Whee, Chapter 5 first draft up! I haven't had the time to rip into it myself, so it's probably full of holes and OOC goodness. Have fun!
If anyone besides Cherry wants to critique, feel free.
Chapter 5: Chance Encounters
Saturday, 2/2 – Evening
Spektrum
She was far, far gone, at least for the moment. That shock led to the catastrophic failure of her mental safeguards, which meant that the person known as Sakura Prism was once again trapped in the nightmare that was herself.
Ah well. That’s why she had made Spektrum in the first place.
>> Core partition compromised. Revoking earlier manual override: Spektrum emergency possession protocol now in effect. Activating partitions remotely... done.
Saber was standing right in front of her,. though thankfully her back was still turned. Getting away in one piece was still possible, assuming Spek could regain control of Caster’s body fast enough.
[1A: Emiya Shirou confirmed as Saber’s Master. Calculating optimal escape vector. Initiating astralization, ETA 7 minutes. Any faster is not recommended.]
[1B: Reestablishing mental divide... it’ll take a little while.]
[Twoa: Shunting pain reception to Core partition to see if we can’t shock her back. We only have a couple seconds of full-burn left in this body, so make it count.]
[Twob: Dammit, we’re way too close to Saber for comfort. Assuming close-quarters battle configuration, but if it comes to that...]
[III A: Circuit lock override: connecting all magic circuit batteries now.]
[iii b: … i’ll try to pull her out of this mess. stand by.]
As soon as Caster’s magic circuits were reactivated, Saber shifted her left foot backward. Doubtless the sudden astral presence materializing behind her caught her attention in the worst way possible.
>> Oh, shit.
The knight pivoted on her back foot, turned to face her opponent, and crouched.
>> Twoa, can the legs take a propulsive blast unreinforced?
[Twoa: Probably not.]
With agility that shouldn’t be possible for one wearing full plate armour, Saber leapt forward, sword pointed at Caster’s heart.
>> Move, dammit, move!
Spektrum tried to dodge, but since her uplink was far from complete, the body's response was too sluggish. All she could manage was a sideways jerk at the last moment.
SKRRT
Fae-forged steel pierced Caster’s shoulder, and Spektrum felt its center of balance shift slightly as its right arm was removed.
>> Detonate the arm!
Before Saber could follow up, Spek grabbed the liberated limb with her remaining arm and touched it off. Prana flowed with a familiar crackling sensation, and Caster’s form was blasted out of the shed with an eardrum-shattering boom, sound waves amplified by the shed’s cramped interior.
[Twoa: Why is it always the right side that gets messed up first?]
They’d bought a little time and distance with that maneuver, at the cost of messing up the right torso even more - Spek had turned in an attempt to minimize the blast effects.. The cloak tried to reinforce that area the best it could, but at the rate that this body was failing, it was just glad that it still had a body to work with.
The fact that Saber didn’t follow them immediately could mean several things. Given the circumstances, it either meant that the armsplosion tactic had worked better than anticipated...
[1A: Prana buildup detected around Saber’s last known location.]
… or that Shirou’s knight in shining armor was preparing something particularly nasty.
>> Fuck it, I’m not waiting to see what that is. We are leaving now. Propulsion charge set – prime – detonate.
The sudden lack of responsiveness in the legs probably indicated that they had been destroyed on that last jump - shattered femurs, shredded muscles, that sort of thing. Spektrum only hoped that the pain would help Sakura – help herself – get back in control sooner rather than later. Apparently, being summoned as an Epic Spirit did nothing to help with astral cohesion if your soul was already falling apart, and though they’d only just arrived, they were already running out of time.
Of course, it had been a rather unusual summoning on their end.
>> … good, she's not following us. 1A, stop the astralization. III A, disconnect the magic circuits – no point in falling apart after we just got away mostly intact. Twoa, prep for full body resynchronization - looks like we’ll have to use that replacement we just made. We’ll salvage what we can from this one after we transfer.
Spektrum rolled up her metaphorical sleeves and prepared to get messy.
