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The sun was setting on Pseudo-Tokyo, and the date that Jeanne Alter had less-than-subtly suggested that they go on was coming to an end. As they left the mall, the ephemeral, white-haired beauty stopped ahead of him, and asked a simple question.
“Hey. You remember Shinjuku?”
It took him no time at all to realize what she was suggesting… and what it meant. The other Avengers who had fought by their side in this strange singularity, Antonio Salieri and Taira-no-Kagekiyo, had already left with nothing more than a letter, citing “extenuating circumstances” and vanishing. Extenuating circumstances that Jeanne had already made it clear she knew about, and could not talk about.
“Yeah. Asking for a dance?” Ritsuka preempted before she could bring it up herself.
“W-well, yeah.” She shied away for a moment when he shoved the incoming pretense aside.
“Of course.”
“...Thanks.”
Disregarding the crowd around them, the two clasped hands and started going through nearly the same motions they had all those years ago.
Maybe in a bid to distract from the dread filling him, Ritsuka pondered about how strange it was to be doing this in their school uniforms, having skipped classes to be here today. Not that he minded, really. He liked how Jeanne looked in hers, and he suspected the feeling was mutual, leaving his mind to wander off and question how likely it would be that Miss Crane receives an anonymous request for something similar after they return to the Storm Border. If-
And then he returned to reality, refocusing on the amber eyes in front of him.
“I think you’ve gotten better at this.” She wondered out loud, “Who else have you been dancing with?”
“Nobody. Just reliving that night in my mind, every so often.”
She blushed at the admission, before regaining her composure and changing the subject.
“...You know… until just now, I used to think Cinderella was incredibly strong. After a life of servitude, she finally finds a charming prince to dance with, then even marries him.”
His heart sank.
“But, the thing about the ball is… it can only go on for so long. Now I’m living it, and I can finally see how hard it is.”
“Jeanne -”
“‘Cause you know that no matter how much fun you’re having now… it has to end.”
“Jeanne. Can I at least ask why?”
She released his hands, and stepped away, towards the setting sun on the horizon.
“Why… Salieri, Kagekiyo… you. You’re all Avengers, is that why-” his own composure began to slip, saved by her interrupting him.
“After hearing what he had to say, we… Well…” she trailed off, knowing he knew where it went.
“You can’t come with me anymore?”
She turned her back on him, and said only one more thing.
“I’m sorry.”
And the fabricated wonder he’d spent years watching fight for her own personhood, become her own self instead of a machine created to wreak havoc, who he’d wished he-
She disappeared, tearing him out of his spiral. She didn’t even say goodbye.
For a moment, he stood motionless, wrestling with all the emotions trying to claw their way out of his chest, but before long…
An unmistakable sound blared across the sky. One he had heard six times prior. The final trumpet, signaling the end.
The return to the Storm Border following his defeat of the Count of Monte Cristo was abrupt. The bright white lights of the infirmary felt like a flashbang after the near pitch darkness of the Black Spiral. Before long, his eyes adjusted, and the figure of Nemo Nurse sat down next to him, monitoring his condition, became clear.
As Nurse went through the motions of making sure he was all right after another one of his regrettably common “REM REM” episodes, Ritsuka’s attention instead went to the only other person in the room.
“Welcome back, Senpai.” Mash Kyrielight sat next to the nurse, pinkish hair covering one of her wonderfully purple eyes and doing little to hide her relief at his well-being.
Completely disregarding the nurse’s efforts to finish her check-up, he snapped out of the bed and in no time at all, had wrapped his arms around the reliable Shielder.
“S-Senpai?” she stuttered, slightly muffled, “Are you okay, Senpai?”
After taking a moment to collect himself, Ritsuka responded to her concerns.
“I’m sorry,” he continued to hold on to her like he was terrified she’d vanish as soon as he let go, “I’m so…”
“Nurse, could you run another check on his vitals, please?” she managed to get out through the nearly-suffocating grasp.
“I-I’m fine,” he assured them, finally letting go and stepping back to get a clear look at Mash, “I’m not hurt, but are you okay? Are you hurt at all?”
A brief look of confusion flashed on to Mash’s face, but she answered before long regardless.
“No, Senpai. I’m perfectly fine. You don’t have to worry about me.”
Ritsuka took a moment to look her over, as if he didn’t quite believe her. He examined her glasses, her hoodie, everything he could see, and in short order exhaled a deep sigh of relief, before sitting back down to let Nurse finish her review of his condition.
“That’s… fantastic to hear.”
