Cross Effects- The RP

[OPOI]

Good, he'd answered correctly. Shirou withheld a sigh of relief as he watched Vanessa dispel her spear with yet another snap of her finger. If she had tried to attack, he would have been in serious trouble.

He shook her offered hand, before stiffening in alarm as she placed her on his forehead. Generally, allowing Magi near one's head was an extremely bad idea, and his senses were on full alert despite her seeming lack of ill will. Seconds later, he felt her prana probe his circuits, sending a small wave of pain through him.

"You're crazy to go on a fetch quest in that state," she told him, before beginning to draw sigils on his body whilst lecturing him on the dangers of prana exhaustion. He didn't understand why everyone told him to be careful with his circuits. He'd exhausted them many times before, but they remained mostly fine. He would gladly sacrifice all his circuits if he could help someone in need.

She tapped the sigil, and he felt mana begin to enter his circuits, soothing the ache slightly. Amazing! He'd never encountered a method of transferring mana without a tantric ritual before.

Vanessa stopped when his circuits were 70% full.

"Thanks," he said softly, before turning to lead the way to where he'd last seen Forest and the others, as requested.

"I'm not aware of the full details, but your sister sustained severe injuries when she was captured. She had deep lacerations all over her body, and her hand had been...bitten off given the state of the wound. She's suffered other injuries besides those, but I can't tell you about them. They're the type of wounds I believe she wouldnt want you to know until she is ready to tell you," Shirou explained.

"As for my name, it's Shirou. Emiya Shirou."

[Daiki]

"I'm not aware of the full details, but your sister sustained severe injuries when she was captured. She had deep lacerations all over her body, and her hand had been...bitten off given the state of the wound. She's suffered other injuries besides those, but I can't tell hou about them. They're the type of wounds I believe she wouldnt want you to know until she is ready to tell you."

Shirou gave her the cold hard truth but she had no choice but to face it. Of course, she had felt the wounds like her own, so she knew what kind of pain her sister went through. However, to lose a hand... And that last part made her skip a breath. "I see... Is she at least safe now?" It was what mattered the most at the moment, that, and that Vanessa would need to reach her as soon as possible.

It wouldn't have happened if I kept my eyes on her!! No. I should have had my cellphone on me.

"As for my name, it's Shirou. Emiya Shirou."

She snapped out of her guilt derail with a little jump, her eyes wide from surprise.

"Emiya Shirou? As in that heretic magus killer?" She couldn't help but look at him with stupefaction. On another day, she would have left right now, at full speed. She heard of rumors about him. He was an implacable opponent and a praised individual among his former employers. Her own teacher in magecraft, Forte, a former Enforcer, warned the twins against the man.

Never give him a reason to think you went astray the path of the good. Was her words.

For Vanessa, who always thought her lecturer used him as a kind of bogey-man for magi, meeting the person was something she never expected to happen. She almost forgot about her sister. "Well, I will have I'll have questions later on if you don't mind. Not really sure how I should call you, but for now, let's go."

She gestured him to take the lead.

[Alice]

Rin's efforts to take charge only ended up with a sword pointing straight at her face. Geez, what a psycho- I was only making sure the group had leadership, no need to shove a sword in my face. She was about to say something, but before she could hardly even react, the darkened Archer had made his trademark twin swords manifest, and  gracefully threw them just inches away from cutting off body parts, Kansho taking a bit of hair, Byakuya mere inches away from taking the tip of the half-demon's nose.

The blades were dismissed in a shower of crimson sparks before he moved to Rin's side again.  "You should have shot a gandr in that bastard's face." Then he held out his hand to take her into his arms.

"You never even gave me a chance to try," she said with a smile. She was about to take his hand when Shuya responded to the corrupted bowman's challenge by giving him a heavy headbutt.

"Hey!" Rin turned to glare at the half demon. Well, didn't get a chance to do this earlier, may as well try it now. Rin pointed her finger at Shuya and prepared to fire a Gandr.

Rin wasn't the only one ready for battle, however. Rider had changed into her battle clothes as a precaution. However, any actions she could have taken were halted by Kiyoshi's angered attempt to defend his Auntie. However, Rider calmed the boy down, reassuring him that not only was she well defended, but that she could also defend herself, before turning to the half-demon.

