Idea I had. Scáthach is summoned as a masters first servant during the events of F:GO. Then the unthinkable happens. Her wish is granted, and following a climatic fight with a mighty foe, she is mortally wounded. An emotional master is there, beside her. I'm curious to see how you'll interpret the situation, thank you in advance if this does happen to get chosen.
WOW, ANON. Don’t you know I’m an asshole that thinks Scathach doesn’t deserve care? /s
Thank you so very much for this submission. You’ve let me play with a style closer to my own. I am completely taken with this prompt and I hope I’ve done it justice to create something you like. And that it makes up for people’s previous sass about my interpretation of Scathach. It’s not professional-level or anything, but I did try to create something decent. Let me know what you think, please.
Aaaand I put it under the cut aside from that cute little teaser because it was ridiculously fucking long by Tumblr-post standards at over 1,200 words.
TW: Violence, gore, character death, depressing shit.
Scathach’s Wish Fulfilled by the Holy Grail
Spears.
Infinite daggers pierced Scathach’s flesh, leaving her dripping in the poison of manufactured hatred.
A rain of spears, protruding from your very body.
The Noble Phantasm Gae Bolg slipped from her fingers and clattered against the ground. She could make out the sound of Master’s shrieking in the distance. It was drowned out by the laughter of the tyrant queen and the snarling of her hound.
This is what has become of you, then?
Once upon a time, the hands dug into her shoulders wielded that same spear she carried. It was her most prized possession and the most valuable weapon in her arsenal. She had passed on Gae Bolg under the pretense that this man would go down in history as a hero–the hero she could never be from the Land of Shadows.
There was no way to find him under the dense fog of the tainted Grail’s summoning. His humanity was long gone and in its place was a machine built for slaughter without honor, without law. To see him in a monstrous form such as this, she wondered if she had herself to blame.
Cu Chulainn grinned as he dangled her in the air with his ridged tail stabbed through her stomach. The sound of her insides crunching could have thrilled her killer. Perhaps this was why he had done it.
The beast’s snarl spread to a jagged grin. “Wish granted,” he growled.
My… wish?
“You thought you were going to defeat the ultimate beast of war?” Queen Medb sang from across the field. “It was a cute effort, but I’m sorry to tell you that you’re in way over your pretty little head, Master of Chaldea. You and grandma over here didn’t have a chance from the start.”
Berserker threw Scathach’s lifeless body in the direction of her master and returned to his own. The sudden removal of spikes made an audible rip in her skin and turned her into a fountain of blood.
Master caught Scathach just barely and tumbled to the ground with her in arm. Gravel crunched beneath their fall. They rolled their servant onto her side to ensure she wouldn’t choke. They tore off their shirt and pressed the bundle against the gaping hole in her body. With each attempted breath, the woman gurgled and coughed.
“Scathach, can you hear me?” Master called. “Please, please say something. You’re going to be okay. Okay? I’m calling Roman and DaVinci now. They’ll get us out of here and take care of you.”
Their watch glowed, signaling to Chaldea.
This was… my wish. I see. Battling against him reminded me so much of his youth… of mine.
For the first time in history, Scathach felt ancient. She had spent eternity in this ageless body, trapped between heaven and hell when neither would take her. It seemed nothing could take her life away. At last that had been proven false. Remnants of a smile tugged at her drooling lips.
A quiet beep from Master’s watch let them know that Chaldea could not be reached. They dug their nails into the soaked shirt.
“Scathach, don’t you dare fucking leave me,” Master cried.
She didn’t respond.
Their two remaining Command Seals illuminated in response. “By the power of my Command Spell I order you.”
She trembled at the sudden intake of mana. Her eyes shot open.
Do not ask this of me.
“Scathach!” They shook her shoulder violently. “You are not allowed to die here, do I make myself clear?”
She gasped, thrashed, clawed at her chest, desperate to catch her breath beyond the blood overflowing from her mouth and her burning lungs. Her bones cracked and muscles tore and insides toppled out of place.
With a heavy dry heave and great resolve she rolled onto her stomach and propped herself on her forearm. A pool of rusty red liquid formed under her. It caused her to slip as she attempted to gain ground.
Tears stung Master’s eyes but would not fall. They refused to let her see weakness. They needed to be a proper master, command their servant with pride and keep them standing until the end.
“Answer me. Do I make myself clear?” they screamed.
“Do not waste your Command Spells,” she coughed. “It is not worth it.”
“You are not leaving me. You’re not allowed to leave.”
Master scrambled to her. They flailed, appearing unsure of what to do with their hands. It looked like they didn’t know how to help her at that point. They reached out to touch Scathach but she waved their hand away before they could. They cringed. Frustration. Rejection. Why did she have to carry burdens on her own? They resulted in nothing but pain.
To be so young and full of feeling… My students… Do they remember that feeling, too? I wonder.
Scathach tried clearing her throat and turned her head cautiously to face them. She winced, agony grinding every bone and stabbing every muscle.
Every inch of her body had been ravaged by Berserker’s Noble Phantasm. Her spirit core was shattered. Only the demands of Master’s Command Spell kept her conscious for these final moments.
One of her eyes remained closed, blood oozing from under the damaged eyelid.
She forced a smile. “Let me go, Master.”
Drip.