The rest of the day on the Border was spent debriefing and getting back into the swing of living there, eventually culminating in Ritsuka returning to his room to get some proper sleep. A sleep that came quickly, as even while physically fine, he was mentally and magically utterly exhausted after the gauntlet that Pseudo-Tokyo was on both fronts.
The sleep was less than peaceful, however, as he was once more met with visions of The Count of Monte Cristo’s life, of his vengeance leading him down a bloody path, one that he took great pleasure in following, but ultimately, he stopped. Just before finishing, he remembered the feeling of love after so long believing he had left it behind, and stopped.
Ritsuka promptly woke up, and spoke into the night.
“Are you the one showing me these dreams?” he paused, letting the question sit for a moment, hoping the one it was meant for would answer. “You’ve been with me for a while, haven’t you? Who are you?”
Before long, a figure materialized in front of him. A floating, orange-haired woman with several braids, a veil over her head, flowing behind her with a design that made it seem as though the cosmos themselves were in it, and an almost comically long dress dragging along the floor beneath her as she approached.
“So, you could hear me.” she finally responded.
“Yeah. The whole time.” he affirmed, “Who are you?”
“I’m… the only scraps that remain of his heart, feelings, memories, and regrets. I am the culmination of one man’s revenge.”
His familiarity with Edmond Dantès’s story led him to know who she was as soon as she started to explain. She introduced herself as Haydée, a small fragment of the Count’s Spirit Origin who had been watching over Ritsuka for some time, and she finally showed herself to ask the Last Master one more question before she inevitably disappeared.
“In this moment, on this quiet night… What is it you wish for?”
With no hesitation, he answered resolutely.
“The Avengers. Those who aren’t here right now, I want to see them again,” and under his breath, “...Jeanne…”
“Why is that?”
Before he had a chance to elaborate, someone knocked on his door, and Haydée vanished.
“Come in.” he called to the entrance, leading it to be opened and passed through by the Head Nurse, Florence Nightingale.
“Sorry to intrude.” she apologized, “I heard voices coming from your room, but I can see you’re alone. Were you talking to yourself?”
Ritsuke skirted around the question for a moment, knowing that Nightingale didn’t take well to mystical explanations for much of anything, and eventually, she nodded in acceptance and appeared to start heading back towards the door, before stopping and asking one more question.
“By the way… have you noticed? It doesn’t seem Mash or the others have.”
“Noticed what?” he questioned in response.
“Mr. Dantès is nowhere to be seen.”
He nodded.
“Everyone calling themselves an Avenger appears to have vanished from the ship. Not just leaving for a moment, it’s as though their… presence? Aura? Things of that nature.” She frowned for a moment and shook her head. “It’s not like me to use such occult terminology. Still, that is what I’m telling you. The Avenger Servants have vanished.”
Ritsuka looked away. He didn’t want to think about that right now.
“The Storm Border is a ship,” Nightingale continued, “A very big ship, but a ship nonetheless. And with any ship, passengers will inevitably disembark for one reason or another. Someone who gets on must eventually get off.”
He slowly raised his head, seeing that Nightingale had once more approached his bed.
“And with that said… have you said your goodbyes?”
“No.” he answered guiltily, “But someone else asked me something, and I think they were trying to encourage me.”
“I see. So what are you going to do now?”
“I’m going to see them again.”
The Final Apostle who had taken up residence in the depths of Ritsuka’s mind was defeated swiftly and somewhat pathetically, with the combined might of the Avengers, Ritsuka’s timely arrival, and the power of both Edmond Dantès and his even more vengeful self. With the monstrosity of a pillar-tree-thing vanished in a tower of purple flames, Ritsuka looked around to everyone there. Edmond. Salieri. Kagekiyo. Hessian Lobo and Gorgon. Nitocris Alter. And Jeanne Alter.
She spoke up first, breaking the extended and uncomfortable silence.
“That was some pretty great timing, but.. Well… we still probably could’ve handled it, even losing an Avenger or two. I mean, we can’t go with you to Antarctica, so…” she trailed off.
Salieri and the other Avengers stepped in to continue the thought, expressing their thanks for the help, curiosity as to how it happened, and concern as to how he’d return, before the atmosphere completely shifted with the asking of one last question.
“Who cares how he gets back? What matters is that our work here is done. It’s long past time we were freed from the restraints of these Spirit Origins, am I wrong?” Gorgon’s voice silenced all others, and Jeanne looked back at Ritsuka, knowing he would have something more to say.
