Chapter Text
They had fought so many battles together...
In the space of their two and a half years side by side the world had changed in so many ways.
Leviathan was dead, the Simurgh almost fell, dozens of villains had been slain or captured with Karna's might.
When the day came for the end of the world, they marched together to face it. The first few skirmishes, the battles in the US came to little, Scion was just too strong for Parahumans to deal with, even Eidolon could not do it. There was so much happening, so much confusion.
Yet Karna seemed resolved, his reputation, his legend was a symbol of hope. It lent weight to his words when he declared, not long after Gold Morning began; "Master, we must fight in India, that is where I shall be at my strongest."
And thus it was.
Taylor did not know what strings were pulled behind the scenes and quite how it came to pass, as the world was evacuated and her thoughts went out for her father, who she could only hope was safe.
And yet here she was, in a vast Indian plain that Karna found familiar yet changed from his own times, awaiting the battle against Scion.
Mankind needed a hero right now.
The slayer of Leviathan, the man who had put down so many threats and villains, Karna's name had spread across the world but it was here in his homeland that everyone knew the tale. This was the land of his birth where he could not be contested by anything short of the Golden Man himself.
And yet when it began there was no time for thinking.
The brilliant earrings of the sun protected her from the heat of her servants’ flames, her training over the years allowed her to stand when once she may have fallen. Karna burned brilliantly, without holding anything back.
The earth churned, broke apart and disintegrated with every blow exchanged between them that sent ripples through the landscape.
Each second that she and Karna bought mankind was another moment for more Capes to be marshalled, for more civilians to be evacuated to other worlds.
She had no doubt that she would likely die here today.
But she would die beside Karna, giving their all for the sake of humanity.
How long it lasted, she had no idea.
The ambient mana was fluctuating and she was drawing in as much as her body, with its limited circuits, could manage.
It was as if the very world itself knew the significance of what was happening here and was directing its energy here. Perhaps, deep below the earth one of the ‘Ley Lines’ that Karna had once mentioned had been rerouted? It did not matter, just so long as it kept coming.
Even if she couldn’t cast spells or do anything more, she could absorb it all for him to make use of. She had two command seals, if she was desperate she could use one to preserve Karna's life, restore him... but what if it was not enough?
Karna was hurt, even with his Kavacha and Kundala there were nicks and cuts that made it through, yet he pushed through as if they were nothing.
With blasts and flame, martial might and more was forcing Scion to focus on him, there was no room for focusing on anything else.
He kept up as they went blow for blow, Scion's golden beams were ducked and dodged, his teleportation matched with sheer speed. Both were tough, but Scion just kept coming back and getting better, Karna was being worn down by increments.
And then---
Barriers, blockers, tens of Capes, hundreds collected across countless worlds, Eidolon among them, all creating a great wall, locking down this place. Karna had explained its importance, his ultimate weapon was so destructive that it could destroy anything, and it could only be used once.
Scion had to be locked down, no matter the sacrifice, no matter the cost!
Blasting apart his body and annihilating the entirety of his existence with Vasavi Shakti, the invincible spear of the King of the Gods, was the only option. Quite how so many capes with the abilities needed were gathered, she could not now---and it did not matter!
The only thing that mattered was humanity, was victory against this impossible foe!
"Master!"
The time had come.
Scion was high in the sky above them, all this time she had been waiting for the right moment.
"Karna! By my Command Seal, release your ultimate Noble Phantasm!
"Very well, Master!"
Was this what it had been leading to this entire time?
Had he known such from the very beginning, that moment they met?
The heavens were burning and boiling apart as Karna's golden armour was given away, just as it once had been. In his hands was fire, regal and magnificent he hung here in the midair, taking up the great spear that materialised within them.
The floor beneath her feet was liquifying all at once, flowing like water and yet she forced herself to stand upright, her earrings shielding her from the heat.
But even then, it felt as if she might combust at any moment.
They were sinking, the force of the continuous explosion unleashed by the emergence of Vasavi Shakti had turned the Indian plain on which they stood into a wasteland of fire and molten liquid.
The very world was melting away, the sky was an ocean of white and red. A great spoked wheel burst of flame burst into being around Karna as the air roared with the heat, like a sun brought down to earth.
Were she the same Taylor who had directed Karna to unleash his Noble Phantasm against Leviathan, then surely she would have been drained of her mana and life within an instant. As it was, her body was burning as the mana within the air redoubled in intensity and she greedily soaked it up to feed to her servant.
"Scion! Enemy of the planet and destined enemy of this life of mine! Know the mercy of the King of Gods!"
Karna’s voice somehow was louder than this din.
"Indra, open your eyes."
Karna pointed the thunder spear of the King of the Gods directly upwards at the enemy of the human race.
High above them, in the burning sky, she could just about perceive Scion, unable to run, unable to flee this place as the innumerable barriers created contained and hemmed them in. She could feel more than see it, the response to come, the desperate effort to retaliate against what was about to happen.
"This single strike is extinction itself!"
The spear illuminated, ready to burst with its all conquering force.
"Burn it all!"
A great golden light in the sky, coming down, a vast force that would destroy anything it hit---
"O' Sun Abide by death; Vasavi Shakti!"
