Chapter 25 - 2

"Trace On."

Shirou needed something powerful. Something to threaten Talulah with. Death wasn't an option, so he had to settle for something...crippling instead. For someone who relied so much on fire magic, nothing could be worse than taking away their magic.

A shape formed in the air in front of him, drawing a significant chunk of energy from Shirou. It would be worth it, as the object also doubled as a form of defense to keep Talulah in check later down the line.

A black handle appeared, slowly followed by the purple shimmering jagged blade connected to it. A small noble phantasm Shirou personally witnessed during the 5th Holy Grail War. The noble phantasm of a famous Witch of Betrayal, the manifestation of her legend.

Rule Breaker, it who invalidates all magic. The ultimate anti-magic Noble Phantasm capable of dispelling and destroying all kinds of magic.

A dagger that nullifies all effects created by magic, despite whether such an effect is an enchantment, a relationship formed through contact, or even life created through magical energy.

All parties narrowed their eyes at the object Shirou materialized. The dagger's shape was odd. It had no practical design, looking like some weird trinket instead of a weapon it was shaped after.

"Your plan is to cut me?" Talulah drawled. "You could kill me and I still wouldn't talk."

Suddenly, the chains around her broke. Talulah didn't question the opportunity and scrambled to her feet.

"This dagger is made for rituals. Not just to cast them, but to end them." Shirou raised the dagger in front of her. "It can take away your arts...for good. This dagger has destroyed magic far older and stronger than yours. So I'll give you an opportunity to tell me where the key is before I cut you with this."

Shirou could feel Patriot's stare weigh heavily behind him. He had just released Talulah after all. She was back on her feet with a guarded stance facing him.

The air shimmered as a wave of heat erupted from Talulah's hands. The fireball shot at Shirou, only to extinguish by receiving it with Rule Breaker. It dispersed upon contact with the dagger in front of all parties. The dragon stared hard at the weapon with scrutiny and a little bit of hesitation.

"It's your choice."

"Hmph-" Talulah chuckled. "And what do you think that will do? We're all dying when Chernobog hits Lungmen. Cripple me if you want, your threat means nothing."

Shirou didn't bother wasting time. He dashed in, nullified a weak fireball attempt from Talulah, then lightly cut her on the arm before she could draw away. She didn't bother putting much effort into it, already confident with her victory.

The leader of the Reunion collapsed to her knees in front of him, drawing some suspicion from Shirou. Getting cut by Rule Breaker didn't physically affect a target outside of small superficial damage. Rather, it was the sudden loss of the connection to magic that the victim felt. Perhaps she fell from the jarring sensation? He wasn't sure.

If threats didn't work, then Shirou had another option.

Binding contracts.

Years spent studying the Holy Grail in his possession in combination with Sakura and Rin's expertise helped boost their own understanding of contracts. While not on the level of Zouken Matou who created the contract system, it was still a significant chunk of knowledge.

Rule Breaker's primary effect was to break magic, up to and including magical contracts. Still, the ritual dagger was made for rituals- able to perform esoteric magic counter to its essence. In combination with the Holy Grail within Shirou and his own takeaways from years of research, he had the necessary tools to establish a binding contract.

Talulah wasn't a legendary heroic spirit. She wasn't even much of a mage compared to the average Clocktower member. Talulah was like a civilian in that area, making her an easy target to bind under a contract.

Shirou was going to forcefully bind her into service.

Fortunately for him, Rin and Sakura designed the binding contract instead. Shirou had no skill in that field, so he relied on the two sisters for help. He only used it when necessary. Only during situations when neither bribes nor threats worked. Situations when he had to force the other party to capitulate without power.

Two magical circles burst forth from underneath them. Talulah looked a little shaken while staring at her own hand, not even paying attention as Shirou invoked a binding contract between them akin to that of a Master and Servant- similar to how the Holy Grail operated. Most of the energy was supplied by the Grail with him, ensuring the contract was solid and stable.