“I came here to say something to all of you. Did you seriously think a letter, or vanishing without saying goodbye was going to cut it?” his voice began to shake, composure wavering. “I can’t say goodbye like this.”
Jeanne nodded as if to say, “should’ve seen this coming,” and Edmond spoke up.
“I’m afraid you have no choice.” the walking crystallization of the Avenger class stated, “Don’t make this harder than it has to be. Unless you want the rest of your journey to be painted red and decorated with flame, you must let us go.”
Ristuka hung his head.
“Good. Now listen well, because I’m only going to say this once. ‘Go where your heart takes you. Lead your own way. Take the path of salvation, not destruction.’”
A moment of silence passed, and Ritsuka shook his head resolutely. A brief bout of panic and worry passed along the Avengers as they realized he wasn’t quite backing down, and Edmond spoke up again.
“You’re incorrigible.” He didn’t bother to hide the smirk, “We will leave shadows of ourselves on the Spirit Origin graph. They won’t be as strong, but they’ll be useful.”
Ritsuka’s head remained hung.
“You do understand we can no longer accompany you, yes?”
Ritsuka looked back up, and started to speak.
“But-”
Jeanne Alter interrupted him immediately.
“Mas- No, Ritsuka. You heard the asshole, right? Please, don’t make this harder than it has to be.”
He locked eyes with her.
“Look, you have things you want to get back, right? A home to go back to, people to see again… you can’t give up on any of that. I know that’s not the kind of person you are.”
Ritsuka lowered his head once more, and ground his teeth so hard that it would piss off any dentist Servants, if there was any around.
“But.. not… without…” he trailed off, unable to finish the sentence.
“Forget vengeance. Forget about us.” Edmond took the reins of the conversation once more, “You have your own path to travel.”
Ritsuka looked back at Jeanne, now unable to bring his head high enough to meet her gaze again.
“Leave your anger and grief behind. Leave your fire to us, let your tomorrow be filled with hope.”
Jeanne smiled at him once more, and Ritsuka managed to lift his head to gaze at her, one last time. She saw his eyes shimmering with unshed tears, his resolve held together by the thinnest of strings. She mouthed one last thing to him, conveying what she hadn’t brought herself to say when they were dancing.
Ritsuka closed his eyes tight in a bid to hold himself together for a little longer, allowing Edmond to finish his speech. When his eyes opened again, he was alone. The Avengers had all disappeared.
The next day on the Border was characterized by mysterious appearances around the ship. A cup of coffee next to Nightingale, a coupon for the kitchen on a table beside Marie and Amadeus. It didn’t take a genius to figure out what they were, especially as other gifts cropped up near the Pharaohs, kids, and Gorgon Sisters.
Ritsuka returned alone to his room as night fell upon the flying ship. He knew not to expect anything from Jeanne, it simply wasn’t her style. Instead, he found himself walking over to his desk, and eyes wandering to the small collection of personal belongings that remained after the abandonment of Finis Chaldea and the Wandering Sea.
A single piece of the cooking set Emiya had gifted him long ago, easily replaced now but held on to for sentimental value. A glove delivered by Nemo only a few months ago, that he couldn’t help but hold on to despite its seeming unimportance. Little gifts or possessions that he’d managed to bring along through multiple emergency evacuations. One item in specific stole his attention from all the rest, a small, slightly worn-down from repeated readings, magazine.
“The Magical Princess and the Monster of Krossvikki.”
The final doujin that they’d made that paradoxical summer.
The summer characterized by intense crunch time in a hotel room, the infuriating process of learning how to draw, fighting against whatever nonsense came up, and repeated failure that they had to get up from, again and again in order to win.
The summer that was somehow both the most stressful time of his life, and the most fun he ever had.
The summer where he realized just how hopelessly smitten he was.
And the dam broke.
Manga in hand, Ritsuka collapsed onto his bed. All the emotions suppressed in favor of the resolve demanded of the Last Master of Humanity rapidly rose to the surface, resulting in an unstoppable torrent of tears as he curled his body around the doujin.
The joy at being able to fight alongside Edmond again, even after everything he put Ritsuka through in Pseudo-Tokyo.
The relief at excising the Final Apostle from the depths of his own mind.
The anguish of having to say goodbye to the woman he loved, unknowing if he would ever be able to see her again.
The deluge of emotions slowed, but they did not vanish. Instead, as exhaustion encroached and sleep drew near, the feelings coalesced into one singular thought before sleep claimed him.
I will see you again. No matter what.