Fate: Opression

15

Planet: Earth
Date: May 25 2020
Location: Abandoned building – Vincennes (Val-de-Marne - France)
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"CURSE YOU!"
A portentous punch slammed against the wall.
"CURSE YOU, GOD!"
Another punch, and the wall collapsed completely.
The building shook, the few remaining walls of wood and brick vibrated during the collapse, doing very little to hide the Caster's furious and insane screams while he madly shouted his wrath to the sky. Outside the old and abandoned house, the absolute darkness of night reigned supreme, lit only by a few solitary lampposts in the abandoned street that led to the town of Vincenness. It was a lonely, abandoned place, without any presence or sign of life.
Vincennes was a commune in the Val-de-Marne department in the eastern suburbs of Paris. It was located 4.2 miles from the center of Paris, and was one of the most densely populated municipalities in Europe. But it was precisely in the outermost area, the almost completely abandoned one to the north, that the current den and hiding place of Gilles de Rais was located: a large building similar to a mansion, abandoned for about twenty years. It was a place that instilled fear and uneasiness in the hearts of everyone who visited it even to this day – especially in the middle of the night – and for this very same reason it was the perfect hiding place for a twisted, mad Servant like him.
With a hysterical cry, Gilles slammed another punch on the ground, cracking the floor and smashing through the wood. Once again, the walls of the abandoned mansion shook from the violence of his fury, but he didn't care. He was glaring at the world with a mad snarl and furious face; his eyes even wider than normal and his cheeks wet with tears. He looked mad, hysterical, even more than usual. With a sudden jerk, he lifted himself off the ground and began pacing angrily around the dusty, empty room, putting his hands in his hair and grinding his teeth madly as he sputtered and spat out insanities and curses, unable to calm down.
"How dare He?" he raged hysterically. "Accursed God! How dare He do this to her? He keeps an iron grip on Jeanne's soul, refusing to let go! Unacceptable! Absolutely unacceptable!"
Gilles pulled out his grimoire, hurling it violently against a wall in a fit of madness and folly. Despite the damage it had suffered during the previous fight, the book had completely regenerated now. The hole caused by the arrow was completely gone, the lining returned to its original state as if it had never been hit. As Caster paced incessantly, the sound of a vase shattering on the ground echoed through the building as he panted furiously in attempt to regain his breath.
The mad Caster clenched his fists in anger, his arms trembling with fury and madness that were completely dazzling him. "And those damned pests… how dare they? How dare they interfere between me and Jeanne! They took her away from me! They interrupted us when I was so close to her! Curse them! CURSE THEM FOREVER!" he screamed at the tops of his lungs. He waved his arms like a madman, glaring at the world with a vicious scowl. "I will never forgive them! I will slaughter them all! I will summon an army of demons, and use them to tear them apart-"
"So you've failed, Caster."
His mad eyes widened. Gilles spun around, observing as a silent and imperceptible shadow suddenly emerged from a dark corner of the room behind him. And when he saw the figure that had interrupted him, his eyes widened in recognition.
The shadow who had spoken took a step forward, placing itself in front of the subdued light coming from a broken window and revealing to Gilles its true and peculiar appearance: a tall and slender man, entirely covered from head to toe by clothes that were completely different from those of the modern era. He wore light armor of dark color, a mixture of black and gray, along with a red hood that covered his head, hiding his face completely. However, it wasn't so much his appearance that was strange, but his presence.
The crazy Caster noticed it right away. A heavy, deadly aura hovered around the man like a fog, so dense and heavy that it could be physically perceived by any Heroic Spirit. His mere presence emitted a wave of unrest and oppression that was decidedly considerable; so heavy that it would have made any human pass out and make even the weakest Servants tremble. It was a strange, alien, oppressive presence; that oozed a smell of death and tampered with whatever light and hope nearby. Any sane person would have unconsciously withdrawn from him.
But Gilles was no ordinary person and Servant. On the contrary, his eyes narrowed and his shoulders visibly relaxed. A flash of recognition flashed in his features, before being replaced by indifference.
