It's hard to image a worse ending considering how Diarmuid had died in the war. And yet worse endings are what hit Diarmuid fast and hard once he touches the mirror. In one he wins the Grail for his lord, only to have Sola-Ui go back on her word. She uses the command spells she took from Kayneth to bind Diarmuid to her will, she uses the wish to bring him into true incarnation, and then she murders Kayneth so there is nothing more that can come between them as the city burns around them.
In another world he falls and doesn't end up in the Tower, but still returns to the world--this time as a gift given to a King whose wish for entertainment the Grail can find no other way to fulfill. Ten years of pain and enslavement follow. Ten years of having what little is left of himself stripped away, until only a completely broken and obedient toy remains. Of course, broken toys, no matter how obedient, are boring. At least, final death had been quick...
And then there is the 6th war, the war seeped in corruption. Dismantling the Grail fails in the worst way possible, spreading the corruption in the Grail to all parts of the world instead. Honor and nobility does not last long in that war, and Diarmuid finds himself sacrificed to the corruption, used as a tool to slaughter innocents and fellow servants alike. The only small light comes when a face he can barely recognize through the darkness releases him.
The futures aren't restricted to his world, though. Perhaps, it's because of how much he has let go of his own world that he sees possible Tower futures as well. He sees everyone fail in so many ways, he sees everyone he cares about die in so many ways, but the worst is when he sees Ruana devour Waver's soul right in front of him. In that world, red and black flood his eyesight and he falls into a madness he never comes out of again. The pain caused by seeing that future is so strong and so real, that Diarmuid almost loses himself to it.
Then...there is a light, a small one, but something Diarmuid cannot help but reach for...
They are at Newgrange, he and Waver. It's Samhain night and they shouldn't be there. The historical site is closed to visitors, but then again, Diarmuid isn't exactly a visitor. This is home, or at least, the location of the gate that had led to his father's home thousands of years ago.
He turns to Waver with a smile and reaches out his hand, a link to pull the modern into the past. A link to pull them both back home...
When Diarmuid wakes in his room, he just lays there for a long time staring at the ceiling with wet eyes, replaying that last future over and over in his in his mind in an attempt to drive away everything else he has seen.
Vague Fate/Zero Spoilers (Warning for Ruana being Ruana.)
In another world he falls and doesn't end up in the Tower, but still returns to the world--this time as a gift given to a King whose wish for entertainment the Grail can find no other way to fulfill. Ten years of pain and enslavement follow. Ten years of having what little is left of himself stripped away, until only a completely broken and obedient toy remains. Of course, broken toys, no matter how obedient, are boring. At least, final death had been quick...
And then there is the 6th war, the war seeped in corruption. Dismantling the Grail fails in the worst way possible, spreading the corruption in the Grail to all parts of the world instead. Honor and nobility does not last long in that war, and Diarmuid finds himself sacrificed to the corruption, used as a tool to slaughter innocents and fellow servants alike. The only small light comes when a face he can barely recognize through the darkness releases him.
The futures aren't restricted to his world, though. Perhaps, it's because of how much he has let go of his own world that he sees possible Tower futures as well. He sees everyone fail in so many ways, he sees everyone he cares about die in so many ways, but the worst is when he sees Ruana devour Waver's soul right in front of him. In that world, red and black flood his eyesight and he falls into a madness he never comes out of again. The pain caused by seeing that future is so strong and so real, that Diarmuid almost loses himself to it.
Then...there is a light, a small one, but something Diarmuid cannot help but reach for...
They are at Newgrange, he and Waver. It's Samhain night and they shouldn't be there. The historical site is closed to visitors, but then again, Diarmuid isn't exactly a visitor. This is home, or at least, the location of the gate that had led to his father's home thousands of years ago.
He turns to Waver with a smile and reaches out his hand, a link to pull the modern into the past. A link to pull them both back home...
When Diarmuid wakes in his room, he just lays there for a long time staring at the ceiling with wet eyes, replaying that last future over and over in his in his mind in an attempt to drive away everything else he has seen.