Showdown at Homurahara

Rider's cheeks grew pink as he giggled, a hand ruffling through the hair on the back of his head. "I'm not SO innocent, you know!" He winked mischievously before settling on a soft patch of grass and contentedly eating his meal.

Atalanta continued with her trick shots, filling the apostle with several arrows. He very much resembled a pin cushion when she was finished. For her final trick, she shot an arrow over her shoulder, and sent it through the apple on top of the apostles head, and straight into Astolpho's hands, where she had made sure the momentum would have died down enough to not injure the boy.

Astolfo caught it, eyes glittering with a broad smile. "You're so cool, Miss Atalanta!! Let's share this!"

She plopped down next to him and happily ate the apple, admiring her handiwork on the very vexed apostle.

The sun finally began to peek over the eastern horizon. Kirei, having spent the last several hours in meditation, opened his eyes and stood. From where they stood, they could barely see the northern entrance to the school. There didn't seem to be any police cars or any other commotion. "Bow" must have cleaned things up on the outside.

Malphas panted as the first ray of sunlight hit his cheek and his skin began to crack and hiss. He then laughed and chuckled madly as the rest of his body was slowly exposed. Smoke rose from his body.

"Does this excite you, priest?" the vampire giggled. "I saw the look on your face as your two little friends tortured me. I saw the light in your eyes. Aren't you supposed to be a man of God? Isn't that right, priest?!"

Kirei frowned and produced five Black Keys. He talked too much.

"I assume there are no complaints if I do the honors."

"By all means," Atalanta said, gesturing for him to proceed.

"Of course not! And remember, God forgives all sins! Those awashed in the blood of the Lamb have been freed of the burden of evil!" Rider wiggled his feet leisurely as he began to tear open a strip of jelly.

Malphas started laughing harder, and before he could spout of any other irritating quips, Kirei rushed in. Two Keys pierced his shoulders, one in his chest, and one in his stomach, forming a semblance of a crucifix.

"Clothe yourselves with the full armor of God so that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil."

Malphas cackled as cracks formed across his face. "Your prayers are useless, priest! You know it, don't you! There is no godliness in you!"

"In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God."

"I see the same as you, Kirei Kotomine! Your heart is filled only with--"

Kirei cut him off with a violent slash of his remaining Black Key, severing his head from his body. The vampire's head rolled on the ground and quickly began to crumble into ash, as did the rest of his body. He resisted the urge to spit on the ashes. He grasped his crucifix in one hand and extended the other toward the Apostle's body.

"Pray therefore the God of Peace to crush Satan beneath our feet, that he may no longer retain men captive and do injury to the Church. Offer our prayers to the Most High, that without delay they draw His mercy down upon us; take hold of the dragon, the old serpent, which is the devil and Satan, bind him and cast him into the bottomless pit."

A flash of light, and a rush of wind, and the vampire's ashes scattered in eight directions, leaving no trace of the beast.

"Amen!!"

Atalanta looked between the two christians. "You know, many people regarded snakes as bearers of wisdom and representative of the earth. Is not your modern symbol for medicine a staff with two serpents? And do religious organizations not fund and found many hospitals?"

"The devil took the form of the Serpent to tempt man, but that does not condemn all snakes. Jesus himself told his followers to be wise as serpents, and Moses mounted a serpent on his staff with which to protect the Israelites."

"Well that seems a bit hypocritical nonetheless. You are supposed to be as wise as snakes, yet when Eve partook of fruit from the tree of wisdom, it was sin? I do not understand this insane book of yours." Atalanta shook her head at them as she rose, and dusted herself off.

"It's a thingy! Something that represents an idea or a whole! A metaphor? Real snakes are fine, not evil at all. I always thought the Serpent was like a wyrm or wyvern!" Rider playfully slashed his sword through the air as if fighting a small dragon. "Besides, the New Testament clarifies the lessons of the Old. It's important for history, but the New Testament is the important one."

