Chapter 217: The Last Rising Sun Part 7

His lab coat fluttered along with his movements. The cold gaze under those glasses seemed to point to something specific. He walked through the corridors of that place, at the same time, in the depths of this subway, technicians began to build the future for this planet.

That man, after a few seconds, stopped. In front of him, his laboratory, his sanctuary... He entered the place calmly while he prepared himself.

Behind him, some people were carrying a person on a stretcher. The person, strapped to the stretcher, was wearing the clothes of an inmate, who was squirming in fright at the look of the scientist who stepped aside so that the stretcher could pass through the door.

"What are you going to do to me!"

The man exclaimed, however, the scientist did not answer him. His disturbingly expressionless face gave the man chills as he entered the lab.

The people carrying him released him, but then forced him to lie down on a strange metal bed. He resisted, but as the scientist watched, the others did their job and managed to tie him to the bed.

Then the scientist introduced himself.

"I am Dr. Gusev. It's a pleasure to meet you."

Despite speaking so cordially, his face remained expressionless over that deeply vacant stare. This only unsettled the man even more.

"You are fortunate to have been chosen for this new experiment."

"Experiment...?"

"Indeed. I have discovered that the human body stores energy beyond our comprehension. Many call this energy by many names, but I simply prefer to call it Zero. Where life begins and ends, an absolute zero filled with inner values confusing to ordinary minds. But don't worry, it's not something that will cause you pain. At least not while you're conscious."

"You're crazy, let me go!"

"I'm afraid that's impossible. Your sentence has already been handed down by the judge. You have been sentenced to die. And that is to my advantage. Then I'll be able to obtain test subjects"

Alek held up a syringe with a green liquid and looked at the man.

"Get away from me, get me out of here!"

Even as that man screamed and begged for mercy, Alek injected the liquid into his neck. As he did this, the man's body stopped resisting and slowly began to close his eyes.

As the life left his body, the man watched as that scientist brought a large machine with different needles closer.

"Your gaze..."

It was the last thing he said, for at that moment, even though Alek's face was expressionless, he was looking at the scene with strange eyes. And that was something the man recognized perfectly.

'You are no different from us... assassin...'

-In the present-

Gilgamesh looked at Waver as he walked away from the scene. He recognized this subject's loyalty to his king, a king who died before his eyes.

This fellow considered Iskandar a being worthy of seeing his ultimate attack, Ea, the Sword that does not exist in this world. A Noble Phantasm so powerful, an ultimate weapon....

After Gilgamesh disappeared from the scene enveloped in the golden particles of mana, Waver fell to his knees as he wept disconsolately. In the end it was the King of Heroes who awakened the King of Conquest from that depressing dream.

"I couldn't do anything... I can't do anything..."

Waver did not know what to do. Iskandar made him promise to live to see the glory of his king. The promise binding him to live until the day their destinies meet again. That was his new goal.

Although he was sad, broken inside, Waver tried to get up, but suddenly, a pain in his left hand made him feel tired, which led him to fall to the ground again. Painfully he grabbed his left wrist and, looking at his hand, realized the truth.

He opened his eyes in disbelief at the dim light of three new Command Seals.

"How is it possible... Why?"

...

Somewhere someone seemed to be smiling, for on the other side of the bridge appeared a boy running at an overwhelming speed while carrying a little girl in his arms. Behind the stranger seemed to be a being with the same appearance.

Waver recognized that person.

"Asahi Toru..."

Hearing his name, Toru slowed down remaining a few meters in front of Waver, who at the same time could only be confused. He looked at his hand once more and realized how strangely convenient this all was.

"Waver Velvet... What are you doing here? Your Servant..."

Toru, though he hadn't realized it, sensed that there was something odd about all of this. Iskandar was nowhere to be seen. This boy was alone and with a face full of tears, which only gave him an answer to his previous question.

Looking at Sakura, looking at Waver, he turned his gaze back to the clone, who disappeared shrouded in a cloud of smoke, which consequently dropped Sakura's suitcase.

'You look very comfortable...'

With a faint smile under his hood, he thought this was just stupidity. According to the information he has thanks to Tokiomi and Kirei, Waver Velvet is an orphan studying at the prestigious Clock Tower. He has no known close or distant relatives, plus in and of itself he doesn't have enough money other than to keep himself alive.

'Is this the way I can protect this family?'

Separate Rin and Sakura. Take the girl away from her mother. No, that's stupid, but all factors are against him.

If Sakura stays in Japan, her legal guardians will show up to take her back to that shady house. However, what to do? That is the question. Right now there is no time, plus Sakura has no one to stay with.

"What do you want?"

Waver said, obviously annoyed. A while ago he was mourning the loss of Rider, but now this weird guy came to take a close look at him holding a girl in his arms.

'Is he hurt?'

Both the girl and Toru were covered in blood. This only made the scene a bit murky.

'What do I want? Interesting question. Let me answer with another question, what do the Magus want?"

"What?"

"Just as you heard."

He remembered the reason why Tokiomi gave his own daughter to another family. His question was based on that. Are all Magus the same or are there exceptions?

"... I..."

Waver clenched his fists tightly.

"...What do I know, I don't know, I don't know what the Magus want, I can't call myself a Magus after all I've been through!"

That answer pleased Toru. For instead of having his expressionless face, this time his face showed a look of determination, with which he nodded at the boy's answer.

"But you still want something, don't you? Tell me. Tell me your wish."