By all accounts she should have blinded her instantly as the twin beams met, as the world continued to melt and burn away around her Taylor forced herself to stay standing and watching, unblinking.
Gold met gold, fire met force as Karna and Scion's final, ultimate attacks clashed, by all means one should have been overwhelmed by the other were it not for the absolute force both put into it.
Where they met it was like a star was being born; it was a roiling, boiling place where the very laws of physics were breaking down and melting, turning over themselves and being rebuilt.
Vasavi Shakti would only grow in intensity and strength, it would only escalate by the second until it would overwhelm even a god, even a divinity beyond the ability of a human being to understand. But until then, until it was powerful enough to overcome anything, the golden beam of Scion was pushing it back, there could be no doubt that the enemy of humanity was giving his all in this moment, expending the energy of a dying sun---
She still had one command seal, she had hoped that it would let her save him once all this was over, but right now there was nothing else---
Despite the limitless roaring and sundering of the world around her, she knew that he would hear her voice even as she screamed at the top of her voice
"BY MY COMMAND SEAL, SHOW ME THE SUN THAT SHINES WITH VICTORY, KARNA!!!"
The great column of power emanating from the spear intensified, Karna was the faintest speck of dust compared to the ever-growing radiance that seemed ready to swallow up the entire of existence.
By all logic...
No... logic had ceased to matter in this place, as had time and distance, space and even matter.
She was not sure if she was truly alive, there was only the present moment in which she existed, each second stretching into a vast infinity as Master and Servant gave their everything.
In this place, there was only defeat and victory.
...
...
...
She stumbled.
There was no way that she could still walk, but she forced her legs to obey even though they wanted to collapse under her.
In this blasted hellscape that only a blind man could call the plain on which they had fought, she alone walked. There was not a feature by which to navigate, the very sky itself was outshone by the light emitting from the burning earth, only a solitary star, the sun, burned high above as if to guide her way.
She found what remained of him laying on his back, staring up into the sky, the liquid earth rippled and lapped up against his body as she approached.
"Karna!" she said.
"Master... I am glad to see you survived," he said, it was such a simple statement and yet it had her wanting to say something, to do something. Perhaps if... no, his wounds were just... so bad. Perhaps if she had kept her final command seal, could she have commanded him to live? Could she have saved him?
Ah... but in the end, she had needed it to guarantee victory...
"... I'm sorry that I could not do more," she said, kneeling down in the still semi-molten stone. It did not burn her, it merely felt mildly warm... but her mind was not on that anymore.
"Hah, you were magnificent, Master."
"Not as magnificent as you, Karna."
"At least this time, I had the opportunity to die fighting, rather than lifting a chariot’s wheel..."
For one who had never truly rested, who had ever been watchful, it was like this was the first time that she had ever seen Karna at peace, in this hellish wasteland of an Earth that had been almost evacuated.
What a juxtaposition… Karna was like a solitary red and white poppy on a battlefield.
"You should get away whilst you can, Master, even if my earrings shall protect you, this is no place for you now... we have done our duty."
Until the last, concerned for her safety, no, for the safety and concerns of others.
"My place is here, until you fade away."
Karna did not say anything to that... he smiled.
Despite everything he smiled.
How long would he stay? Would his body just stay here when he died? He always said that his body was both physical and also not, would he just... fade away? It did not matter. Their time together felt so long but also so short, they had had so many little interactions, so many adventures and battles at one another’s sides.
But looking at him now...
Something was missing.
She reached up to her ear.
"In your first life, you died without even the comfort of your father’s gift," she said.
"Master..." Karna said, only to fall silent, eyes blinking in surprise as she removed the left earring. She reached down to carefully push the metal spike back through the hole in her servant's left earlobe, returning to him some small part of the golden gift granted by his father.
"... It's not quite Kundala, I know..." she apologised. "...But as the one thing you had when you were left on the river, you should not die without it this time.”
She was not quite sure how she delivered the statement with such conviction, perhaps it was the strange serenity that had fallen with the exhaustion and stress of the battle. She reached up to remove the other earring, the one in her right.
Without it, she would probably burn to death…
Karna's bloodied hand gripped her arm, halting it. Even weak and dying... his grip was so very strong, strong enough to hold back her movement, and she looked down at him.
Karna was smiling.
"...I am glad to have called you my Master, Taylor Hebert…”
Even with the blood marring his lips, he was just as handsome as ever.
For a long moment he gripped her arm, before he released it, strength gone. She reclaimed his hand, lacing her fingers with his and placing it on his chest.
“This time, when I die… I shall have a friend by my side."
Nothing more was said.
Nothing else had to be said.
Amidst the smoking, cooling wasteland that had once been an Indian plain, Taylor sat with Karna as the first hints of pink began to appear on the horizon, the first sunset on the world after their victory. As his body began to dissolve and his eyes closed, Taylor watched in silence, his hand still holding hers.
She was managing to smile even though her cheeks were wet, her eyes were full despite her vision being so clear, taking in every detail of the hero's last moments.
When his body disappeared utterly and a portal opened behind her for her to leave, the earring in her ear remained, the solitary thing left of the Hero of Charity.