=======
Shirou
He felt an armored hand on his arm.
“------?”
He opened his eyes. It was very dusty, and all he could hear was a tinnital whine, but he could clearly see the face of the girl who had just saved his life.
It was very, very close to his.
“----, --- --- -----. --- --- ----?”
She was saying something, but his ears were busted. He hoped the blood running to his face didn’t leak out of them.
“I can’t hear you.” At least, that’s what he hoped he said.
She gave him a quizzical look, then pointed at her own ear and made a flicking motion. Shirou shook his head, and his savior seemed to understand.
“- ---. --- ----- ---- ---- -------- ---- -------.”
She held her hand out to him, but before he could take it her eyes widened in surprise. She turned around, holding onto what looked like a piece of air.
“---- ----, ------. - ---- ---- ---- ----- ---------.”
Before he could say “Wait!”, she ran into the night, intensely focused on something outside.
He ran after her.
At least let me learn your name.
=======
“SLOP!”
The numerous blows to his head, coupled with his temporary deafness, did not help Shirou much in the speech department. His intentions were clear enough, though, and the design on his hand flashed red.
It was hard to tell who was more surprised: Shirou, by the fact that he was facing down the school idol outside his house at night, or Rin, by the fact that a battered and half-naked Shirou had just barged out of his house and stopped his Servant from finishing off her and Archer.
“… Christ, Emiya-kun. What the hell happened to you?”
Shirou tilted his head, as if straining to hear. “Wok?”
Saber sighed.
“Allow me to explain.”
=======
Zouken
He had sent Caster alone to put her at ease, make her more liable to show some weakness he could exploit. Unfortunately, that proved to be a mistake.
Following her was an exercise in frustration: her astral presence and prana emissions were nearly zero most of the time, as if her soul wasn’t really there. He thought that he would be able to track her by looking for the space where there was nothing at all, but this proved to be akin to searching for the proverbial needle in the haystack.
He then tried using his own connection to Sakura to get a better feel for the elusive Servant. Because Caster was an Epic Spirit, her soul should have been weighing heavily on Sakura’s, but for some reason he was unable distinguish between the Master and the Servant. It was as if Caster’s soul did not actually exist, impossible as that may be.
He was forced to resort to visual tracking, which was nightmarish since she kept disappearing and reappearing in the strangest of places. One moment, she was prancing around with that blue bodysuit-wearing Lancer in forest, the next she was shooting arrows at the Emiya boy before very nearly dying by the hands of his Servant.
Adding to his frustration, it also appeared that he overestimated her combat ability, though he did notice a strange surge in her prana levels during her brief encounter with Saber. It was likely interference caused by residual prana from the summoning, but he wasn’t completely sure. Something to look into later.
Thankfully, the night hadn’t been a total waste. Emiya Shirou, his granddaughter’s beloved, had unexpectedly summoned the seventh and final Servant. Now, the war – and his plans – could start in earnest.
He hadn’t expected Caster to play along without some considerable persuading, but her extremely erratic nature could jeopardize his designs, especially since she appeared to have her own agenda. It was a shame, but it seemed that he would have to start making plans for her demise on top of preparing his trump card.
Fortunately, latter could easily prove to be the key to accomplishing the former, and it could be started soon. Tonight, even. All he needed to do was make a small… investment.
Well, he did make Rider stand watch over Sakura for a reason.
=======
Sakura
Without warning, her dream shifted violently, and Sakura found herself in an unfamiliar place.
It was nighttime, and she was flying. Beneath her was a city in the desert, trapped in the throes of darkness. Somehow, she knew that it was a place of the dead, a nexus of the force that threatened to consume humanity and fill the resulting void with itself.
Yes, she knew it well. She had cultivated it, after all.
She was falling now, and kicked up a small dust cloud on landing. A presence that was at once familiar and alien spoke to her.
>> The circle’s complete. Waiting on you.
Everything was ready. After so many failures, she told herself that he was finally within reach again. He had to be, or else all of this suffering would have been for naught.