Kirei declined to comment. He'd heard enough similar comments about the Bible; it wasn't something the non-faithful could ever really wrap their heads around. Hearing approaching footsteps, he turned to see the "Bow," the Burial Agency representative approaching.

"I'll admit, I'm impressed," she said. "I didn't know you could use the Black Keys like that, Kirei."

The priest just coldly stared at her.

She crossed her arms. "I'll tell the higher-ups that the Grail War can continue. I don't know if they'll believe me, but they won't take direct action for now. You'd better hurry up and win before they change their mind. You'll make the Executors look bad if you don't."

Without waiting for a reply--though none was forthcoming from Kirei--she turned and walked away.

Atalanta glared at her as she walked away, but quickly turned back to Astolpho. "While it may be so that they are metaphors, I feel as if those metaphors have perhaps had a negative influence on the world due to people who don't have enough going on upstairs. You rush to banish evil, seemingly without a thought to the fact that evil is different for everyone." She began to walk back to the theatre with her compatriots.

He sheathed his blade. "Huh... what do you think evil is, Miss Atalanta? Could I learn more about your gods?" He followed alongside her, hands clasped behind his back.

Kirei looked down at the ground thoughtfully as they walked. He understood now; this was the same thing she was telling him the previous morning. Moral relativism wasn't something held near and dear by the Church for obvious reasons.

He had to admit that the vampire's taunts had gotten to him. As a natural reflex, he jumped back into the Church's teachings. Just as the vampire wanted, he was sure. But Atalanta was already teaching him new ideas... He knew what the Church taught him couldn't be the whole truth.

"I'd be interested in learning more as well."

Atalanta was suprised at the attentive men she had suddenly gained. "Evil is...not necessarily evil. As I said, everyone's idea is different. One might consider throwing a child off of a mountain simply because they were ugly an evil act. However, that is what happened to our god Hephaestus. He rose from the hardship, and ended up being wedded to Aphrodite. Everyone falls or slips, and they are able to rise again. Personally I would say that no one is wholly good or evil." She paused to put a few more words together.
"For instance...you are both asking me about my religion. The gods might be there to guide an interest. If you loved and worshipped Aphrodite you would naturally turn to art or compassion as a trade of sorts. A sailor might worship Neptune to gain favor, so that the seas are kind to him. They are not bound to serve him, and eradicate all land so everything is only seas. That is...well preposterous."

"Even if one does worship the Gods, that isn't a guarantee of safety either. The sea could be rough anyway, and that's just...how it is. You haven't been forsaken, you have simply been a victim of nature, and have a chance to overcome it."

"You invoke gods when you're using your Phantasm, right? Tell us a story about them!!"

"Well, specifically, I invoke two different gods that are important to me. Apollo, who is a god of the bow and arrow and archery. And Artemis, who personally sent me protection when I was abandoned as a young child. They are siblings. Children of Zeus and Leto. It is said that Artemis was born first, and helped deliver her brother.
As for stories...Once, when a Queen boasted that she was superior to Leto, because she had many children, and Leto only two, her children avenged her. They killed most of the Queen's children with their bows, and their mother was turned to stone. The statue continually weeps in sorrow."
"Another time, Apollo was jealous that his sister was spending too much time hunting with another god, Orion. He dared her to prove how well she could aim, but having her hit a target far far out at sea. The target, sadly, was Orion. Despite these tails, both of them have helped many people. Apollo has aided people in many wars, and Artemis has assisted many childbirths, aside from helping me personally. It's not so simple to judge a person. Even by their actions."

"I think I remember reading about them! Maybe... or someone trying to lecture me? I promise I'm paying attention this time, though!!"

Atalanta chuckled. " It's not necessarily my business to tell you what to believe, but since you are both close to me, I feel free to criticize and compliment you. If I ever say anything that offends, please do say so, however I feel debate is a healthy thing. None of us can be so steadfast that we close our minds to other possiblities. Even in my short time here, I've had to make sure to be quite open minded on a few occasions."