"I know that Rin's attitude can be grating sometimes. I've had to live with it for 30 years."

Archer chucked. "So she hasn't changed for thirty years. Why doesn't that shock me?"

Rin just glared at him. 

"But, that does not give you the right to threaten her in that manner," Rider continued. "If you don't want to take her orders, then just ignore her. It's not like she can enforce it. But, if you start making threats like that again, then I'll be joining a very long queue of people waiting to beat the shit out of you.

Understand?"

***

"She seems alright. Plus she's my Landlady now, it'd be stupid of me to raise too many objections about her." Mille's eyes hardened with determination. "And I'll manage. I got a bit of rest, so I should be more stable now. I just miscalculated how much prana I used is all. I'd be a terrible magus if I let a little bit of exhaustion stop me." She turned to see the burgeoning conflict and sighed. "Looks like you need to put me down anyway. Those three morons are already fighting amongst themselves. Team Asshole indeed."

***

"Sounds about right." Finn gave Forest a warm smile. "You seem like real good people. I know Mille'll be safe in your hands."

"Oh please. I can take care of myself just fine. Stop using me as an excuse to flirt with the pretty vampire and actually do something useful, would you?"

Finn rubbed the back his neck. "Eh heh... Well, I should probably get over with my group. I'm sure... Isa was it? I'm sure Isa would appreciate it if we get moving to find her sis-" Before he could finish, however, the racket from the commotion coming from the rest of his team reached his ears, and he turned to see what was going on. He winced. Ho boy, looks like we're off to kinda a rough start. Whelp, time to make myself useful.

The young freelancer ran over to where the others were fighting. Mille eyes widened as she watched him go. "That's not what I meant at all! Wait you idiot! Come back! You're just going to get yourself killed!"

Finn forced himself between the three. Even realizing what a precarious position he was in at the moment, he still kept on a friendly, calm expression. "Alright, come on now, that's enough. I know things are getting off on the wrong foot, but we need to try and get along long enough to get those sisters back together."

Trying to remember what little he gathered from overhearing, he turned to Shuya first. "Look, I get why Miss Tohsaka's attempt at takin' charge rub ya the wrong way, even if I don't think she meant anything by it. But we'll work together as equals, I assure ya of that. Just get through this long enough to help the girl out, and I'll buy ya a drink later. Sound fair?"

Next he turned to Dark Archer. "I don't blame ya not being too happy about him attacking your girl. But if you keep retaliating, that's just gonna make this drag on. The sooner we get this done, the sooner you don't have to worry about him threatening Miss Tohsaka anymore."

Finally, he turned to Rin. "I know you meant well, and I certainly wouldn't mind having ya as a leader. But it looks like that isn't going to work out, at least with our friend here still around. I don't think his reaction is right, but we need to work together if we wanna get this done."

Rin put down her finger and sighed. "I get what you're saying, but it's not my fault if he can't handle anything."

"Please? For Isa?" He gave her a smile that could charm birds out of trees, his eyes so full of warmth and sincerity that it nearly made Rin want to gag.

Rin groaned and crossed her arms in front of her chest. "Oh fine. But only because we have more important things to do than bicker."

Kiyoshi, then trotted back over to her side.

"Are you OK, Aunty Rin?" he asked.

Rin sighed. "Yeah, I'm fine. It's going to take more than some creep to take me down." She grinned. "Your Auntie's pretty tough, you know. Both strong and elegant. That's the Tohsaka way."

The normal Archer smiled. "Indeed, your Aunt is quite strong, Kiyoshi." It changed into a smirk. "Though I don't necessarily know about elegant..."

Rin forced a smile on her face. Calm, elegant. Calm, elegant. Calm, elegant... "Ha ha ha, oh Archer, you kidder. That's just his way of saying you have the best Aunt in the whole wide world."

"If you keep telling yourself that enough times Rin, it might have a small chance of coming true."

She smiled sweetly back at him. "And I'm sure he's looking forward to all the cookies Uncle Archer is going to be making him. Because Uncle Archer would never turn down a special request from a special nephew, not when he knows it'll make him sad." Rin's smile gained a wicked edge. "Because Uncle Archer knows what will happen if he makes his special nephew sad, now doesn't he?"

