The Slums

[SINIB]

Rin

"Emiya Kun..." Rin muttered, slouching over and leaning back.

[Umbra of Chaos]

Joseph

3:00 PM

All the filth flowed downwater. The trash, wastrels, mud, and poor alike all made their homes here. But that was alright. Joseph was no stranger to a little dirt! He walked down the streets, a slight smile on his lips, and offered his services to anyone who would have him.

Sometimes it was the homeless. A festering disease of the blood could easily be purified. Then he simply had to undo the years of degenerative effects to the bone and muscles, remove the decay in her teeth, and rid the body of its various other maladies. With nothing but a touch a woman stood taller and happier than she had for years. A healthy sheen to her skin that couldn't have existed. Quite pretty. She was in such good condition that he'd have considered parting her with those limbs a few years ago. Hahahah, that was before Joseph had learned to properly work with his body! No good at all, really.

Sometimes it was the needy. Rundown houses, leaky roofs, it was easy to get sick there. Children were so vulnerable despite their adaptability. Growing out the father's long since amputated arm may have been a surprise, but it certainly seemed welcome! He trusted Joseph enough to examine the child later. It was such a treat to, really. The illnesses were so strange, but the bodies were even stranger. With blood like molten iron and skin tough as steel, it was hard to operate on him. So interesting. All the way down to bones of forged glass and yet he was still sick. After all these years the alchemist could still learn amazing, wonderful things about people. They could be so different. No, they really all were quite different. Especially in this strange city. It made his skin squirm in excitement. But, well, there was at least one thing everyone he had treated recently had in common.

None of them would be missed.

Joseph chewed over the thoughts, wondering how to pour molten blood into the husk of a chimera as he memorized faces and places alike. It just wouldn't do to forget any of this. They really were so happy sometimes.

Something rotted in him at the thought, but that was normal now. The panicked beating of his heart, the sweat on his skin as disgust welled up in him, the pain as he slowly decomposed breath by breath. His smile didn't shift at all. There was no relief, but his magic would make sure the pain would be gone for a while yet. Just a little longer.

Ah, but he had missed something! There were a few places like this, houses hidden by one sort of power or another. There was nothing saying he couldn't help. So Joseph walked up to the door and knocked politely, as anyone should. Advertising was so important these days; it really was strange. "Hello? Is anyone home? Do you need any healing? I know medical magic and will cure all your ills for free!"

[Cherry Lover]

Shirou

"S..Sakura", he began, uncertain how to react to the awkwardness of the situation.

Before he could say anything more, though, he heard a knock at the door.

"Shouldn't you answer that?" he said, quickly, relieved that he didn't have to find something else to say to her.

[SINIB]

Shirou

"S..Sakura", he began, uncertain how to react to the awkwardness of the situation.

Before he could say anything more, though, he heard a knock at the door.

"Shouldn't you answer that?" he said, quickly, relieved that he didn't have to find something else to say to her.

Rin

"Keh." She sounded annoyed at him calling her that over and over again. Wasn't it obvious that she was Rin, damnit? Was his Sakura in the habit of calling him Emiya-Kun???

Rin then proceeded to imagine that, and shuddered. "Brrr. No thanks." She wasn't interested in that mental image, nope. That just seemed wrong.

The knocking continued, and she could see it was a small child outside her door. She wasn't sure what his deal was, but she could tell he had some magical power.

Sakura, please get that. I'm busy here

"Okay." She answered, using her mouth. For a moment, Rin sounded normal.

Idiot! Don't confuse him any more! Rin Reprimanded her.

She then shook her head. "No, it's fine. So, uh..."

Great. Back to the awkward silence.


A shadow slipped out of the room at supersonic speeds, shooting towards the door and slowly coaleasing into a vaugely Sakura-shaped form. Two glowing red dots formed the eye, and a thin red line formed the mouth.

Frankly, she looked demonic.

