. ] Where would I even go without you? Here, see...?
[ She catches his wrist and slowly drags his hand down until his palm cradles the side of her throat. Under his touch, her pulse beats steady and true. ]
It's kind of a corny line, but... technically, my heart really is yours, isn't it?
[ Her chin dips down and she lifts his hand just enough to press a kiss to his palm. He'd been so careful with her heart that of course she'll do the same in return. ]
So... will you take me home? [ Her tone takes just the slightest turn for bossy, a playful imitation of a queen who expects her every word to be obeyed. ] This is a horrible place to spend a wedding night, you know.