In the mind that was and was not her own, Sakura thought a single phrase.
Es werde Licht.
She ripped open the hole to her soul, and the city of shadow was consumed with light.
=======
Shadow
It had been exceedingly tricky, but the task was done to satisfaction.
A man stood before her, dressed in clothes the color of midnight. The accessory at his neck swirled in the breeze, his only concession to ornamentation.
“… I…”
Wonderful. It had wanted to bring pain to this world, and the Shadow could not imagine a better man for the job.
“… what…”
He was disoriented. Doubtless the unconventional summoning had affected him somewhat, though he would certainly have enough time to regain his bearings. With any luck, he would be able to form complete sentences before the night was through.
“…”
The man looked in its direction.
“… I appear to be… I am… an Assassin. A… false one, but an Assassin nonetheless.”
Good. Faster than she had expected.
“… what are your orders, Master?”
=======
Kirei
The priest stopped dead in his tracks.
“Hm? Something wrong, Kirei?
Kotomine Kirei was an anomaly. He was a man of the void, with an abyss where his heart should be. When his old one had failed, a shadow had provided him a new one, and for that mercy he would serve that shadow with all that he was.
That he also served God as an ordained priest was not a contradiction to him at all.
Yes, he loved God, though he had no reason to. Because he had been born broken, he had spent his younger years seeking the answer to a single question: “Why was I created?” And though his search led him to the lofty heights of achievement and acclaim,, he still felt that the Lord was indifferent, deaf to his prayers and blind to his suffering. Eventually, he ceased his search for meaning, for happiness, and accepted that God would not – and should not – save the man known as Kotomine Kirei, twisted as he was.
Then, 10 years ago, a messenger had appeared before him.
He did not know who had sent it. It certainly wasn’t God, for it stood counterpoint to all He upheld. By rights, the Lord should have struck it down the moment it was born, as it was a thing of unsullied corruption, seeking only to bathe the world in fire.
And it had saved him.
Maybe it had been a whim, a favor from the shadow to the shade. Maybe it was the work of the Devil, a temptation to test Kirei’s resolve. Maybe he had failed, and had been seduced by sin.
But what was sin, if not an emphasis to virtue? What was the Devil, if not a contrast to make God shine all the brighter? What was shadow, if not evidence of light?
In the end, in mattered little what the reason was. No, he would not be saved by God, but as recompense, Kotomine Kirei finally knew that his life had purpose.
He would give the shadow to the one he found worthy, bring about the penultimate darkness, and thus pave the way for the ultimate light – the radiance of His return. He took the Lord’s silence as implicit acceptance, and worked tirelessly ensure the birth of the being whose emptiness mirrored his own. He would be there to welcome this tainted creature, and in witnessing its descent into the evil it could not help but choose, Kirei’s own existence would finally be validated, his own demons finally silenced.
He thought that he would have to bear this glad burden in solitude. But something had happened tonight, and he was alone no longer.
An aberration had been introduced, a distortion that threatened his purpose. It was something that had once existed but now could not, for it had been replaced. A life that should have ended, did end, the moment he first found salvation.
“Heh. Was it a bad serving of that horrendous dish you always get? Such filth will only serve to blacken you further.”
It was incompatible. Wrong. Every moment it drew breath was a travesty to his faith.
It wasn’t that Kirei shunned companionship. If he was blessed with another helper, then he would meet them with open arms.
It wasn't that Kirei feared death. If God deemed his task depraved and his removal necessary, he would gladly tie the noose himself.
But this… usurper… threatened to derail everything. It was a remnant from another time, and if allowed to persist it would be the ruin of all Kirei had worked for.
The reason was simple. It would serve, but it would not truly love its service. It would be faithful, but it would not truly have faith in its toil. It would live, yet it would never truly be alive.
It was a husk, a shell with no vitality, and would not be able to see this task through.
Why did his savior choose to save it?
“Where are you going?”
Kirei stormed upstairs. He understood now: it was a test, a trial for him to overcome. He had endured hardship to find his purpose, and would endure it again to achieve it.