“Please.”
Words destroyed the dams of Master’s scratchy throat. “I don’t know what to do. I don’t know how to help you. Please tell me what to do. You’re my mentor, you’re supposed to have all the answers, right?”
They floundered for a safe spot to grip on Scathach’s arm. They settled for her shredded sleeve. It tore off between their fingernails.
“Why won’t you tell me what to do? You’re always telling me what to do, why is this the one fucking time you can’t?” they shrieked, tearing their voice in two. “I listened to everything you said, I did everything you fucking told me and you’re leaving me.”
“Nothing can be done,” she said. Her attempts to speak clearly through the blood passing through her mouth failed.
“What type of bullshit is that? That’s not something you’ve ever said. That’s not what you taught everyone else, not what you taught me. You always find a way. What do I do, teacher? What am I supposed to do?”
I was to be eternal, unmoving, cursed to never say goodbye to those I loved. To be so free… You are fortunate, Master.
She let her numbing arm sink back to the ground. Her hair stuck to her reddened face. “I apologize. I’ve never given a farewell speech.”
Master choked. “Don’t say that. You’re not going. By the power of my Command Spell I order you to–”
“If you’re going to waste your last Command Spell,” she interrupted, “wish that my journey be a peaceful one.”
Their lower lip quivered with escaped whimpers. They clutched the remains of Scathach’s clothing in their stained hands. “I can’t do this without you.”
She closed her eyes and let her shoulders relax. The sharp pains throughout her body eased. The calm washing over her could have been mistaken for sleep. “As all the warriors I trained before you, you can do anything.”
“No I can’t. I haven’t learned anything from you. You’re not ready to go. I’m not ready for you to go. Nobody can defeat you, Scathach. Especially not–”
“My protege? The man I wished to take my life?” She tilted her head in the direction Cu Chulainn and Queen Medb left in. “I would have it no other way.”
She felt her feet go numb and noticed golden sparkles drifting into the air above her. A sigh rolled off her body. It was time.
I am with no knowledge of how to pass… and yet, I am not afraid. Though this is not what I expected, I suppose my wish was granted.
“Scathach, I…”
The spearwoman fought to remove her arm out from under her and produced crunching sounds in doing so. She squinted her closed eyes, reaching for her master. They refused to touch her.
“You’ll let me go alone?” she asked, her voice teasing.
Master took her disjointed hand, careful not to break her fragile grasp further. Their tears rained down on Scathach without reservation.
“That’s better,” she muttered. “Thank you, Master.”
For the first time, the Queen of the Land of Shadows stepped into the light.
In the Land of Shadows, I could not see nighttime nor daylight. Purgatory was my home, and all I was to know. Black. Gray. White. No color outside of those my pupils brought in flowers and parchment paper.
My greatest achievement was preparing those that would change history in ways I could not.
Heyo I was wondering,, do you have rules for what can be requested? I have a request but I'm not entirely sure its the sort you do? On the off chance it is: Could you do the hcs for a young woman summoning Scathach in an Moon Cell/Extraverse scenario?
I like a challenge ecks dee winky-cat-face. Don’t assume I’m on that relationship grind just because people keep requesting it. It’s not my fault everyone wants to smash dead people.
Format swapping throughout this, forgive me.
Scathach in the Moon Cell Holy Grail War
A master that should not have been. A battle that was not hers to fight. Blood poured from her lips and pooled in her dimples. Peers kicked her body across the hall, tore her clothes. She kept the tears in and waited to die.
But a shadow appeared before her, and her peers toppled to the ground. Their cries shocked her awake. The figure took a spearman’s stance, their weapon wrapped in rags. They knelt beside the girl.
“Master,” they whispered, “I will not leave you here.” They lifted the girl from the ground and carried her in their arms.
Scathach relies on her master for nothing more than mana. As her master’s body slowly recovers, the Heroic Spirit goes out of her way to put her master’s life above victory in all scenarios.
Scathach often fights as though she has a death wish. While she desperately wants to die like a human would, she cannot. For this reason she battles alongside her master hoping some day her peerless pupil ends her life.
Master is inexperienced, despite her crest and powerful magic circuits. The conditions would be ideal for a servant if Master had any idea how to properly utilize her abilities.
She’s spent much of her educational career being overlooked, hovering near the middle of the pack. She’s never been considered brilliant, nor stupid, nor exceptional.
What she lacks in book smarts she makes up for in creativity–her ability to find absurd ways to use magecraft is unmatched.
Master and Scathach develop a close camaraderie, though they have nothing in common.
Scathach takes on a mentoring role with her master and instructs in the way of the spear. Master becomes passable enough to defend herself in an emergency.
The fun starts once she improvises a method of using magecraft to empower objects and other abilities. (This isn’t unlike the way another Anime Protagonist learned to become swords.)
The two of them make a decent pair. After a time they learn to balance with each other’s strengths. Scathach makes for an excellent educator. Master is an expert of improvisation.
They do not win the Moon Cell Holy Grail War due to Master sustaining a life-threatening injury. Scathach, overwhelmed with guilt and the desire to protect a life that doesn’t deserve to end so soon, elects to stay by her master and continuing to defend their stage for as long as need be.
The two of them plot to eventually try to either reach the top or be thrown out together.
