Sagittarius

Sagittarius: Chapter 28 [Finale]

Gang gang, college is canceled forever and we're all gonna die.

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"Thank you for everything."

Gray was vanishing. Just as she had predicted she would when the Grail deemed her job was done. Without mana to keep her form, she would have only had a few days to stick around, but with the blast from Rhongomyniad, it seemed like that time was even less.

Mere seconds.

Toshinori felt his heart twist as he gazed at the girl's expression.

It was, for lack of a better word, pained.

She didn't want to go.

He knew that look and he glanced to his hands, feeling a prick of pain on the back of his right hand.

A glimmer of red in his mind.

The laws barred any hero from becoming a magus, and vice versa, right? Save for life or death situations, Chiron had told him and Enji.

But he no longer had One for All. His body was no longer fit for hero work.

And Chiron had told him that his circuits and mana levels were abnormally high for someone who wasn't from a line of mages— that he knew of.

So... it should be fine, right?

"Gray—" Chiron started as Toshinori made his mind up. The centaur made a move to step towards the vanishing girl before Yagi held a hand out in front of him. The centaur looked at him with a mix of disbelief and sadness before he stepped forward instead.

Though his right arm had been shattered by All for One, he raised it and a web of electric blue-green lines lit up on his skin. The light subsided and condensed on the back of his hand, fading from that green-blue color to a deep, blood red.

"Gray," the once hero said, holding his hand out to her. She startled, eyes widening as they landed on the three sigils on the back of his hand.

"There's still much in this world that you want to do right?" he asked, "I might not be any sort of seasoned Mage, and I'm all but retired from heroics now, so it should be fine..."

Blue eyes met green as he gazed at her.

"If I let you return to the Throne now, how could I ever bear the name of a hero or teacher?" He started, voice soft but determined. "Your eyes tell me that you want to live. Young Gray, tell me... am I worthy of forging a Contract with you? Will you take this hand of mine and forge a Contract with me?"

The Assassin seemed at a loss for words before Add spoke up.

"It's time for you to make a choice out of selfishness, kid," the Mystic Code said, "Take his hand."

"B-but—" the girl swallowed, hesitant. "I- I—"

"Just take the damn thing!" the code shouted and the girl squeaked.

"O-Okay—! D-Don't yell—!" she said, reaching out and grasping Toshinori's hand tightly. She let out a breath before she gazed up at him.

"I accept your offer, Mister— no, Master. I'll forge a Contract with you."

He chuckled softly as Add let out a satisfied huff and the Command Seals on the back of his hand glowed. Gray let go of his hand before she knelt, one hand over her chest.

"Thy body shall be under my command, my fate shall be determined by thy sword. Follow the call of the Holy Grail," He found himself chanting as a golden glow shone from the seals and settled around them. "If thou wouldst obey this mind and reason, then answer my call."

"I shall accept your oath under the name of Assassin," Gray responded, her eyes shining with a determined glint as she spoke. "Now you are my Lord, and I am your Servant!"

In a flash that startled media officials, emergency responders, and heroes alike, the contract was sealed. Gray returned to a more corporeal form as she stood and the light faded.

She flexed her hand before she smiled. "For someone who never practiced magic until recently, you have very strong circuits."

"That's what I said," Chiron said with a chuckle before he walked over, patting both of them.

"Yagi," the Archer turned to him and he blinked. "Thank you."

Toshinori smiled. "Of course," he said, "It's the least I could do, after all. Ah, you told me before that there was a Master once whose body couldn't sustain the use of his Servant's Noble Phantasm, right? I hope I don't hinder you in any way, Young Gray."

Gray blinked before she glanced at her hands. "No, I think I'll be alright," she said, "As soon as I rest, I can also support my Phantasm with my own mana as well. We'll just have to see."

"I hate to break this up," Musashi said as she walked over to join them as well, her hands on her hips with a slight grin. "But the press and medical guys are wanting to talk to the big guy and clean up the potato." The three of them looked at her before Gray smiled a bit, hiding a laugh behind her hand.

"I should tell you to respect the dead more," Chiron said with a chuckle, "But I suppose I can let this one slide." Musashi only grinned again, the three walking off as Toshinori spared the corpse of All for One a last glance.

It felt surreal. He knew that Chiron's method went against everything a hero was supposed to be. But he also knew that the Archer wasn't bound to the same laws that the heroes were— yes he was a Hero with a license, but he was a being who would outlive and outlast all of them in the end.

He gazed back at the three Servants who had been joined by Edgeshot and Gran Torino, Endeavor seeming to hover on the edge of their line of sight as he watched the media. The Flame Hero was oddly... well, protective wasn't the word, but it was close enough. He wasn't letting the media get close at all, all the reporters shrinking back as he glared at them. The threats to melt cameras probably didn't help.

Blue eyes met two sets of green as Chiron and Gray glanced back to him. He blinked before Gray walked back over, taking his hand.

"Let's go back to the others, Master."

"Please," Toshinori said with a chuckle, coughing into his other hand with a shake of his head. "Just call me Toshinori."

His life would go on, it seemed. He smiled as he let the Assassin Class Servant pull him towards the others. Gran Torino looked relieved, giving him the smallest of nods as Musashi slung an arm around Edgeshot, much to the other hero's chagrin.

Toshinori gazed up at the sky again, silent as he watched the early morning clouds creep back into the sky.

He would have to give Midoriya a strong scolding when he saw him again.

[End of Sagittarius, look forward towards Grave Keeper, the second book in the series, and Paladin, a compilation of various one-shots within the series]

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Thank you all so, so, so much for sticking around for this long! Did you all like it? I hope so! As said above, there will be two more stories uploaded here eventually. Paladin is up and Grave Keeper is coming. Paladin isn't solely focused on Astolfo (obviously) but Gray Keeper will have a lot of Gray-centric parts. This one will go up to the end of the Shie Hassaikai arc. I don't plan on doing the Villain arc (there's literally no reason since none of the Servants would be there), nor do I plan on doing the Endeavor agency arc. BTW, those two were both manga arcs, so if you haven't read the manga yet... spoilers.

Anyways, yeah. Plus Ultra and all that jazz.

Thank you all again. Love you all.