Archer sighed, now resigned to his fate of baking dozens upon dozens of cookies. Especially since he knew when Hakuno finally got wind of it, she'd fully endorse the endeavor 100%. Truly, she is the Red Devil...

***

For the most part, Archer had kept his mouth shut for a great deal of the goings on, either because he hadn't gotten the chance to respond, someone else had stepped in to resolve the issue, or he simply had little to do with the situation.

Things seemed to be going... somewhat less disastrously, but then Rin's far more irritating far taller look-alike spoke up. She apparently didn't like them too much, and honestly Archer couldn't care less. One less thing he had to deal with, as far as he was concerned. However, Forest understandably had a retort of her own, and his darker counterpart had this to say:

"Well, nice to know in some dimension that Rin and I failed as parents and brought up some stuck up bitch."

Rin herself blinked in surprise before it finally sunk in. "Wait... she- she's ours?! B-but that, how, why. Her?!"

"Honestly, I'm not surprised that it didn't sink in. The philosophy she said her father stated doesn't sound like something I'd endorse, let alone teach my child. Plus the general denial. It honestly wouldn't surprise me if the 'me' in whatever universe our 'daughter' wasn't really me at all."

Then things took a turn for the worse. The girl heard what Forest said and launched into a tirade in response. 

Honestly, if some version of me does somehow manage to have a child with Rin, I hope to all hell she doesn't end up like this brat.

He rubbed his temples. "You didn't hear a word I said. I told you, the man your brother defended from me tried to kill my Master, an innocent girl, in cold blood just to stop a fight that wasn't even likely to happen. I know for a fact that that man's killed others with the same reasoning. I threatened him not only because of that, but because I don't want his stupidity getting anyone else killed. But in spite of your brother's hypocrisy, the main sticking point is, like Rin mentioned, that he threatened to do it in front of my Master, the very same girl who almost died thanks to that very man your brother defended. He had no right involving her."

Archer glared at her. "I'm not about to say that I'm proud of my accomplishments, no. I won't even say I'm not a coward in some ways. But it was your brother's choice to involve himself. I could have responded to his provocation, but I didn't. If anyone is the coward, it's your brother. If he wanted to deal with me, he should have dealt with me. My Master had nothing to do with it, and the fact that he threatened to make her watch my death for something I did entirely of my own volition is beyond cowardly. And now he hides in a castle, not even having the guts to challenge Rider face to face, issuing threats behind a woman that isn't even there. Who's the true coward, then?"

He sighed. "Also, you clearly have no respect for your elders, your comments to Forest were out of line and petty, and you somehow manage to make your 'mother' look saintly in comparison, which is quite an accomplishment."

"Hey! She's 50% yours too, you know!"

The bowman smirked. "Ah, but her father clearly isn't me, not truly. Which means she couldn't have inherited much from me. Clearly she's mostly yours."

"I can think of at least one thing she inherited from you," Rin muttered.

Archer laughed. "Give me some credit, I did say you're a far better person than she is. Not even you could produce someone that bad."

Rin gave a lopsided smile. "I guess you couldn't produce someone that bad either. Even you aren't that horrible."

"Look, we get it, your tsundere for each other, would you just get a room already!" Mille stood there for a bit after her outburst, and then turned as red as a beet. In her opinion, no proper magus outside of Japan should know what "tsundere" means. "T-though I guess I can't blame you for reacting that way about that stuck up, self righteous witch at least." She turned to Forest. "You're a vampire right? Honestly, after what she threatened you with, I think you're in your full rights to bite her. I don't think anyone would mind if you did, either."       

[Elf]

Head butting a man who was "made of swords" and "steel was his body" wasn't the best idea. 

The corrupted Servant also saw the blow coming, so he made sure to reinforce to the point where it was like hitting a steel wall.  The impact didn't faze him, didn't even make him move.  Archer was use to being under powered in a battle of titans.  It meant that he had to learn how to cheat really well and rely on skill instead of raw power like some of the other Servants.  It also meant he had to plan.

However, Shuya was just some half breed punk.  Dangerous enough that Archer wasn't going to underestimate him, but not overly worried either. 

The bastard had threatened Rin and came after him.  He had a feeling that the others would be pissed if he separated the bastard's head from his body, and that would bring Rin trouble.  He wasn't going to let the insult pass either.

