"The Rat King has a name?" Kuku asked. Nursery Rhyme's hands remained at her sides, not even bothering to defend herself. She really was like a lifeless doll, not helped at all by her dress.
"Kukulkan, let her go." Ritsuka commanded.
The sheer determination, the pure desire, and the raw need in his eyes only delayed Kuku's protest. She appeared to be taken aback, unused to how determined the teen looked.
"Ritsuka, we shouldn't trust anything she says. She's probably a Servant, depowered like Iskander and Artoria were."
"I need to know. Please, I need to know more about that horror." Perhaps by understanding more about that thing of myth and horror, it wouldn't haunt his sleeping moments as much.
"She hurt Zvezdnyy." Kuku insisted, "The girl was so scared that she clung to me like glue. The only other time she clung to me so tightly was when she thought I had died."
Nursery Rhyme stepped in, "I did but reveal unto her the Truth of the World—the true visage of mankind. She could not bear to gaze upon such selfishness. Her delusion lay in ruin— urk!"
Kuku's fingers pressed down, her mouth forming into an ugly snarl, "You shut up. She's a kid. Of course, she isn't ready for the kinds of truth that adults have to deal with. There's a reason why nostalgia exists, it's so when we're covered in muck we can think back on a simpler time."
"She is not a normal kid, so she does not have that right," Words devoid of her usual way of speaking came out of Nursery Rhyme's opened mouth. But her lips didn't move to grant meaning to the air coming out of her like a human would, "Not when she possesses such powers as being able to dictate the very shape of the world, capable of smoothing out all of its rough edges."
"Kukulkan, Nursery Rhyme knows where the second Holy Grail is. She can't tell us if she's dead." Mash stated.
Kuku's fingers flinched. She looked downright murderous, her eyes full of rage. So easy it would've been, to simply apply a bit more pressure and Nursery Rhyme's whole vocal cord could collapse. A bit more pressure than that and the whole head might well come off.
Nursery Rhyme tumbled to the ground like a puppet with no strings. Slowly, she dragged herself off the floor, standing up as Kuku gazed at the fog outside, turning away from her.
Nursery Rhyme's delicate fingers came up to her collar. Slowly, as if without any hurry, the small Servant smoothed out the wrinkles formed from Kuku's rough treatment. It was a very surreal scene, someone who was so calm even when they were on a knife's edge between life and death just a moment ago.
Finally, Nursery Rhyme began to paint a picture of the origin of this Singularity.
"Let me regale thee with a tale—a tale of two spirits summoned forth from the Throne. The First, a Berserker without meaning, an ever-shifting toy knife that knoweth his name yet not his past. The Second, a wraith wrought from the bitter woe of children cast aside by their mother, an Assassin who longeth for a mother's embrace. Called to this world they were, yet their fates were cruelly and wrongfully entwined in a way most unnatural. Their very essences did meld and merge, giving rise to a creature ne'er meant to be—an embodiment of the truth I laid bare before Zvezdnyy."
"The Rat King," Ritsuka concluded. Kuku turned back to face Nursery Rhyme, her face grim and her eyes piercing.
Nursery Rhyme nodded, "Aye. The union of those two spirits did bind their very natures as one. The meaninglessness of the First was bestowed upon each forsaken soul within the Second. And thus, every wretched castaway did grant meaning to that nihilistic void, shaping themselves to reflect that which their mother had deemed them—naught but detestable pests, vermins all."
Ritsuka's jaw dropped. Those rats… a chill ran down his spine as he realized what those rats truly were. He called back to his time down in the sewers, at the intelligence between the eyes of those rats. Those rats who slowly backed away from him, cling to the walls as they tried to escape the reach of the lantern's light.
"They took their dwelling in a place where no man would tread, a domain fit only for the discarded and the spurned. They made their home amid the refuse, where all of mankind's unwanted dregs were cast aside. A fitting fate, as they themselves believed. And from that abyss of castoff refuse, they set their will in motion— To aid in the burning of human history."
"But why? Why do they want to help incinerate Human History?" This time, Mash asked about that.
Nursery Rhyme's hands moved, turning in a way to resemble a flickering flame, "The child whom the village doth not embrace shall set it alight if only to feel its warmth. Those who bore no names— They cursed their mother. They cursed the life ne'er granted them. Ne'er for the Abandoned, to plunge their hands into cool waters on a sweltering day. Ne'er for the Aborted, to laugh and play with a puppy in the afternoon sun. Ne'er for the Unborn, to know the touch of love. Ne'er for the Unloved, to grow old with time's passing. They lingered in limbo, cast into an abyss forsaken by both 'God' and 'Devil' alike. There, naught could they do but gaze upon the world denied them. And so they watched. And so they envied. And so they hated. Hate. Aye. They cursed the void where feelings should be. They cursed the hands and feet of those who knew of wonder and wander. But of all things, thy hope did wound them most—hope, that cruel light which mocked their shadowed existence. And so, the first thing they took was hope."