There weren't specific details to the contract, but the Holy Grail could cover those with the sheer power it could supply. Any act Shirou deemed unacceptable would be treated a breach of the contract- essentially making the other party subservient to his demands. In return, they received a significant amount of energy similar to how Servants required a Master to supply them.

Some form of exchange was required to make the contract equal for both sides. It was a double-edged sword Shirou found out when using the Holy Grail's template for contracts. It was the only way the Servant would willingly cooperate with a Master during the war. Since both Master and Servant were fighting for the same objective, their interests and goals aligned. The Servant would provide their skills and services to the Master, and in return, the Master would provide the energy to support their continued existence.

In this case, Shirou was binding Talulah into a similar role. She was going to fulfill the role of a Servant, and he, a Master.

"You...what did you do...?" Talulah looked up at him. Her expression was mixed between horror and shock. Her eyes were darting between her hands and the disappearing magic circles. They kept switching between both, still overwhelmed by the sudden changes.

"Tell me where the key-"

"He's gone. I can't hear him." Talulah whispered shakily. "I'm...I'm in control..."

Shirou's gears grinded to a halt.

"What?"

"Kaschey...I can't hear him."

Kaschey...?

"The duke...?" Shirou's expression furrowed. Something was different. The atmosphere around Talulah had changed.

"I can't feel him..." Talulah hugged her arms. She looked speechless, her attention focused somewhere inside her instead of in front of her.

Shirou was on a time limit so he had to hurry things along. He held out his hand and channeled energy into one of the command seals that came along with the binding contract.

"Tell me where the key is." He demanded.

"I can't. It's gone. Kaschey melted it."

Shirou blinked. Was this...? He glanced at the unused glowing command seal. Of the three absolute commands he could use, none had been taken away. Talulah hadn't fought against the order. She answered willingly of her own volition. That wouldn't make sense. She'd have hidden the truth just to spite them. He had expected her to be gloating her victory over them once they learned stopping Chernobog was impossible.

"You're someone else." Shirou connected the dots. Her words, her mannerisms, they suddenly made sense.

It wasn't of someone gloating victory.

It was of someone experiencing freedom.

"That's right." Talulah smiled despondently. "This is the real me...a powerless pitiful girl who couldn't lift a finger to save the Reunion...and now we're all dying here."

Shirou seized her hands and dragged the Reunion leader up. Burning bronze met hopeless grey, searching them for answers.

He was looking for something. Shirou didn't have time to waste. Other problems could be dealt with later. His first priority was stopping Chernobog.

"Trace On."

Talulah blinked as his eyes suddenly glowed like lazy neon lights at night. A low orange glow appeared around them as he locked eyes with her.

"Show me your memories of the key."

The world around them disappeared like she was sucked into a black hole. A tunnel-like vision filled her periphery until she snapped back into a room.

.

.

.

'Oh...' Talulah recognized this place.

It was the very same room Talulah had met with the newcomer. That doctor...archer...whatever he was. It was dark, a contrast to the window of streaming moonlight Talulah stood by. She was looking outside at the peaceful night sky.

It was just hours before she would set Chernobog on the path to Lungmen.

On the path to self-destruction.

"They are against you."

The voice echoed from all around them. The voice of deceitful nobility. It sounded well-meaning, though it was everything but. It was the kind of voice that won minds over. The kind of tone one would expect from a capable leader.

Everything she wasn't.

"They are against your plan. They are fighting for the Reunion."

"That is not what they see. To them, it is yours...ours."

"It is not my plan..." Even her own response felt weak to her ears. Her voice a hushed whisper against the booming tone she was fighting against. Both of their voices filled the room, though not a single sound came from her mouth.

"But you are not against it. Deep down, you know the Reunion is but a small fragment of the infected all over Terra. Our actions are meant to open their eyes."

"Our actions will lead to death and destruction..."

"Revolution has always been about destroying the old order. Death is merely a part of it. No sacrifice is too great to begin change."

"You're going to drag Ursus and Yan into war!" It was a feeble burst of anger, but the spirit behind it was weak. Talulah was on her last clutches, holding on to a small spark of resistance against the suffocating darkness that had plagued her for years.

