Fate/Apocrypha

Chapter 3.6

caules took some pride to being a Master. If they could communicate, they ought to have a proper talk. If possible, he wanted her to understand the hierarchy of Master and Servant.

And so, Caules resolved to speak with the Berserker of the Black.

Moving to the courtyard, he found Berserker picking flowers in the garden. It would be a lie to say he didn't find the scene somewhat ominous, but Caules made a small sound of encouragement to himself before stepping forward.

"H-Hey, there."

Caules started with a wave of his hand and a light greeting. Berserker gave her Master a fleeting glance before turning her back on him. She clearly decided to ignore him, which annoyed him somewhat, but nothing would be served by him leaving now. He should take a firm stance and speak with her properly.

He took a deep breath... and said his first words to her.

"Uh, I just wanted to say... sorry."

He bowed his head in apology, his intentions of authority betraying him. Berserker looked at Caules once again.

"I mean, for back when I just sort of blurted out your true name."

"Uuuu..."

She gave a sudden moan of displeasure. So that is what's bothering her, Caules realized. It seemed Berserker felt some frustration towards herself.

"We won't know if they come back as enemies next time. So, I'm sorry."

"Uu..."

Berserker nodded. Her mutters did not sound as annoyed as they did before. Perhaps she felt assured after finding out that Caules understood what followed the Holy Grail War.

"Anyway, that's why I think we should just focus on surviving this Holy Grail War. What about you?"

Berserker, grasping the flower in her hand tightly, nodded wordlessly to show her agreement.

"Well, let's start by getting to know ourselves, then."

"...?"

Berserker tilted her to one side. Caules explained.

"I looked up some details on you before the summoning. But legends aren't always correct, and a single difference can lead to a critical situation. So, that's why I am going to tell you what I know about you, and you are going to correct me."

Berserker bowed her head, surprisingly earnest.

Victor Frankenstein was a student of the science of nature. Obsessed with the delusion of creating the 'ideal human', he spent two years on a patchwork of lifeless flesh, and succeeded in giving life to it.

His ideal was to give birth to a wise and beautiful human being, perfect in every way. However, what he created was an repulsive monster. In terror, Frankenstein disassembled her again and left it all behind...

But even in pieces, the monster still lived. Reconnecting and repairing itself, the monster doggedly pursued the escaping Frankenstein to Geneva, Switzerland - a great chase built on hatred and admiration.

She appealed to Frankenstein, whom she looked up to as a father.

I never wanted to trouble you... but when you created me, you made me as only me.

I am all alone, and it's painful... it's agonizing... it hurts. So, please, just one more. Please, create one more of me. If anyone can, it is you.

Please... give me a mate.

Frankenstein flatly refused. It was not a matter of can or cannot. He had placed his entire focus on creating the homunculus before his eyes - and the result was the birth of a hideous creature. It was unthinkable to even consider creating a second.

Stopping for a moment, Caules glanced at Berserker. He did not understand whether Victor Frankenstein had possessed a twisted sense of beauty - or the girl possessed within her a foulness inconcealable despite her external beauty.

As the doctor denied it again and again, the monster grew to realize the truth, and fell into deep despair.

But, no matter what, it must have him create another.

So the monster killed: those acquainted with Frankenstein, those who had no relation whatsoever, and, in the end, even Frankenstein's beloved fiancee. And yet, Frankenstein continued to flee from the monster, denying it to the end.

The young man overflowing with livelihood and brilliance was long gone. With the frailty of an old man, Frankenstein died in madness, bitterly regretting it all until his last breath.

The monster no longer had anyone to hate. The man whom the monster looked up to no longer existed.

She parted with Walton, the man who watched over Frankenstein's final moment, and traveled to the uttermost north. Then, she built herself a pyre and was consumed by the flames.

May my ashes be scattered across the seas...

So ended the monster born from the delusions of Frankenstein.

Caules concluded his tale of Berserker's previous life. She had not interrupted him once. Was it all correct, or did she simply not care?

"So... your wish, Berserker, is a mate that is the same kind of being as you, right?"

"Uu..."

She nodded up and down. It would seem he was correct.

"And the homunculi in the castle... they're not good enough, are they? I mean, they are pretty similar to you..."

"..."

Berserker simply shoved the flower in her hand into Caules' face. It did not hurt him so much as it surprised him.

"I'll take that as a no, then."

Berserker nodded strongly. In her own way, there were lines that she refused to cross.

Suddenly, she stared straight at Caules' face, her grey eyes peeking through the gaps between her long hair, her hand lightly tugging at him.

"You want to know what my wish is?"

Berserker shook her head up and down. Caules thought. It would be reasonable enough to say that he wanted to reach the Root, and the matter would be settled. That was something that a magus would give up his life for, after all. And Berserker, having been granted a certain amount of knowledge by the Holy Grail, would not find this questionable.

But Caules did not like to lie.

"Well, actually, I haven't decided it yet."

"..."

She was glaring at him. Caules scratched his head, looking apologetic.

"It's not that I don't have one. I'm a magus too, of course I want to reach the Root and all... but, I think, there are some other things I want."

Can the Root be so easily reached, even with an omnipotent wish-granter like the Grail? Caules greatly doubted it. Certainly, it would carve out the first step to reaching the goal. But the path would still be too far.

"Anyway, I won't know until we get to that point. For example, if my sister dies in the war, I may want to resurrect her. Something like that would overwrite my own wish. The sister I have now means more to me than the Root I'll reach in a hundred years."

Well... not that she'd bring me back if I died, Caules thought.

Amidst his absentminded thoughts, Berserker made a low sound. It would seem she approved, at least to some extent.

"It's fine as long as you understand. I'll be going back to my room now."

Caules stood up, but Berserker pulled at his shirt. Turning around, he suddenly found a flower held up to his face.

"You... want me to have this?"

Berserker nodded, and Caules accepted it with thanks. After that, she began picking at the flowers again. And then, seeing her begin to rip the flowers to shreds, one by one, he beat a hasty retreat. There's no lake here - and he wouldn't be able to stop her throwing him, anyway.