Sakura slid forward along the floor, unlatching a slat in the door. She slid the peephole open, looking down at him. "Y-yes? What do you mean, help?" She answered staggeringly, unsure of how to talk to-people...

It made her feel a bit uncomfortable, but she put up with it. Rin had it harder, she knew.

[Umbra of Chaos]

Joseph

"Oh my. You don't look well at all." His hand covered his mouth in shock. "But I don't mean to be rude! It's not the shadows; I know you can be made of it or perhaps it could be an astral projection of sorts but--" The alchemist took a moment and let excitement disguised as embarrassment sink back beneath his skin.

He patted his chest and composed himself. "Ahem. I am Joseph, a wandering alchemist and healer. I was wondering if you were in need of my services? If you're trapped inside that transient shadow form there's not much I could do about it, but with the proper facilities I could get you right into a proper meat body with some tinkering. Otherwise I have many other services I can provide so long as I know what the problem is!"

[Cherry Lover]

Shirou

Shirou started at Sakura with utter bemusement as she seemingly talked to herself, at one point momentarily reverting to her own mannerisms before returning to those of her sister. It was very obvious to him that she was not remotely sane, but he really had no idea how to react to that, especially given that she was still holding him prisoner.

"Uh...", Shirou responded, unsure what to say.

Finally, he decided he needed to get to the bottom of everything.

"So, Sakura", he said, uncertainly, obviously confused, "why are you calling me Emiya-Kun? Did you pick that up from your sister or something?"

[SINIB]

Shirou

Shirou started at Sakura with utter bemusement as she seemingly talked to herself, at one point momentarily reverting to her own mannerisms before returning to those of her sister. It was very obvious to him that she was not remotely sane, but he really had no idea how to react to that, especially given that she was still holding him prisoner.

"Uh...", Shirou responded, unsure what to say.

Finally, he decided he needed to get to the bottom of everything.

"So, Sakura", he said, uncertainly, obviously confused, "why are you calling me Emiya-Kun? Did you pick that up from your sister or something?"

Rin

Rin flipped her hair, puffing out her cheeks in a pout. Her deep purple eyes strayed away from his face, a look of disappointment filling her face along with a slight flush.

"I'm Rin, Emiya-Kun. Isn't it obvious at this point..." Her voice sounded forlorn and defeated, uncharacteristically so.

He was such a dense fool.


Sakura

"Ah?" Sakura slithered out through the hole, her body losing definition around the waist that had halfway come out of the door. She leaned forward, looking at Joseph with honest interest. The red eyes gleamed dangerously at him before she cleared her throat.

"Ah, no, this is just a projection. My sister is busy with my body right now."

She cleared her throat.

"So, what is a child like you doing in these parts?"

[Umbra of Chaos]

Joseph

"Interesting! You're two souls occupying one body? Could be separate or conjoined, a link or meld, maybe even a fusion. If I had better facilities I would be able to separate you two if you wanted that. That would take some time...?" He tapped his cheek as his brow furrowed in thought. Then he realized the second part of her sentence. "Wait a moment, I'm no child. I'm... Huh."

A frown appeared on his face. "It was two hundred or three hundred years ago? No that's too short. It was older than that; I thought the dragons would be around forever but they were vanished almost half a millenia ago so it can't be centuries. It was a millenia maybe? More... it feels so much longer than that. Ah, I don't remember. Why don't I remember?" The veins under his flesh squirmed as if they were alive, like worms that pulsed and stretched against his skin.

"How long has it been? How much longer...? My head hurts." He reached towards his face and pressed his fingers against his eye. It bulged a bit, a natural reaction, but Joseph was used to this by now. It was easy to push and scrape it out with just his fingers, cramming the digits deeper but failed to go through the eye socket. He held up a finger to the shadow as if to tell her to wait, his whole eye still entirely calm. He pulled a scalpel from his shadow and began to cut away, deeper and deeper as blood poured from the socket. But soon enough he had found his prize. Retrieved from the carved up inside of his head, he pulled free a maggot.