A flash of pain that only made his eyes narrow rippled through his left hand as he felt blades peak through his skin.  Once upon a time, it had been a defense.  He got into too much trouble and he'd start sprouting swords.  Now he could control it, and was now sporting a set of razor sharp blades between each of his knuckles on his right hand.   Archer made a fist before throwing the punch directly into Shuya's gut.

"I'll consider myself warned then," the blackened spirit said with a smirk, "And if you want to play around, I'm not your type.  If you want a fight, which you're obviously one of those battle crazed types, then go after the blue haired Celt.  I have more important things to worry about."

Then he shook his hand, feeling the blades retract and vanish.  Blood was dripping down his hand, but the accelerated healing due to the World's Evil's corruption was starting to take care of that.

However, that idiot not-quite-merc with the crush on the blond vampire made his way over and tried to diffuse the fight.

"Please? For Isa?" He gave her a smile that was full of such charm and scenarity that Archer rolled his eyes and snorted. 

Archer eyed him and said, "You have competition."  Then he smirked and made his way over to Rin, where she was bickering with that idiot and teasing the kid. 

He stood beside Rin and said, "'Uncle Archer', you really have fallen low to Alaya now haven't you?  Its bad enough that you were her kill bot, now you're making cookies for kids."

******

Lancer went over to Shuya and said, "Bowman isn't worth your time.  Plus he's not fun to fight against.  Bastard cheats."

Then he smiled at Finn and said, "You seem like a good lad, maybe you can help us blood thirsty idiots stay in line."

******

Forest waited until Finn was gone before she looked at Millie as Lancer put her down.  She said with a grin, "Your brother's sort of daft, isn't he? Don't worry, we'll make it to the compound just fine."

Then Isa spoke again and Forest nodded.  She said, "Of course you can keep it.  I wouldn't give it to you if I didn't want you to keep it."  She frowned and said, "Carelessness or not, don't put the blame upon yourself.  It wasn't your fault.  There wasn't anything that you could have done."

Sakura then said something completely unreasonable.  Forest felt red bleed into her eyes at the other girl's words.  Then she heard Millie say, "You're a vampire right? Honestly, after what she threatened you with, I think you're in your full rights to bite her. I don't think anyone would mind if you did, either."

Forest forced a smile, but it didn't reach her eyes.  She replied, "No, then she might go crying to her brother and apparently he's the biggest, baddest motherfucker all along in this town.  Plus, she's really not my type. I try to keep 'stuck up bitch' from my diet."

Not to mention there was the flare of annoyance of putting her family above everyone else and expecting everyone to go along with her.  Forest could, theoretically, understand putting one's family above everyone else.  Not that she had a family; she had been an orphan long before she'd been a vampire, but she could reason it.  Still, there was no excuse to be so callus with someone who had been traumatized as Isa had and a little boy.

To Rider she said, "I'll help keep Kiyoshi safe.  Even if this theoretical Sakura isn't your Sakura, I know you'll want to go save the day.  Just be careful."

Archer Alter heard Millie's words about the other Archer and Rin getting a room and grinned.  He said, "If anyone's getting a room with her, its me."

"Oh wow, you really just said that, didn't you, you jumped up wanker?" Forest said, staring at him.

Lancer blinked, scowled and said, "Aye, he's making his claim known."

The corrupted Servant shrugged and said, "However, that would be up to Rin."

"You're so odd," Forest said with a scowl, "And your thoughts are a right mess."

[Daiki]

He had heard the kid yapping from the sides and noticed Rider changed for her battle outfit. Then the Servant decided to speak up. The fact that she didn't attack on the spot made him frown. Rifle guy intervened and started to plead a truce. The girl he insulted didn't react much though.

The mixed blood looked at his abdomen and the nasty mark left by the guy's punch. Definitely not bad. Shuya didn't expect to meet such resistance upon landing his own hit. The fact that he had put too much force into it, bit him back and and large cut did spread open on his face. Blood dripped and he tasted iron.

Shuya watched Lancer's closing in. "Bowman isn't worth your time.  Plus he's not fun to fight against.  Bastard cheats." He said. These guys must have crossed path and weapons then. Surely a good story to ask later. For now, he felt necessary to correct Archer's and Rider's misunderstanding since his attempt failed to bring proper result. Brown eyes darted the Faker.