"Oh... it's just you," he merely said after the initial moment of surprise. His greeting felt empty and emotionless, as if he was bored now. Even his expression became empty and dull, compared to the mad anger that had flooded him before.
The man in armor and with the hood on his head took a second step forward, peering at him with an invisible expression. "…You've failed," he repeated again, in a hollow, emotionless voice; almost toneless.
Gilles ground his teeth, drooling like a furious animal. "I was interrupted! Some stupid pests got in the way and thwarted my reunion with Jeanne! They forced me to flee!" he hissed with hysterical madness.
"..."
Mere silence greeted his fierce justification. The hooded man said nothing, but he grunted almost imperceptibly. Then, he turned his head towards the window, observing the outside of the building.
"That was not the plan, Caster."
Gilles rounded on him, pointing a finger at his chest and piercing him with an unhealthy look. "I never agreed to this plan of yours. It never interested me! All I want, all I care about is to take back my Maiden, my Holy virgin! And if I remember correctly, you said you had the situation under control! That you didn't need me!" he retorted fiercely, his eyes wide and full of madness.
"There were some… complications," was the other's simple reply.
"COMPLICATIONS? WHAT KIND OF COMPLICATIONS!?" Gilles yelled hysterically. "YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO DEVASTATE THE ENTIRE CAPITAL TO THE GROUND! YOU SAID YOU WOULD HAVE DESTROYED EVERYTHING WHILE I TOOK CARE OF JEANNE!"
The man stared impassively into the night sky, ignoring the insane Servant as he screamed like a madman.
"I was interrupted too. There were complications," he repeated again.
"WHY?" Caster demanded.
The man turned slowly, looking at him with a in impassive gaze hidden under the hood.
"Same as you. Someone stopped the conflict before it could escalate."
Gilles remained still. The hooded Servant clenched his fists lightly.
"Napoleon failed. He's been captured."
"..."
Gilles blinked. He stared for a while. Then, after ten seconds of silence, his lips parted into a wide, mad grin. "Hoooooooh? Your pawn failed you? Then, I guess your little plan was ruined by the same snoopers who took away my Holy Maiden," he casually said, chuckling in a creepy way.
The silence of the mysterious man was enough to answer him.
The mad Servant hissed under his breath. "Curse them! CURSE THEM!" he yelled once again, his anger returning instantly. "To think they would dare to interefere beteween us! To think they would steal her! THEY STOLE HER FROM ME! DAMN YOU, ACCURSED PESTS!" he raged incoherently, shaking violently and pulling his hair out with his hands.
The man stared at him with disinterest. "Is that misguided Saint so important to you?" he asked with disgust.
"OF COURSE!" Gilles practically roared, grinning like a madman as he rounded on the dark figure. "She was forsaken by God, died in shame, and now… at last, she has come back to life! Such… Such is a miracle! What else could it be but the fulfillment of my DREAM?!"
He kneeled to the ground, his hands furiously gripping his hair.
"Oh, Maiden… my holy virgin…" he groaned pathetically, howling and whimpering and crying at the same time.
The man stared at him with obvious disgust. His disappointment and distaste were perceptible even without seeing his face.
"...no matter. It's not over. Not yet."
Gilles shook like an animal as he spoke those words.
"I cannot stop here! I cannot give in now!" he screamed in eagerness, theatrically raising his arms to the sky. "I won't give up! I must prove it to her! That God's power is gone... that His love is wasted! That no foul deed, no horrible crime is worthy of God's punishment! That is my mission!"
The hooded Servant stared as Gilles raised his head, his eyes widening comically and his teeth bared in a ferocious smile.
"Therefore! We require greater depravities, greater blasphemies. We must erect a veritable Tower of Bable of human sacrifices!" he declared without hesitation.
The hooded man crossed his arms with casual movement.
"And how are you going to do?" he asked him rhetorically. "Whatever you have in mind, you'll never be able to defend yourself against all those Servants."
Caster's entire body trembled with excitement and madness.
"...I have a plan," he said with an eerie smile. "I shall paint the gardens of God with even more brilliant despair and terror! I will show to Jeanne the cruel reality! I will open her eyes once and for all!"
The mysterious man stared in silence as Gilles screamed loudly with madness.