Waver didn't understand anything, but since Iskandar seemed to have a lot of respect for Toru, he decided to answer.

"Iskandar..."

"¿...?"

"I want to see Iskandar again..."

"I see..."

Toru understood. He's not like Tokiomi or Kirei. Being still very young, Waver could still attach himself to emotional ties, something that only one of the Magus Toru met seemed to have, but which at the same time led him to sink into his own mental illness.

In this world and in any other, in this life and in others, no one is perfect. No one can understand others. No one can be the best at something without someone coming along to surpass him, starting an endless cycle. This life is full of choices and infinite possibilities. That's why, this scene of Assassin looking at Waver on his knees, holding a girl who has suffered because of the Magus, marked a new path in this fate.

The scene that changed this story...

"You already know my name, but let me introduce myself again. My name is Asahi Toru, Toru is my name. Sometimes Westerners confuse an Asian's last name with his or his first name. It's a common thing, in fact. This little girl in my arms is called Tōsaka Sakura. She is a very important person to me."

Waver wiped away his tears.

"Then why are you telling me all this, why are you asking me all these weird questions?"

Toru kept silent and knelt down to look Waver in the eyes.

"I need you to do me a very difficult favor. In return, I will grant you a wish. That's the reason."

"Wait. You say that girl is from the Tōsaka family?"

"Yes. What I want you to do is to take this girl away from Fuyuki, away from this country."

A stupid decision, Toru knew, but he had a plan. That's why he offered a wish to Waver. One favor was repaid with another, that's how this worked. If there wasn't something Waver could get from doing this favor, it wouldn't be something reliable within reason.

"What, are you crazy?"

"Please... I promise I'll pay you back with whatever it is you're going to ask me for. I'll go get it myself later. Seriously, I need you to do this. I was wandering around the city looking for a way to save Sakura, but I didn't find anything. That's why I stopped when I saw you. I think with you there's a chance she can be saved."

Waver's mind went into conflict, but at that, he remembered that Rider mentioned that Toru is a hero who has lost his way, becoming someone unworthy of even being a Servant of the Berserker class.

'If you want to save this girl so badly... what can I do about it, what could I ask you to do in return?'

Thinking, he looked at the Command Seals again and then made a decision.

"Will you do anything?"

"If it will make Sakura live happily, I will do everything in my power."

"I see..."

Waver smiled. Even if Iskandar is gone, this king was still helping this boy through his memories. Toru's bravery and determination were worthy of Rider's respect. Then he had no reason to hesitate, for then this Assassin will also be part of the army, for that was one of the things Iskandar wanted.

He then stood up from the ground and held out his hand.

"Let us make a pact."

A pact that neither of us will break. Toru nodded in approval and approached Waver. He held Sakura with one arm and shook Waver's hand. In response, the boy calmly pushed Toru's hand away and felt hands similar to Iskandar's. With that, a serious expression on his face showed, as the pact began.

"At this moment, I, Waver Velvet, swear that I will keep my part of the pact. My blood shall be the bargaining chip, and my ideals my reward."

Toru ducked his head and looked at Sakura.

"I, Asahi Toru, last son of the Asahi clan, will follow the wish of the one before me and fulfill my part of the pact."

Waver's Command Seals began to glow. Toru squeezed Waver's hand a little upon seeing this, but the boy continued.

"I will protect this girl until you return with what I desire."

"I will return to you when your wish is fulfilled. That will be our pact."

And when they both finished swearing, one of the Command Seals disappeared. Despite this, Toru was not forced to do anything, something that also seemed strange to Waver, but with the short time they had, neither of them could make light of it.

"What will your wish be?"

Waver answered him earnestly, letting go of Toru's hand.

"In the name of Iskandar the Conqueror, defeat Archer and bring with you the Holy Grail."

"I understand. Then you will have to leave the city immediately. To defeat Archer I need to use my Noble Phantasm, however, after that I will run out of mana and begin to disappear. Request permission to use the wish provided by the Holy Grail and reincarnate. After that, I will help you in any way I can."

"I see..."

Assassin has already proven that he is capable of increasing his power quite a bit. Now he wouldn't be surprised if the Noble Phantasm of it was something super powerful. But Waver needed the grail to bring Iskandar back. However...

'This world is too small. There must be some way to do what I want without the Holy Grail.'

Therefore, using Toru's eyes, strength and magic will be a great help in the pursuit of his desire. Both parties win, there is no loss but there is a lot of risk. Still, taking a risk is what a king like Iskandar would do.

Waver nodded and replied:

"I allow it..."

Toru thanked this with a slight nod and handed Sakura over. He put the suitcase to Waver's side, and before leaving, he had to say a few last words.

"Inside the suitcase is a box with a dagger and a note. If Sakura wakes up, hand her the note."

"I understand..."

"Goodbye, Sakura. I'll be back... I will..."

Before he knew it, Assassin disappeared in front of his eyes. He stood waiting for a few seconds and then a tired sigh escaped him.

"I always seem to be getting myself into some pretty crazy situations..."

He saw the little girl in his arms and sighed again.

"And you... That guy must really love you if he wants you to be safe."

Still...

"Though I feel like I just did something stupid... My king, would you laugh at me after the pact I just made? Most likely yes."

He realized something too late.

"He said I have to leave the city right away?"

Asahi Toru's most powerful Noble Phanstasm is coming....

To be continued...