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Seeing this the teen continued, "I know how you feel, that you think that you failed her. The feeling of helplessness as you watched her die in front of you, and then the questions come, 'if only I had done something differently.'"
"But you did all you could, you protected Ilya right up until the very end, because that's who you are. You're a protector, something that not even the deepest, darkest madness could strip from you, and that remains true even to this day," comforted Issei to the unmoving giant.
"You might not believe me, you might think you are a failure as a protector and a hero, but if it wasn't for you then Asia would still be dead and me along with her. You saved us, you are a true Hero…even if you don't believe it yourself," he said with certainty, keeping his gaze locked onto Berserker's.
"So please…I know I'm asking a lot but…please help me protect others like you did. I don't want to feel that kind of pain again and nor do I want to wish it upon others," begged Issei as he lowered his hand, awaiting a response from the silent giant.
Eventually the teen sighed as he realized that he wouldn't be getting a response from the giant and began to walk to the exit, giving the hero another grateful smile as he did so. "I doubt Ilya would want you to feel this way, she cared for you just as much as you did for her, you were one of the few good things the Einzberns gave her. Be proud of that fact, you made a suffering girl happy and that's something more heroic then any Labors of the legends. I'll leave you alone now…goodbye Heracles and thank you for saving us," finished Issei.
The hulking giant didn't move a muscle as he watched Issei leave, not a single cry of rage or display of aggression, just a deep silence from the unmoving hero. Issei gave the giant one last encouraging smile before he headed back down the doorway to the main arena, leaving the silent hero alone in the silence. As the hero stared at the doorway it seemed that the mad light in his eyes had, for a brief moment…disappeared as a single tear rolled down his face.
"S'efcharistó fíle mou," whispered Heracles in the first bout of sanity he'd had in a long time before the mad light returned and once again the roars of rage echoed across the area, only this time there was no grief or pain to them.
Issei sighed as he walked home alone from another tiring day at school, Scáthach having left early, apparently the Celt had wanted to start training the nun so that she could defend herself, quoting 'if the Devils try anything she'll a liability' and that 'our faction needs to be strong.' The teen simply shook his head in exasperation, while Scáthach was a good teacher, if Cu Chulainn was anything to go by, he doubted they'd be seeing results from the training.
While the Celt might be able to teach Asia the skills to defend herself, she could never teach her the intent to go with it. Asia was just not suited for fighting, her mindset was simply too at odds with hurting others, let alone killing them.
"But that's not necessarily a bad thing, she truly does embody her Sacred Gear," laughed Issei, only to stop as he heard a female voice coming from the nearby by park.
[Partner, before your curiosity gets the better of you. I'd like to point out what has happened every time you've investigated things like this.]
'Come on, Ddraig. It's probably just a girl busking for money, she's quite skilled to, from the sounds of it. I seriously doubt anything bad can come from that, even with my luck,' replied Issei, causing the dragon to sigh.
[Alright partner but don't say that I didn't warn you.]
Ignoring the dragon, Issei walked over to the park and found it empty except for a single blonde girl wearing what looked like a witch's costume, as he got closer the teen could finally make out the words of her song.
Hush, child
The darkness will rise from the deep
And carry you down into sleep
Child, the darkness will rise from the deep
And carry you down into sleep.
The teen didn't notice the faint glow beginning to be emitted from the Saber card as he continued approaching the singing girl, whom was clearly too focused on her song to notice him. As she continued, Issei frowned as a strange feeling of familiarity filled him, the song's lyrics beginning to form in his mind long before the girl spoke them.
'I must have heard this song before,' thought the teen with a shrug as he sat down by a tree and continued listening.
Guileless son,
I'll shape your belief
And you'll always know that your father's a thief
And you won't understand the cause of your grief
But you'll always follow the voices beneath.
Suddenly images appeared in Issei's mind, a baby listening to her mother singing, a young child listening to a woman singing to her, a young masked knight humming this as she walked into a castle with both pride and excitement filling each step.
Guileless son,
Your spirit will hate her
The flower who married my brother the traitor
And you will expose his puppeteer behavior
For you are the proof of how he betrayed her loyalty.
The same masked knight was watching with a smile hidden behind her helm as a fellow knight was killing his former comrades as he rushed towards the woman about to be executed, desperation clear on his face. The masked knight then looked towards her king and her smile turned to an annoyed frown at the lack of emotion on 'his' beautiful face. Issei shook the images from his head and smiled as he began singing the next verse, causing the blonde girl immediately stop and spin to face him in surprise.
Guileless son,
Each day you grow older
Each moment I'm watching my vengeance unfold
For the child of my body, the flesh of my soul
Will die in returning the birthright he stole.
As Issei finished the song one last image appeared in his head, two fighters stood on a blood soaked battlefield, each wounded beyond measure. The king had pierced the masked knight's body with a spear and as the knight died her mask faded away to reveal an identical face beneath it. Suddenly the knight's body started moving on its own accord, the magic spells implanted in her body long ago finally activating. The knight's dead corpse quickly brought its sword into the king's surprised body, and so both 'father' and 'son' died together in the blood soaked burning field.
"Who are you? And how do you know that song?!" cried a female voice, snapping Issei out of his vision.
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🚨 Want to read more?
The next 10+ chapters are already available on my Patreon!
By joining, you'll get:
📖 Early access to future chapters
🗳️ Polls to shape the story
🎁 Exclusive content for Patrons
Don't fall behind—others are already ahead! 👀
👉 Patreon.com/c/FanfictionTakashi
( please search this link on Google Chrome)