Pine Garden

[Aiden]

Mira

It was official - Vega's skills were at least as good as her own. Maybe better. A relentless assault such as this would eventually wear him down, but that wasn't good enough for Mira! She didn't want to defeat someone so skilled just because she had a better body than they did!

I'm not cheating...!

Her barrage of blows ceased abruptly for precious moments, her sharp eyes taking in the positioning of his defenses with superior reflexes. Her opponent would later swear he felt an invisible force build behind Mira's fist right before finished her duck and rise. A spinning uppercut, meant to knock him by his chin into the air after punching through any defense his arms could muster.

[Kotomine_Rin]

Vega

He took a final, haggard step back and heaved heavily. Only when he noticed she had stopped, did Vega gasp.

Death.

The force that welled up before his eyes, faster than he could twitch, was shooting towards him without mercy. The trees surrounding him, the clouds in the sky, the rain pouring down on him. He could see none of it. His body, crushed by pain, felt like it was floating in space. The only thing that felt real in this world was the girl coming to him with her fist clenched. How? He couldn't move, she was too fast. Even faster than before, it was like she was becoming light! Her instrument of destruction came closer, closer, he tried to move away, but before he could do anything-

He slipped. His foot tried to move back, but the slightest twitch pushed the mud under him, and he lost his balance. Now, he was falling backwards, in a world that seemed to have slowed down to a crawl. The only sound the ear shattering beating of his own heart, rushing like gunfire. His mask was sent flying by the blow, and one could see a rictus on his face, half enraged, half terrified, and half overjoyed. 

His back was falling closer and closer to the earth, while hers was rising higher and higher to the sky, like a sun. Her fist almost seemed to glow, mock him.

"Ahh... I see. You are truly magnificent..." Now that his mask was ripped And with every ounce of strength he had, before she could fall back down to him and finish him, his hand moved. Slowly, haphazardly, but it managed to sweep forward. All he needed to do was toss his cloth a the girl, just a little longer. Just a little bit more...

[SINIB]

Emiya

Emiya gasped as Sakura backed him against the wall with surprising strength. Heat filled his cheeks as he felt her sniff him. Then he felt wetness soak through his shirt as she began to cry.

He sighed and wrapped his arms around her, stroking her hair. "Hey, it's not fair to cry in front of me," he said in a soft voice as he traced a silk handkerchief in his hand. He backed away enough so he could gingerly wipe her face clean.

"You're safe now, all of you," he said with a shake of his head.

Sakura looked up at him and sniffed. Her deep purple eyes were starting to get a reddish tinge to them, but it stilled there. She smiled, but it was a bit strained. Keeping control when Rin so desperately wanted to hog this unique chance was a bit exhausting.

"Mmph. The past eight years, they've been really hard, Senpai."

[Elf]

Emiya

"Eight years?  You . . . still look like a teenager," Emiya said as he looked down at Sakura.

He did frown at the red starting to seep into her eyes.  And the fact there are three personalities there.  Sakura.  Rin.  And Tsumiko.

"Can I ask what happened?  I need to know, so I can figure how to help the three of you," he said in a soft voice as he rested his hand on Sakura's head.

[SINIB]

Sakura?

Sakura frowned, the red disappearing from her eyes as Rin partially reasserted herself, and Sakura finally let up a bit. It would be bad to be too selfish here.

She just kept telling herself that to stay calm.

A blue eye reappeared on Tsumiko's body, and Sakura's body language suddenly seemed to merge with Rin's. He could see both of them controlling the body at the same time, each with their own distinct, conflicting mannerisms.

Sakura, or was it Rin, took a step back before sighing. "Unless you have a grail, you're not going to be able to fix anything, Archer."

The girls seemed to shake as they battled for dominance. "Senpai, it's true."

[Elf]

Emiya

Emiya blinked slowly at the sight before him.

It was oddly fascinating yet oddly disturbing.  There were two girls he knew very well, one he failed to save and one who had saved him.  At least in some versions of reality. 

This is the Nexus.  That Amanda Witch probably has a Grail in her basement that she doesn't know what to do with . . . Even if there isn't a "Holy Grail" there's probably something comparable in power and ability, he thought as he folded his arms across his chest with a brooding scowl.

He adjusted his glasses and said, "This is the Nexus.  I would be more surprised if there wasn't a Grail or something comparable just lying around in someone's basement."

He eyed the Three-In-One, flexed his hands into fists, and said, "Just because I don't have a Grail now doesn't mean I can't get one."

To save Rin, Sakura, and now Tsumiko he would do almost anything, and he had some atrocities riding on his broad shoulders.

[SINIB]

Rin

"Heh. Once an idiot, always an idiot." The girl suddenly shrugged her shoulders and chuckled wryly. She put her hands up, palms facing up and shook her head. "But that's what makes you so endearing, Emiyu-Kun."

[Elf]

Emiya

Emiya stared at Rin and shrugged.  He replied, "Well, I'm stable enough to keep you out of trouble when  you screw up.  Or rescue you when you've screwed up."

He sighed, his shoulders slumping, and said, "And Rin, it looks like you really screwed up."

[SINIB]

Rin

"Peh!" Rin turned her head away from him. He'd really hit a sore spot there. That hurt, hitting a bit too close for comfort.

But he was right. Rin seemed to deflate as her shoulders sagged. She slouched over in a very unrinlike manner before she sighed.

"Yes." She sounded resigned and sad, like she was holding back tears.

Because he was right. If she'd acted differently during the grail war, fought more for Sakura, like Shirou had. If she'd have just realized what really mattered to her, if only it had happened just a little bit sooner...

