"I'll try it."
I thought it was worth a shot.
If, by some chance, she can become a normal Heroic Spirit just by contracting with me, that would surely be an incredible power.
[Are you really going to do it? I'm a bit skeptical, you know.]
BB's reaction was quite negative. I understand.
What's the point of turning a corrupted being back to normal now? Of course, she seemed curious from a purely experimental standpoint, but BB's reaction also implied that if it actually worked, it would be a pain in its own way.
"Atalante. Will you come with me?"
I walked over to Atalante alone and undid her Spirit Origin Binders.
Everyone expressed their concern, but I told them it was fine.
Just in case something happened, I took her and went into the forest.
"Why should I follow the orders of a man like you…"
As I quietly raised my fist, Atalante flinched and fell silent.
BB had broken the simple contract that was tied to her previous master's authority. Now, all I had to do was hold her hand and form a new one.
I entered the forest to prepare for any contingency and decided to form the contract with her.
Even if she went on a rampage, I had my Command Spells, and BB could respond immediately.
"Tsk, just get it over with."
She didn't like it, but perhaps she felt she had no other choice. She obediently held out her hand, still gazing at me with a look of loathing.
I took her hand, and my Command Spells began to glow.
==================================
Her eyes opened.
When Atalante, who should have been in Chaldea, opened her eyes, she was in France, and before her stood a Master who looked different.
But that wasn't the important part.
Memories flooded in. Her actions from the past days flashed before her eyes like a revolving lantern.
She had cried out like an animal in heat, pinned beneath a man she didn't even know. She had thrust her hips, thrown into a frenzy even greater than the one she experienced with Hippomenes in the temple under a goddess's curse.
She remembered preying on children, playing with them, laughing as she abused them.
She, who had grown up an orphan, had killed the parents of children and raised them as undead to serve her. She had killed and insulted countless people. Worse, she had insulted and condemned her original Master.
Even though she knew what kind of life he had lived, what great deeds he had accomplished, and what hardships he had endured and overcome.
The wind was cold.
Between the gently swaying shadows of the forest, her breathing could be heard.
The Calydonian Boar hide that draped her melted away as if it were mud, scattering and returning her to her original form.
Her hair, when it caught the light, would have looked like a soft gold. But now, it was as if soaked in darkness, a lifeless green that was faintly scattered.
Soon, the forest grew quiet.
It was as if even the wind had stopped; only the sound of a falling leaf cut through the air.
In the midst of it, Atalante was on her knees.
The moment her memories returned, no. The moment she was replaced by Sho's Servant, Atalante, she recalled the deeds of this world's Atalante as if she had committed them herself.
"Hey."
As if reacting to that voice, her bloodshot eyes trembled.
In front of her was her Master.
Kuriyama Sho.
He was the same as before, but now he looked at her with eyes that held a deeper sadness. Seeing Atalante's reaction, Sho could guess what she must be feeling.
"Atalante."
That name pierced her heart like an old memory.
She tried to open her mouth, but all that came from her throat was a hoarse breath.
At the sound of the voice calling her name, her shoulders trembled slightly. But she did not raise her head.
Her fingertips dug into the earth. Blood seeped from under her nails, but it was as if she couldn't even feel it.
"You're back."
Sho was simply stating that the normal Atalante had returned. There was likely no other meaning behind his words.
But to her, those words echoed in her ears like an explosion. Atalante raised her head. The moment her Master's face came into view, she felt a sensation as if something inside her was shattering.
"What have I… what have I done…"
Her hands trembling, she fell to her knees. The air enveloping her shoulders was frigid. From the moment she awoke from the dream-like corruption, her mind was ceaselessly overwhelmed by self-loathing. The indelible memories, the sensation of blood on her hands.
Her wish, 'to protect children,' had been twisted into such a profane form. Her wish for 'a world where children are happy,' for what purpose had she yearned for it? Only now did she feel that truth with her entire being.
Her voice was cracked. Her eyes were empty, and her breathing grew ragged.
It was still vivid. She, who had loved children and cherished the wish to see them smile, had raped children with a laugh. How many had she raped?
The children's cries, their tears, had felt like sweet syrup. What a twisted, contorted, filthy, and hideous desire.
"What I… what I did, it's all coming back. It won't leave my head. I, I did those things…"
Before she could finish her sentence, she clutched her head. Memories poured in like shards of glass.
They weren't clear, but the emotion within them was. Not shame, not anger.
Disgust.
It was the sensation of reaching the point where you can no longer trust yourself.
"My hands are so dirty… I can't clean them…"
Her white, beautiful hands felt nothing but filthy. To her eyes, they appeared to be covered in dirty mud.
Atalante rubbed her own arms with trembling hands.
She tried to scrub them until her skin was red and raw, but nothing disappeared.
Her eyes wavered. Her breathing quickened, and her chest tightened.
"Stop it."
Sho quietly approached and placed a hand on her shoulder. At that single touch, her entire body shuddered. Yet she couldn't stop, and he grabbed her wrists.
"Stop!"
Sho shouted, but his voice was filled not with anger, but with sorrow as he looked at Atalante.
"It's not your fault."
Atalante looked up.
But his words didn't reach her.
The warmth from his fingertips was so comforting that it was, instead, painful.
Tears welled up in her eyes. The tears fell coldly, dampening the ground.
Atalante then mumbled in a trembling voice.
"No… I felt it. Somewhere inside me… in that moment… I…"
Her words were cut short by a sob.
Instead of a voice, a stifled scream escaped her.
"It's my fault! My weak self is to blame! In the end, I'm the one who did it! I, with my own hands… I defiled and tormented children. I killed countless innocents and swore an oath of obedience, wagging my tail for the worst kind of man! How could I be so foul, so dirty, so evil!"