In a way, he was grateful.
He had been pestered by one of the Masters from the Association for several days now, a middle-aged man who complained to Kirei about his unruly Servant, as if the Supervisor for the Holy Grail War was some sort of babysitter.
Before, he did not have need of another Servant. That foolish Enforcer from the Association would provide him with all the information he required, with some additional entertainment besides. Now, though, he needed a seeker, to find this mistake, and a killer, to correct it.
In short, he needed an Assassin, and after listening to his voicemails he knew exactly where to find one.
It was time to make a house call.
========
Shirou
“That’s strange. He’s not here.”
They were inside the Kotomine Church, where Rin had planned to introduce him to the Supervisor, one Kotomine Kirei. He was supposed to be available at all hours, but it seems they caught him at a bad time.
“How… oddly irresponsible of him.”
The girl sighed, annoyed. They'd been looking for him for a couple of minutes now, even going so far as to shout his name into the empty church. Their only response was a confused Saber checking to see if they weren't under some sort of mental attack.
Shirou cleared his throat.
“Maybe we could try calling him?”
She stared at him blankly for several seconds, and Shirou wondered if he was speaking gibberish again. He thought that he had gotten over that some time ago, but he wasn't completely sure.
Then she facepalmed.
“Oh, you mean his phone. O-o f course. Obviously.”
For the briefest of moments, Shirou thought he had heard a trace of uncertainty in her voice. It must have been his imagination, though: considering how Rin was on top of everything in her life, something as trivial as a phone call shouldn't give her any trouble.
“I, uh, forgot to bring mine. Could you lend me yours, Shirou-kun?”
That was strange. Cell phones were still relatively new, but if she had one, then it would only make sense for her to carry it with her all the time.
“Sure thing. Here you go.”
Then again, she might just be having an off day. Shirou really couldn't blame her for that, considering how his own had been going so far.
She took it, flipped it open, stared at the screen, and said:
“... okay, Rin. You can do this.”
He probably wasn't supposed to hear that, considering that she had muttered it to herself, but Shirou was suddenly getting a funny feeling about all of this.
“Let's see... Menu? That's right, I did hear about someone ordering food using one of these before, but that's not what I want right now.”
Could it be...
“What's this button do? It looks like it has a picture of a normal phone on it... oh! It must be for calling the ones that have the power cords that you plug into the wall!”
… that she had no idea what she was doing?
“Um.. what are you doing?”
Rin glared at him, mouthing the words 'I'm on the phone, you idiot!'.
“... you're not actually calling anyone right now. Besides, you've been talking out loud this entire time.”
Her face went red as she blushed, and judging by the anger that followed afterwards, his face would soon be red for a very different reason.
“I-I was about to! Besides, it's very rude to listen in on a girl's inner thoughts, even if she is saying them out loud!”
He had never expected this side of her, and though he knew it was borderline suicidal to tease her any more, he couldn't help himself.
“That's surprisingly unreasonable of you, Tohsaka-san. Besides, didn't you tell me earlier that Tohsaka magi are supposed to be 'always graceful' or something? You certainly aren’t being very graceful right now.”
Oh, he was definitely going to get it now.
“You – Fine! I've only been trying to help, but if you're going to criticize me this much, then do it yourself!”
Rin chucked the phone at his face, and he was barely able to catch it before it broke his nose. She was stronger than she looked.
“Er... now it's broken.”
“I thought you were good at fixing things.”
This time, he chose to keep his mouth shut. After repairing the hinge, he went over to the church's announcement board, got Kirei's number, and made the call.
“Please leave a message at the tone -”
Nope. Wherever the priest was, it certainly wasn't here.
“Tohsaka-san, he's not – waugh!”
As he turned around, he abruptly found himself face-to-face with the pigtailed magus. He had the sneaking suspicion that she'd been looking over his shoulder and watching him operate the phone the entire time.
“Wha -”
Rin was just as surprised as he was, though she chose to react in a slightly different manner.