Kuku looked almost haunted. She gulped, and her eyes grew in distance as their attention was drawn to something not present here. Something far, far away in both time and space. Those eyes told an incredibly long story, something Ritsuka could only guess at.
"What did you mean they took away hope?" Artoria asked.
Nursery Rhyme's fingers traced the bed Queen Victoria had laid in.
"Did it ne'er cross thine mind how strange this Singularity be? Time holdeth no sway in this place, for 'tis a nexus of sorts—where fragments of the early to late Victorian age do converge as one. Think of it as a hall of mirrors, each pane reflecting the grandeur of that gilded era entire. And here, within this twisted reflection, they did labor to strip away all hope of a brighter morrow for the downtrodden. Through means most cruel and cunning—methods with which, I daresay, Ritsuka is all too well acquainted."
Ritsuka's hands twitched as Nursery Rhyme's words stabbed into him like knives. Her words dredged up memories of the Vermin Tide. That flood of rats which course out of the sewers, consuming anyone found in darkness.
"And now, the hour hath come for the curtain to fall upon this Singularity. The fog shall spread, thick and merciless. They hasten the Whore Pox, twisting men into beasts and women into wombs. They shall sweep through London, scouring all in their path." Nursery Rhyme said. She faced the Goddess, "Yet take heart, for this Singularity lieth close to thine own age. And thus, only should all perish utterly shalt thou know true failure."
"How can we trust you?" Kuku asked as she returned to the present. She looked determined, "You're a foreign Servant. How can I trust that you're telling the truth?"
Nursery Rhyme looked over to Ritsuka, "Forge a contract with me. Let thy final Command Spell bind mine tongue, compelling me to speak naught but the truth. Would that not grant thee peace of mind?"
Ritsuka looked down at his right hand where only one marking was left. His last Command Spell… was it worth it? To verify everything she said was correct? Ritsuka continued thinking how if he used it, he'd no longer be able to reinforce a Noble Phantasm until they returned to Chaldea and the spells automatically regenerated. With Kuku here though, he wouldn't really have a use for it anymore.
"Very well. Let's make a contract, Nursery Rhyme."
"Ritsuka—"
"It's fine. I know what I'm doing, Kukulkan."
"I don't like this Ritsuka. I don't trust her."
"But now we can."
Nursery Rhyme reached out with her gloved hands. Mirroring her gesture, Ritsuka did the same. The hands clasped each other, fingers going through the gaps between. They held each other.
A brief sensation of pain began and ended too fast for Ritsuka to register.
It was done.
"Nursery Rhyme, I hereby command you tell me the truth and only the truth: was everything you said factually real?"
Nursery Rhyme nodded, "Yes." And with it, the last Command Spell faded from prominence, appearing as a faint mark barely visible in the darkness.
Kuku looked defeated. She licked her lips as her shoulders sank, as though the weight she was carrying grew so much that even she threatened to break underneath it.
"I… I see."
"Are you okay, Kukulkan?" Artoria asked as she placed a hand on Kuku's shoulder. The Goddess massaged her temples, her mind in their own world as her thoughts raced towards a conclusion.
It took a moment for Kuku to respond, "I'm fine. We need to deal with that metamorphosis. I remember having to heal a lot of women who were infected with an STD people here called 'Whore Pox' since prostitutes were carriers. Symptoms include fever and, most vividly, patches of painful pus-filled bumps across the woman's vagina walls or a man's penis shaft."
Ritsuka instinctively covered his family jewels. Mash recoiled in horror. Even the normally stoic Artoria reacted with a look of displeasure. Only Nursery Rhyme looked unaffected, like a doctor who's seen all the disgusting symptoms of every disease out there.
"Art thou certain thou shouldst leave Zvezdnyy to her own devices?" Nursery Rhyme asked, "Men dost turn to beasts, and women to wombs. Dost thou deem it wisdom to let her lay eyes upon such horrors?"
"...Ah fuck." Kuku cursed. She turned to look at Ritsuka and saw only a nod. There was no need for further communication since Ritsuka knows she'll be back soon.
"Go."
"I'll be back."
Kuku left in the blink of an eye. A human-shaped hole appeared in the wall, followed by a blur that vanished in the fog.
As if knowing their main source of protection was gone, Ritsuka's ears picked up the groaning sounds outside this room. Ritsuka doubted it at first, dismissing it as a mirage his brain came up with. That was until it grew louder.
"Beasts now roam all of London." Nursery Rhyme said. "Any who hath stepped within a brothel these past weeks hath been claimed. Their flesh marred with wretched bumps, a cocoon from which their true beast doth awaken and fur grows free."
Outside of Queen Victoria's bed-chamber, at the end of the hallway that led here, Ritsuka spotted a human-sized black-furred thing that walked on four legs. It walked awkwardly to be truthful, its hind legs were too long so its butt jutted into the air like a hill. It was as though its frame wasn't designed to walk on four legs. Its hands were a mass of sharp claws shaped more like a shrub than a hand. It had the head of a wolf, glistening saliva dripped down its jaw.
It sniffed the air and it turned towards the group.
