Fate/Zero:HOPE

Defining Victory

Kariya grunted in pain as the parasitic creature inside of him shifted, causing his face to writhe unnaturally. Now that Berserker was here and constantly draining his prana, the Crest Worms inside of him had grown more active. It was a small price to pay, however.

But Berserker noticed the sound, and his eyes narrowed in what looked to be consideration. That sharp gaze focused, his twisted grin died, and his arms folded across his chest as some kind of judgement was reached.

"You won't survive this war." Berserker noted with cool detachment.

"Maybe," Kariya said, trying to force the worms inside of him to calm down.

"No." The red warrior refuted coldly, frowning thoughtfully. "In your condition, even if I managed to keep every Servant at bay, you would be defeated by the other Masters. Furthermore, my presence will cause your health to further deteriorate. If this war should become a battle of attrition, we will not win."

"Then what would you have me do?" Kariya snapped, and his agitation caused the worms to twist inside of him with renewed vigour. But he ignored the pain this caused him: there was a much more pressing issue. "I won't just stand by and let Sakura suffer for that monster's desires! I will not!"

He only realized that he was shouting when his voice echoed back at him from the walls of his apartment. Berserker's hard gaze softened slightly at his impassioned declaration, and took the chance to continue his seemingly errant musings.

"So then it is not the Holy Grail you desire, then?" He asked, bringing one hand up to stroke his chin contemplatively. "In that case, we would be better served to redefine the terms of victory."

"Terms of victory?" Kariya asked, uncertain. Weren't Servants supposed to only want to attain the Holy Grail? Why would one of them want to throw that away? "What do you mean?"

"For you, the Grail is only a means to an end. I have no real desire for the Grail: I do not need it to grant my wishes." Berserker explained. "It would be more expedient for us to refocus our efforts on a goal that can be attained."

Kariya gaped at the frank admission.

"You don't need the grail for your wishes to be granted?" He asked. "I thought all Heroic Spirits wanted the Grail in order to live again."

Berserker turned away, giving a shrug.

"There are exceptions to every rule." The Spirit said errantly, as if he wasn't throwing every preconception out the window. "And even if I did have such a wish, I would not sully it by having it granted to me by the Grail. I would much rather attain my goal with my own two hands."

Kariya stared hard at his Servant, surprised to his core at the man he had summoned to fight for his goals. It was strange enough that a different Servant had been summoned than the one that had been intended, one wholly unrelated from the Reagent that Zouken had acquired, but a Servant that not only had no interest in the Holy Grail and was advising their Master to consider not involving themselves in the war?

No. Something was about the whole situation. Centuries of history, not to mention one of the founders of the ritual, could not be wrong. Was it possible that Caster was somehow affecting his Servant through magical means? It wasn't outside the realm of possibility: the Berserker Class wasn't exactly famed for its magical resistance. But it had only been a few days since Caster had been summoned. It seemed unlikely that the Servant's first action would be to try and influence one of the participants indirectly.

"I will consider it." Kariya eventually said, his voice stiff and distrusting. "For now, we will continue as planned. We will focus on our first objective: Tohsaka Tokiomi."

Berserker nodded, and turned to face a window overlooking Fuyuki city.

"So long as you bear your own goals in mind, I am content." Berserker said, folding his arms once more. "So long as you stay alive, I am confident in our victory. Whichever victory you choose."

The notion was a tempting one: ignore the war, and focus on destroying Zouken and the rest of the Matou family. With them gone, Sakura would be safe. And he would be able to spend what little time he had left making sure she was as happy as he could make her...

Kariya shook his head violently, forcing the dream out of his mind. He had to focus. He had to win this war. That was the only way to save Sakura.

"I plan to have a skirmish with them tonight, to test their defences." He said forcefully, angry for a reason he couldn't quite explain. "We will see how well they can guard against you."

The red knight nodded, and then turned to face Kariya.

"Hmmph. So eager for battle? Then let's go introduce ourselves to the neighbours, yes?" He said, and his frown made a slow change to a grin. An aura of darkness flowed around him as his Madness Enhancement flared up slightly. "My swords yearn to make their acquaintance."