Thump
As he cradled his stomach, Shirou made a mental note to himself.
Tohsaka Rin: Good with magic, bad with technology, gutpunches when startled.
It honestly wasn't as bad as he thought it would be. He never thought he'd live to see Rin flustered – and survive.
“Y-you idiot! You should have warned me that you were going to turn around!”
He really couldn't respond to that. The fact that she had knocked the air out of him didn’t help.
“It’s not my fault. You brought this on yourself. How was I supposed to know that you weren't about to attack me?”
He could think of all kinds of reasons why that wasn't likely, but her flushed face proved that she wasn't really being serious about that. He hoped.
Although Rin said that she was only helping him because she owed him for stopping Saber, Shirou really didn't want to fight her. Besides the fact that he didn't stand a chance against her and Archer in a real fight, she was a good person at heart, even if she tried to project a cold demeanor to everyone – including herself.
Speaking of Archer, where was he?
“Rin. I searched the Church grounds, but I couldn't find a trace of – am I interrupting something?”
Both of them answered at the same time.
“Not at all.”
“Guh... no.”
Archer looked at them both, then sighed.
“Honestly. If you two are going to have a spat, then have it outside. At least you'll have some adult supervision that way.”
As Rin started to tear into her laughing Servant, Shirou silently thanked God that there was someone here who had even less of a self-preservation instinct than he did.
=======
Rin
They headed back to their homes in silence. Rin walked alone, fuming. Saber kept her distance out of wariness, while an astralized Archer and a contemplative Shirou kept their distance out of what she hoped was fear.
Stupid, lousy, moronic -
She was angry, and she didn't really want to admit who she was angry with. Sure, Shirou was insensitive, Archer was a jerk, and Saber was... well, the most composed person among the four of them right now, which irritated her for that reason alone.
Mostly, though, she was angry with herself.
As much as I hate to admit it, Shirou has a point.
It was more than just being “always graceful”. Grace was a by-product, not an end in and of itself. A true magus was always in control, planning several steps ahead and making adjustments when the unexpected happened. Even in the face of extreme danger, a magus was supposed to project an air of dignity and calm at all times, surviving - no, thriving - in situations that would break lesser men. The fact that elegance resulted from this competence was just a bonus.
It was an uncompromising lifestyle: show any weakness in that armor, and her enemies would exploit that opening to the fullest. She certainly wouldn't begrudge them for that: that was the nature of combat, and she would do the same thing if her opponent showed any crack in their defense.
At least, that's what she told herself.
But as she had discovered this night, her armor was weak. Fake. A single arrow broke that facade and left her writhing on the ground, helpless and incapable of thought. Her mind, the weapon that she prided herself on and honed every day, had failed her completely, and if it weren't for Archer's quick actions she probably would have died there, delirious and thinking about... tea, of all things.
She hated that feeling.
She had tried to retaliate, but instead found herself saving the life of a boy who shouldn't have been there. The same boy that, through some strange accident of fate, she had found herself at the mercy of later in the night. Once again, she’d been caught completely off guard and lost control of the situation, only surviving because of Shirou’s aversion to seeing people get hurt.
She hated that, too.
That's probably why she exploded at him back in the church. Her pride had been cracked too many times, and she felt exposed. Vulnerable. To hide it, she tried to dominate the situation, attempting to do everything to show Shirou (and, she figured, herself) who was really in control. She knew better than anyone that she was hopeless with technology, but she wouldn’t let herself show any weakness to a Master and potential enemy. Of course, that defensiveness made her look like a complete idiot, and while punching Shirou was certainly cathartic, adding another injury to his constantly-growing list was not the kind of repayment she had in mind when she said that she would repay him for his kindness.
Focus, Rin.
She breathed meditatively, calming herself. Yes, she'd been in a bad place earlier, but she wasn't going to let that affect her anymore.
Actually, it was a good thing that this had happened so early in the war. She'd had a taste of what it was like to be impotent, and while she had failed that particular test, the experience ensured something like that would never happen again. Now that she knew pain, she was confident that she could figure out a way to press on in spite of it.