If only she'd checked on Sakura. She'd known something was wrong, but it just felt so improper at the time. Like it would have been a violation of the ideals her father had cherished to reconnect with her sister or to do anything meaningful to protect her from Shinji.

"Hehehe..."

Rin began to chuckle. No, she'd just been scared. It had nothing to do with anything that complicated. She'd just been a coward too frightened to face her own trauma. And because of that, she'd allowed Sakura to suffer in silence for a decade.

What a goddamned fool she was.

The girl looked up at Archer and frowned. She flicked his forehead suddenly, with his arm. "You made my sister cry, Senpai."

[Elf]

Emiya

Emiya blinked as his forehead was flicked.

With what he knew was his own arm.  Which meant he literally was hitting himself.  Which I've done countless times before, but I'm usually the one doing the hitting first, not the other way around, he thought with a frown.

He shook his head and said, "It wouldn't be the first time that I made Rin cry, and it probably wouldn't be the last.  When she shows up again I'll apologize properly."

There, she'll like that, he thought with a nod, knowing all too well how Rin liked to have power over people.  Even if it was subconsciously, she enjoyed having the upper hand.  Which is why he enjoyed pissing her off so much when he was summoned by her, just he had a feeling that he always took it too far.

He leaned forward and gripped Sakura's shoulders lightly and peered down into her eyes.  "Still, I'm going to help the three of you, I promise," he said, "Hell, it would be the first time I actually have a reason to fight for a Grail and not just my self-destructive bullshit."

He gave the shoulder with his arm a squeeze and said, "And besides, this is a ticking time bomb.  It would be a ticking time bomb even if Emiya Shirou was the host.  The three of you aren't compatible spiritually with this.  Hell, at this point in time I would be leery if it was compatible with me, and I don't know how you've kept this body from being skewed by Unlimited Blade Works for eight years."

[SINIB]

Emiya

Emiya blinked as his forehead was flicked.

With what he knew was his own arm.  Which meant he literally was hitting himself.  Which I've done countless times before, but I'm usually the one doing the hitting first, not the other way around, he thought with a frown.

He shook his head and said, "It wouldn't be the first time that I made Rin cry, and it probably wouldn't be the last.  When she shows up again I'll apologize properly."

There, she'll like that, he thought with a nod, knowing all too well how Rin liked to have power over people.  Even if it was subconsciously, she enjoyed having the upper hand.  Which is why he enjoyed pissing her off so much when he was summoned by her, just he had a feeling that he always took it too far.

He leaned forward and gripped Sakura's shoulders lightly and peered down into her eyes.  "Still, I'm going to help the three of you, I promise," he said, "Hell, it would be the first time I actually have a reason to fight for a Grail and not just my self-destructive bullshit."

He gave the shoulder with his arm a squeeze and said, "And besides, this is a ticking time bomb.  It would be a ticking time bomb even if Emiya Shirou was the host.  The three of you aren't compatible spiritually with this.  Hell, at this point in time I would be leery if it was compatible with me, and I don't know how you've kept this body from being skewed by Unlimited Blade Works for eight years."

Sakura

"Hehehe, thanks~" Sakura said. "You shouldn't underestimate the power of a holy grail, Archer. My wish fixed all those troublesome problems that would normally kill me." Her purple eyes shimmered a bit as she held back tears. "Be honest. You've never heard of three people sharing a body and magic before, have you? According to all our fundemental knowledge, I should have exploded the moment this was attempted, or fused into a new person entirely, at least. You can't assume it's dangerous at this point. Now, it's just my-Tsumiko's arm."

[Elf]

Emiya

"So, how did Tsumiko-chan come about?  She's not like you or Rin.  Not exactly," Emiya said, shaking his head.

He frowned, let Sakura go, and folded his arms over his chest.  "She's not like Ilya either," he said in a very soft voice.

Please don't say Ilya is in there.  I couldn't . . . The former Archer shook the thought from his head with a scowl.

[SINIB]

Sakura

"Eh-hem." Sakura looked away. "Well, that's complicated. Do you know what I was going through, Archer? Back then, and before that?"

[Elf]

Emiya

Emiya frowned as he answered, "When I was your age, not really.  I knew that Shinji was an asshole, but other than beating him up there wasn't really anything I could do.  And as dense as I was back then, I knew if I kept beating him up, he'd make things worse for you so I had to stop.  Which is why I let you come over whenever you wanted, at least then I knew you weren't with them."

He sighed before checking the cake in the oven.  It still had a little while before it needed to be pulled out.  Nodding at it, he turned back to look at Sakura.

"It wasn't until I was Summoned as a Servant I got more and more glimpses.  More like records I can look at.  Zouken's worms and his experiments, like he tried to make you a Grail like Ilya, but he didn't realize due to their fuck-up during the Third War that would also get into you.  Meaning that corruption could manifest in you when you were finally pushed to the edge.  Which I've also experienced apparently."

He shook his head and said, "Apparently it was so bad at times that I was pulled from being a Servant to acting as part of the Counter Force again to keep you from potentially destroying humanity.  Then there were others where I sacrificed myself to save Rin and keep Emiya Shirou alive long enough for him to destroy the Grail and save you."

[SINIB]

Sakura

Sakura's expression didn't waver, but after so many times seeing this face, Archer could tell. It was obvious. She was holding some very conflicted emotions back, keeping herself in check, and pretending everything was fine when it very distinctly was not.

"Then, you know what happened. I won. I made a wish on the grail, and it granted my wish before attempting to destroy the world."