Mash stepped between the beast and her Master. Artoria armed herself by collecting a sword framed like a piece of artwork on the wall. Its crossguard was golden, and it looked more ceremonial than practical. But to her, it had a sharp edge, which was good enough for now.
The beast opened its jaw so wide that it looked like it'd break. It groaned rather than howl, as if in immense pain. Its butt stabbed further into the air, its forelimbs growing in width. And then it launched itself down the hall with a blitz of speed so quickly Ritsuka had trouble reacting. It was like a rock flung from a slingshot.
*CLANG*
A loud crash like a car smashing into a metal pole. Mash's shoes created markings on the ground as she stopped the beast's lunge. She groaned, alerting Ritsuka of how difficult that must've been.
Artoria moved. With a single slash, she beheaded the beast before it could use those claws to push away Mash's shield. The beast's headless body reacted wildly. Its claws went all over the place, slashing at the air before Mash used her shield to push it away. It died after struggling for a few more seconds.
Everyone took a few seconds to collect their breaths. "That was a beast?" Ritsuka asked as Artoria looked at the blade in her hand.
"My strength is returning." She said after swinging the sword testily.
"That's good to hear Artoria!" Mash said with a smile on her face.
"What do we do now?" Ritsuka asked as he looked outside. There was a wall of fog outside, so thick and opaque was the fog that Ritsuka could easily imagine a cloud somehow falling from the sky. "Where is the second Holy Grail, Nursery Rhyme?"
It would be very easy to get lost in this fog.
"Ye all should depart with haste." Nursery Rhyme said. She was gazing out of the hole Kuku made. She was playing with a small music box. Her fingers went in, fiddling with pieces of metal. Her voice then spoke, devoid of her usual flair, "Something terrible is coming."
"What do you mean?" Ritsuka asked. "What is coming? What haven't you told us?"
Nursery Rhyme turned to face her Master. She smirked. A gloved hand came up to her face, black on a background of sickly pale. Her purple eyes seemed to glow, their abyss deepened.
Ritsuka felt dread. A pit of unsettling feeling opened up in his stomach.
Nursery Rhyme leaned forward. Blue eyes met abyssal purple, "What thou thinkest unites all men upon a sinking ship, a plummeting plane, a mother who doth wait outside the surgeon's hall as her child lieth upon the brink, a king who gazeth upon his city laying barren by plague, a maiden on the verge of defilement, a condemned man at the gallows, a gambler who hath wagered all his fortune, or a Jew who doth hold his breath as the gas doth surround him? In the face of despair, most absolute, tell me—what is the one thing that all of mankind doth do?"
Ritsuka's eyes narrowed into slits, and he bared his teeth in frustration, "Nursery Rhyme, now is not the time! Tell me urgently what is coming!"
"Humor me."
His lips thinned, annoyance flashed across his eyes as he threw out a random answer, "I don't know, acceptance?"
Music started coming out of Nursery Rhyme's music box.
"Close. Prayer." Nursery Rhyme's hands came together in a praying gesture, the music box squished between her hands like the interior in a sandwich, "A vestige of the Age of Gods, yet still it lingers, even in this modern age. When helplessness doth seize the heart, mankind turneth ever to forces beyond their ken—gods… or fate… or nameless hopes. Even when the gods heareth them not, even when they exist no longer to grant their pleas, even when all effort is for naught—still, man doth pray for deliverance. Against all reason, against all fate, they pray. They pray that they shall emerge unscathed. They pray that they shall not share the fate of those before, beside, or after them. They pray, though prayer doth change nothing. They pray, even in the face of certainty. They pray. They pray."
Nursery Rhyme's hands parted ways.
"A man prayeth to survive the sinking ship or the crashing plane. A mother prayeth for her child's health. A king prayeth that the plague shall pass. A maiden prayeth for a savior's hand. A condemned prayeth for mercy. A gambler prayeth for fortune's grace. A Jew prayeth for an escape from the rising gas. And so too did those souls forsaken by their mother, cast into the abyssal void. They did the sole thing left unto them: they prayed— Prayed for an escape. Prayed for an end to their torment. Prayed, as all men do, for salvation."
Nursery Rhyme cast her gaze out into the sinkhole. Yet it seemed her focus was on something else. Something beyond the sinkhole. Something within the sinkhole.
"Something answered. A God cometh, Ritsuka. A God that never should be. A God of the Gap. A God whose worship began with the first child who perished, forsaken and unloved. A God without name, yet prayed to by countless souls. A God… for those Abandoned, those Aborted, those Unborn, and those Unloved."
_____
AN: God I freaking LOVE this chapter so much. This and the next one are probably my favorite out of all of the entire FGO Arc. Possibly even this whole story. There exist almost no words for how much I loved writing this chapter.
The REVEAL! Holy shit I've been building up the Rat King for so many chapters and now it's time for the reveal! The humungous reveal!
Anyway, so the Rat King has been revealed. The curtain call has been sounded for this Singularity.
Gimme some comments pls, I'd like to hear what you guys think of the Rat King.