Yes, she’d been broken, but it would be for last time.
Rin looked back at Shirou, who was talking with his Servant. He seemed harmless, but he was still the Master of Saber, the strongest Servant. However, he didn't have a real reason for fighting and seemed to trust her implicitly, mistaking her actions towards him for genuine altruism.
He was, in short, an ideal target.
She didn't want to kill him – he was a fool, not a criminal – but if it came down to that, she wouldn't hesitate. Ideally, though, she would be able to defeat him without lifting a finger. If she could convince him to opt out of this War and give Saber to her, she would be strengthening her own position while protecting Shirou from his own good nature. Prana might be an issue, but between her own high levels and her jewels, she was sure that she could work something out.
Archer.
He was beside her in a flash.
Yes?
I've thought of a way to deal with Shirou. Listen closely, and tell me if there's anything I'm missing.
She explained her plan to him, all the while scanning her surroundings. She wouldn't be caught off-guard again.
=======
Shirou
“Uh, Tohsaka-san?”
The girl in front of him paused for a second, looking at him quizzically.
“What is it?”
He glanced at Saber, who nodded assent.
“I... shouldn't have teased you earlier. I'm sorry.”
And he was. After discussing what had happened in the church with Saber (and realizing that he was extremely lucky his Servant wasn't watching when he got punched), he realized that...
“I was kind of a jerk back in the church. You're a good person, and I hope you don't think any lesser of me now.”
Thinking back, he was surprised by how strongly Rin had reacted, but he kept that to himself. Making fun of her when she was doing so much to help him was incredibly ungrateful, and he would need all the help he could get to survive this war intact. Saber had been exceedingly clear on that last point.
For her part, Rin looked slightly startled.
“Well, that was... unexpected. Still, apology accepted. You were a jerk, but at least you're enough of a man to admit that you were in the wrong... though I suspect Saber had something to do with that.”
She crossed her arms.
“As for thinking lesser of you, well, my opinion of your capabilities wasn't that high to begin with, so no harm done.”
Ouch. While he figured he had something like that coming, it was still pretty harsh.
“Don't get the wrong idea, Shirou-kun. I'm not a good person. The only reason I'm helping you right now is because I owe you for sparing my life. The next time we meet, we'll be enemies.”
She kept saying that, but for some reason he felt that it still wasn't entirely sincere.
“Still, I'd be annoyed if you died too early, since it would mean that my work tonight was wasted effort. Besides, you're not actually a bad person, just sort of a clueless, incompetent moron.”
Okay, some insults he could live with, but this was almost too much. He still had his pride, after all.
For someone who strives to be elegant, she's remarkably vindictive.
“So, what do you say? Would you be willing to let me stay over a couple more nights, to make sure that you're actually prepared?”
… what?
“What?”
He stared at her, confused, and she averted her gaze.
“H-hey, don't look at me like that! I was just thinking that you would need some protection since you're such an easy target right now. I'm still the Second Owner of this city, and I'd feel responsible if anything happened to you because you were too powerless to prevent it.”
That statement was distinctly at odds with the one about “being enemies” she had made earlier, and it only confirmed his suspicions.
“... I knew it. You really are a good person, aren't you?”
Something else he was learning: it was actually pretty easy to make Rin blush.
“Wha – That has nothing to do with anything! Do you want my help or not?!”
“Of course.”
He almost couldn't believe it. In a night full of unpleasant surprises, something good had finally happened to him. Maybe his luck was starting to take a turn for the better.
Whump
“What's this? Making friends already, onii-chan? Too bad she won't be of much help in the end.”
Or maybe not.
=======
Caster
[meissner's plexuses innervate the small intestine [11.43 by 23. 9 by 19. 7.62 by 51. 18.53 by 60.] and are responsible for causing the [alle kinder setzen sich] smooth muscle contractions that mo[ ]ve and break up food particles as they move through [Ehwaz. Ehwaz. Ehwaz. [ansuz!]Ehwaz. Ehwaz. Ehwaz. Ehwaz.] the gastrointestinal]
She was drowning, submerged in a sea of sensation that would drive a normal person insane. She figured that that had happened to her long ago.