It was something done by a person who was Atalante, but not Atalante. But she remembers it. The sin that she (Atalante) committed.
Something inside Atalante's chest crumbled. She burst into the tears she had been trying so hard to hold back. The guilt, the fear, the despair that this world's Atalante had forgotten flowed out with her tears.
"It's not your fault."
Her Master pulled her into a hug.
Her body was as cold as ice.
"So, it's okay. You're back. That's all that matters."
He said those words as he quietly held her by the shoulders.
It's okay.
At that one phrase, Atalante couldn't hold on any longer.
The tears she had tried to suppress burst forth, and her sobs tore through the forest air.
Guilt and fear, mixed with a single ray of hope for salvation, she was breaking down.
And as she broke, he continued to support her in silence.
It was a truly ridiculous thing.
It was always like this.
The Servant should be the one supporting the Master.
Instead of supporting the one who had saved the world countless times and had to save it again, countless people were saved and redeemed by him, and it was always he who supported the countless Servants.
It was the same this time.
The one who needed saving the most was the one trying to save others.
At this weak and pathetic sight of herself, Atalante cried even more.
When, just when would she be able to support and save the boy who had been forced to become an adult?
The hero who couldn't save a single child, who wished for the happiness of children, continued to wail. She cried so loudly it echoed through the forest, so loudly it tore through the air and the wind. It was truly the howl of a beast.
It was impossible to know how much time had passed.
As her sobs subsided, she finally caught her breath in his arms and whispered.
"Do I have the right to stand by your side?"
"That's for you to decide."
He said with a faint smile.
"You're a strong person. You've been hurt, but you're someone who can stand up and fight again. Right? If even Jason can do it, there's no way Atalante can't. He, after all, has a record of trying to destroy the world."
The tears had dried, and the radiant light of the sun began to shine in the sky.
The shadows of the forest retreated, and a cool breeze brushed against her hair.
"A person like me, am I allowed to protect children? Am I allowed to run for your sake?"
"Yes, if you want to. If you still remember the smiles of children, if you want me, then yes."
At those words, a faint light returned to her eyes.
Atalante quietly stood up.
Her eyes still held sadness, and the guilt had not disappeared, but above it all, a small seed of forgiveness was beginning to sprout. Within it, a tiny light had been rekindled.
"I… I will fight again. This time… to truly protect the children. For you."
At that, Sho nodded.
Her voice was weak, but it was filled with sincerity.
In that moment, it was as if her world was slowly regaining its color.
Sunlight streamed down through the canopy of the forest trees, landing on the shoulders of the two.
In that light, Atalante's eyes sparkled.
They were the eyes of a huntress, once again ready to face the world.
Sho also stood up, and sensing a presence, he briefly turned his back.
Atalante then grabbed the hem of his clothes, her fingertips tightening as if to confirm her own existence.
Her eyes were bloodshot from all the crying, but within them dwelt something different from before.
"Master… I still feel the remnants of that time within me. Someone's voice, the darkness that seeped into me. It hasn't completely disappeared."
Her voice was low and trembling, but it wasn't empty. It was an admission, and a beginning.
Sho nodded.
"I'm sure it hasn't. Wounds don't fade easily. But that is proof that you are fighting against that sin."
Atalante bowed her head. The hem of her clothes was damp with dirt and dust, but she paid it no mind.
Her gaze then turned far away, towards the sky where a faint light shone.
"I wished to protect children. But in the end, the children of this world came to fear me. What I did… was the opposite of that wish."
Her voice was carried away by the wind. But within it, there was resolve.
"Master. In the past, you once told me. That protecting wasn't just about fighting."
It was something Sho couldn't remember, something he didn't know. But for some reason, he instinctively had a feeling of what he might have said.
"That what I had to protect was their innocence. I always thought I held your words in my heart. But after this, I've moved beyond simply holding them; I truly understand. Never again… I will not taint that light."
The presence was gone, and Sho turned back to face Atalante.
He took a step forward and held out his hand.
"Then let's do it together. You don't have to atone for this alone. The one we couldn't handle back at Chaldea, it's my responsibility too for arriving late. So, let's move forward together."
She was silent for a moment.
Her fingertips trembled, but she slowly took her Master's hand.
The moment that warm touch was conveyed, the darkness in her heart began to melt away, little by little.
Sunlight seeped through the strands of her hair.
The light, once again, was illuminating her existence.
"Yes… let's go together, Master. If these hands can still shoot an arrow for the children, and for you, then that will be my atonement."
There was still a reason to draw her bow. Still a reason to nock an arrow, a reason to run.
Her eyes sparkled once again like those of a huntress.
The wind blew.
She raised her bow.
And in that moment, she was once again ready to face the world as Atalante (the Chaste Huntress).
"I offer my bow to you once more. My legs will run for you, and my arrows will pierce your enemies. I will never make you sad again. My Master."
At that vow, he silently took her hand.
And watching all of this were BB and Ritsuka.
"What do you think, BB?"
[Since it's Senpai's choice, I have no objections. Besides, that Miss Atalante is different from the one who betrayed you. I was quite surprised. To think it would turn out this way. If it were the Atalante that you and I knew, I thought she might go on a rampage.]
"Me too. She was always extremely sensitive about children. Is Sho's Servant... different?"
[Perhaps Senpai is the savior of this world. Of course, even if Senpai engages in these rescue activities, it won't cause any problems for our plan, nor will it change anything. In fact, it might even be helpful?]
"Right. In fact, I think it's very much like Sho, and I like that. Besides, if they become different people who know Sho, rather than the ones we knew, then there's no problem. If not, well... they'll be good ammunition for Chen Gong."
Will he become the savior of this twisted world?
Ritsuka smiled as she looked at Sho. He was, as she had suspected, her everything in this world.