"Phew, so that's what it was." His eye was already knit back together, and besides the blood he looked fine. "I'm sorry about that. They're really into rotting meat, and it's hard to make sure I get all of them after a particularly rough tussle. But really, I'm not a kid. I'm almost two millennia years old! Give or take a few years."

[Cherry Lover]

Shirou

Shirou sighed again at the girl's response. It was obvious now that the girl genuinely believed that she was Rin, but exactly why she believed that, he didn't know. Whilst she was obviously somewhat insane, she didn't seem to be acting unusual even despite her insistance that she was her sister.

"OK, Rin, then why do you look like your sister?" he asked, accepting her claim to be Rin in order to avoid aggravating her further.

[SINIB]

Shirou

Shirou sighed again at the girl's response. It was obvious now that the girl genuinely believed that she was Rin, but exactly why she believed that, he didn't know. Whilst she was obviously somewhat insane, she didn't seem to be acting unusual even despite her insistance that she was her sister.

"OK, Rin, then why do you look like your sister?" he asked, accepting her claim to be Rin in order to avoid aggravating her further.

Rin

Rin reached into the shadow and pulled out a glass of wine, taking a sip. She then frowned, raising her eyebrow.

"Shouldn't you at least pretend to believe me, Emiya Kun? I've been in my sister's body for eight years now, sharing a body with her after an unfortunate accident during the Holy Grail War."

[SINIB]

Sakura

If Sakura had had skin, it would have crawled. She remembered the feelings of insects crawling under her skin, causing her agonizing pain...

Wanting to cut herself apart to get them out was a very relatable feeling. If she had been able to regenerate like that, she probably would have.

So the shadow reached out and rubbed Joseph affectionately on the head. "It's no problem, I've had that issue myself."

[Umbra of Chaos]

Joseph

Oh, that was nice. If he ended up needing a new arm that one wasn't bad at all, especially seeing as it was only a shadowy facsimile! There would be a mild risk of rejection but nothing too bad. He'd consider it later. He needed... hmm. What was he looking for again. His eyes gleamed narrowed in concentration.

"You're pretty nice, miss. But we should get back to my offer! Are you sure there's nothing you need? No medical work? If you have the funds for an investment I could work do some soul tinkering or familiar work for you too."

[Cherry Lover]

Shirou

"Oh, I... see...", Shirou said, completely dumfounded by Rin's explanation, before going silent, deep in thought.

At first, he was still rather sceptical of her claim. After all, it was perfectly consistent with the idea that, as the result of some traumatic incident, she had begun to believe that her sister was living inside her. However, the more he thought about it, the more it made sense. After all, whilst the girl clearly looked like Sakura, she was seemingly able to use Rin's magic. And his, now that he thought about it....

"Wait, am I in there too?" he asked, after a long pause. "I noticed you using my magic in the fight."

[SINIB]

Shirou

"Oh, I... see...", Shirou said, completely dumfounded by Rin's explanation, before going silent, deep in thought.

At first, he was still rather sceptical of her claim. After all, it was perfectly consistent with the idea that, as the result of some traumatic incident, she had begun to believe that her sister was living inside her. However, the more he thought about it, the more it made sense. After all, whilst the girl clearly looked like Sakura, she was seemingly able to use Rin's magic. And his, now that he thought about it....

"Wait, am I in there too?" he asked, after a long pause. "I noticed you using my magic in the fight."

Rin

Rin rolled her eyes. "Don't you already know the answer to that, Emiya-kun? Just as dense as ever, I see."

She changed her position, lounging down on the ground without a care for being prim and proper. "You're here, but you've been comatose inside us since the end of the grail war. It doesn't seem likely that you'll ever wake up again."

A sword materialized in her hand, the same one that she'd created earlier when fighting him.

"This is all that remains."

[Cherry Lover]

Shirou

Shirou looked at her with sympathy, the reason for his kidnapping beginning to become clear in his mind.

"Oh...", he said. "I'm sorry...."