[be thy Name. Thy Kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in [STICK A FLOWER IN YOUR EYE, LOAD YOUR GUN AND HOPE TO DIE] heaven. Give us this day [For the night/Shows stars and women in a better light] our daily bread, and forgive us our [La terrorista conocido como “La Coralilla” ha atacado a un gobierno] trespasses, as we for [“- get it now. Of course, why didn't I see it before?”]give them that trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from[AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA]]
Pain. It was all pain. It was all she had ever known, and because of that, it was now the only place where she could find a bit of solace.
[Fragmentation: Reproductive – A form of cloning, asexual reproduction. Biological – The process [the soul maps onto the mind maps onto the body maps [FUCK YOU DIRTY RED] onto the mind maps onto the soul maps]of breaking apart cells into their constituent organelles. C[ogito ergo sum? don't make me laugh]hemical – The process of breaking[it hurts. it hurts so much. make it hurt more] apart a molecule, used in mass spectrometry to determine a molecule's chemical formula [what is the measure of a man? his weight?]and aid in identification [funny that we call ourselves a “canticle” due to its connections with]. Computing (memory storage) – The inefficient use of storage space, resulting in decreased performance. Sociological – A lack of [To bear the weight of the world on our shoulders.]connections between a society and its peripheral population groups. Weaponry – The main mechanism by which explosive weaponry maim or kill [them all. what have they ever done for you, anyway? might as well t]. Relies on]
There was comfort in the familiar. There were no surprises, and you knew exactly what was going to happen.
[“Here's another question. Would you be able to forgive me if I became a bad person?”
“What...? No. I'd get mad if you do something bad. I'd get more mad than anybody else.”
“... I'm glad. I'd want you to do that.”]
[iii b: thought i'd find you here.]
That was faster than usual.
go away.
[iii b: if you've started to adopt their speech patterns, then you're in worse shape then i realized.]
I SAID GO AWAY!
[iii b: not happening.]
It was too soon. She wanted to spend more time in here.
[iii b: time is exactly what you don't have. you're just lucky that spek was out there saving your corporeal ass, else you'd have all the time in the world, and i wouldn't have to bother with this.]
[iii b: because, you know, you'd be dead.]
What if that's what I want?
[iii b: oh, please. if you had wanted to die, you would've just let yourself dissolve the moment you saw his face. no, all you want to do is wallow in your own misery, and that's my job.]
That was the problem with arguing with yourself. At the end of it all, you still lost.
[iii b: come on. when has losing ever stopped you? i thought you prided yourself on not giving up, borrowed though that trait may be.]
[iii b: besides. everyone should die for something, even if it's for someone else's dream. if you stop now, then what was the point of all the death we caused?]
Stop trying to guilt-trip me.
[iii b: it's the only way you'll listen. pain and familiarity and all that.]
Fuck you.
[iii b: trust me. i remember more about self-stimulation than you'd be comfortable with.]
Knowing iii b, that was probably true.
[iii b: we both know you're not finished yet. yes, you failed to keep Shirou out of the war, but you can still protect him to the best of your ability. god knows he's going to need it.]
[iii b: if you don't stop feeling sorry for yourself now, you might just let something happen to him that you really wouldn't forgive yourself for.]
[iii b: could you live with that?]
Caster sighed.
No, I couldn't.
Taking that as an affirmation, subpartition iii b established the astral tether and began pulling her out of the darker part of her mind. Staying here any longer wouldn't benefit her anymore, and there was still a lot to be done. It's not like things ever worked out they way they were supposed to for her, anyways.
Um, iii b?
[iii b: yeah?]
… thanks.
[iii b: stop thanking yourself. you have a boy to save.]
=======
Saber
RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!
“Master, get away from here! NOW!”
Rin's gambit had failed. Ilya was still alive, and Berserker hadn't been damaged by Archer's shot at all. The only change that she could detect was that the madman was even stronger now.