"And all the better for it. They will be weakened. It would give an opportunity for the infected to rise up."

"You just want to plunge Ursus into war. Don't try to fool me with your words, Kaschey." Talulah growled.

Her ever present burden, since the day she had killed him in his home all those years ago. Kaschey had kidnapped her away from Lungmen, away from Ch'en. She lacked the conviction to escape during her teenage years, lacked the conviction to fight against her captor. For years, Kaschey had mentored the girl into a suitable heir- a tool he could use to further his agenda. When Talulah refused to bend according to his needs, she hadn't expected it to backfire so horribly.

Now, Kaschey- no, The Deathless Black Snake- had settled itself into her mind. Its consciousness implanted inside her body, a constant battle for control. Talulah had slipped up many years ago, and the thousand-year-old phantom had danced around her psyche, weakening, lying, and convincing her that his way was right.

Alone, without support, fighting a losing battle, Talulah slowly succumbed and lost battle after battle, surrendering more of her body each time to the parasite that raised her.

Now, she was on her last legs.

Seeing Patriot and FrostNova stand against her speech had weakened her final bastion. They were her friends, the last hope Talulah clung to. While she could not recover enough willpower to regain control of her body, she had enough to limit Kaschey's actions. It was pitiful that she couldn't stop his plans- for she had little left to fight with. Kaschey had proved to her years that his actions produced results- that her beliefs were broken time after time with real life samples he presented to her.

Talulah couldn't muster a counter. Not when all her rebuttals were met with failure. Kaschey had made sure to show her the results of her attempts- all corrupted by his machinations. The battle was rigged from the start, he made sure of it. A millennium of experience crushed whatever strength Talulah could draw up.

"You stand alone, Talulah. Do you wish to continue watching your people suffer? Or will you give them the spark they need to open the eyes of the world?"

Something cracked within her.

The last vestiges of control- the conviction stopping Talulah from allowing Kaschey to use her body and burn Chernobog's control key- broke.

Kaschey grinned- just like the expression on Talulah's body as she looked out the window. She took out the key and held it up to the moonlight.

"Only one more step, dear Talulah. Then, the world will open their eyes."

Kaschey just needed to use the key one last time to set Chernobog on its final journey. After that, it would be melted into slag.

All lies. You just want to burn the world. Talulah thought.

A third voice appeared within her mind.

"Trace On."

.

.

.

When Talulah came back to, her first reaction was to gawk at the stranger in front of her.

She hadn't expected to hear his voice inside her memory.

Much less the very key she had burned melted a few hours prior.

"Patriot. Secure Talulah with you. I'm heading for the tower."

Her gaze slowly moved up, still blank as she tried to make sense of what she was seeing.

"W-wuh?" She flubbed.

"Don't trust a word she says. I have no idea if it is Talulah or Kaschey speaking." Shirou warned the hulking giant approaching.

"Meaning...?" Patriot grunted, a little confused.

"She's...possessed. Kaschey is in control." Shirou flipped Rule Breaker over and handed it to the former Ursus general. "Keep cutting her with this every few minutes. It should stop her from being able to use arts."

Shirou then sped off, sprinting across the ruined avenue and leaping up the nearest building's walls then reaching the rooftop. Within a few moments, he was gone from view.

Patriot watched him go, before turning his attention back to his prisoner.

"P-patriot..."

He blinked.

Talulah was making a weird expression at him while tears slowly crept down her face.

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Author's Note

...

MERRY CHRISTMAS! Whew, this chapter was done last week but it was such garbage I erased half of it. The old version does not deserve to see the light of day.

Alright, I know I said no more Servants...from Fate that is. Congratulations Talulah! You're now contractually bound to serve Shirou!

This chapter (and next couple) has been brought to you by Unoriginal Name and Dovar. Very very special thanks to all of you because it really helped me a lot.

Each little donation helps me out and motivates me to finish chapters earlier, so it would mean a lot to me to have your support!

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