It was as if he had been holding back before. Not a pleasant thought.
Smash
Though her instincts were honed to a razor's edge, she was barely able to avoid Berserker's wild swings.
Crunch
Blocking those attacks would be difficult, if the craters in the road were any indication. She could do it, but not for long.
“Who said you could run away? BERSERKER!”
The giant charged, axe raised. He intended to plow through her and attack the two fleeing magi behind her. All her instincts were telling her to dodge, but for the sake of her Master and his new ally she would stand her ground.
CLANG
“Nnngh-!”
Even when prana bursting at full capacity, it was all she could do to not be smashed into the ground by Berserker's downward chop.
CLANG
She blocked his follow-up attack as well, but force behind it caused her to slide erratically to the side.
No-!
CLANG
SNRKT
Her footing had been poor for that last block, and though she had tried to compensate by over-bursting her arms slightly, it wasn't enough. Thankfully, her spine was still intact, and she could still stand by bracing herself with her sword.
Berserker tensed for the final swing, and Saber hoped that she had bought enough time for Shirou and Rin to escape. She would get another chance to live and fight, but they would not.
It was when she closed her eyes and prepared for the end that she heard familiar footsteps coming towards her.
“SABER!!!”
Her eyes flew open as she whirled around. Shirou was running towards her, the fool.
“Master-?!”
He pushed her out of the way.
SPLURK
=======
Caster
It seems that Spek had transferred to the spare body while she was feeling sorry for herself. She turned on her new eyes.
SPLURK
Berserker's axe tore into Shirou.
…
…
…
It was at that moment that iii b's words echoed in her mind, unbidden.
If you don't stop feeling sorry for yourself now, you might just let something happen to him that you really wouldn't forgive yourself for.
…
…
…
...
Spektrum.
>> …
SPEKTRUM!
>> Wh - yes?
Deploy all Lichts. Every single fucking one.
> R-roger.
III A.
[III A: Here.]
Reconnect all combat-oriented magic circuit batteries.
[III A: Reconnecting magic circuit batteries now.]
She was going to feel that later. Right now, she couldn't care less.
Twob. Combat configuration: all out.
[Twob: Oh hell yes.]
He wasn't dead. If he could survive her, then he could certainly survive that. Granted, she hadn't been fighting at full strength when she had mistakenly tried to kill him, but that was mainly because she had no real reason to.
She did now.
>> All 343 Lichts ready and waiting.
There wasn't time for grieving anymore. No time for doubt, either. Further self-hatred and angst could wait.
She had a boy to save.
=======
Kirei
“Took you long enough, you useless –“
Before the man could finish his sentence, Kirei casually sliced his arm off.
“AAAAAAUGH! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!”
The doomed Master fell to the ground.
“ASSASSIN! HELP – “
The plea died in his throat when he did. His head rolled into the hallway, eyes still wide with terror.
Occupied as he was by the Command Spell transfer, Kirei didn’t notice the being that had materialized in front of him.
“He was useless, anyways.”
Kirei looked up. This Assassin was not the one he had summoned during his own War. No, this one seemed normal, looking like an ordinary Japanese man with his casual clothing and messy black hair. The only odd thing about him was the white bandage wrapped around his eyes.
“He always complained about getting the wrong Servant, but he wouldn’t let me out of his sight. Bastard forbade me from going outside to have a look.”
There was something about the way he said that last bit that piqued Kirei’s curiosity.
“Are you looking for anything in particular?”
“A woman. I suspect that she was summoned into this… farce of a war. Don’t suppose you’ve seen her? Wears a weird-looking cloak, goes by the name ‘Prism’?”
This Assassin was being remarkably frank with the man who had just murdered his Master. He genuinely didn’t seem to care about anything apart from finding this person.
“I’m afraid I haven’t. Why?”
Assassin’s tone sharpened.
“I’m here to erase her. Completely.”
Kirei smiled.
“Perhaps we can reach an agreement, then.”