"You're too naive." He said with disappointment. "Why did you hold back?" His words extended to all concerned. "I gave you all  a solid pretext to jump seriously at me. I pointed my blade on one of your girls and you didn't so much as react." He took a bemused tone as  he focused again on the bowman. "I threatened your woman's life. I came for you too. Yet, you deny the will to kill in order to protect your side?" He shook his head and pointed a thumb in Kiyoshi's direction. "Only the kid really understands."

He tapped Finn's shoulder. "The reaction was okay, but you came at us with the intent of pacific reasoning which is a mistake. Would you call for peace when a friend faces danger? You're dealing with monsters here. If you go at it half-assed, you won't get anything but stupid drama. And listen to fire girl a bit. Rushing in like that wasn't the right call."

His attention on Rider. "Same goes to you, Rider. I sensed your hesitation when the blade was on the girl, which I understand as a wish to not cause harm for her. However, you never came to me after I moved the sword away. Remember what I said about not trusting me? Killing as prevention was perfectly justified. And you know it."

She kept seeing him as someone she can discuss things down. It was a wrong. He told her that she shouldn't show mercy nor expect any. Yet, she stubbornly ignored everything he had said. Was she that good of a woman or was that her way to deal with it because Kiyoshi was present?

He shrugged and turned to Rin. "Didn't think you would keep silent either, Ojou-chan. If you really want to take charge, don't back off at the first difficulty. Nor should you rely on others to stand for you. Impose yourself with all your might or don't bother with it."

Shuya finally glanced over Lancer and he sighed. This guy looked rather friendly  towards him and the half demon felt maybe he did read his intentions. Even after the scene, he didn't seem to mind exchanging words. Maybe he was experienced dealing with such situations? He spoked about being bloodthisty himself but he didn't have the look of a Berserk warrior right now. Well, hard to tell, the guy was still an enigma.

"Speak like you know each other." He said to the Irish man. Curiosity eventually won and after a pause, he added. "What's his trick? Is he bloody Colossus or some shit?"

-----

"I will feel more at ease with it, thanks Forest." Isa said.

Soon Rider was there to offer her advice and confort. She even had offered her protection earlier.

"She's right, Isa. It's not your fault. I know what it's like, and hiding it will not help. It will just make you feel worse. Your sister won't judge or blame you, I promise."

Isabella looked at Rider. She didn't know how much she knew about it, and how much emphasis was implied in it for that matter, but the twin nodded, feeling her honesty and will to help.

"Thanks Rider, I appreciate it. And I understand, it would be just like running away."

These words held truth. She knew it. Yet, she couldn't combat this feeling of apprehension coiling around her mind like a snake. She didn't want to hurt her sister. That truth never changed.Vanessa would be there for her, but imposing pain on others had always been something she managed to kept to a minimum. What if she dissapointed her twin? Would she dare to stand to those piercing eyes? No matter what, the next meeting would be difficult.

Worst was probably that she would feel the pain in her sister's heart. Something she would regret for her whole life. How could she overcome this hurdle? It was the worst thing ever. Fear entwined itself mercilessly, pushing her again and agin. Unknown to her, hands started shaking nervously.

"Huh?"

Isa winced a bit when Hakuno cuddled her. She couldn't cope up with the sudden embrace.

"Even then, it's not your fault. Forest is absolutely right. I'm sure your sister will say the same. You're a wonderful, kind person, and your sister must love you very much. I'm sure she'll understand. But if you need someone to be there with you when you tell Vanessa, you can count on me."

Like a gift send by the Heavens to help, these words chased away fear and doubt, surrounding her like a warm coat. It was the perfect support she would need. With gratitude, she offered back a hug. "I didn't dare to ask." She confessed, her vision blurring. "Thank you, Hakuno-san. Thank you."

She kept repetiting grateful words again and again as she buried her face against the shoulder. At last, her hands had stopped shaking.

[OPOI]

Shirou nodded in response to her hesitant question, fully understanding why her voice seemed so weak. He was perfectly aware of how terrible it was to know that your friend or family had been grievously injured. You doubt yourself, spending hours obsessing over the what-ifs, how you could have changed the event if you had been there. Unfortunately for him, his experiences always involved people being killed rather than injured.

"Yes, Isa's in safe hands. My...compatriots know what they're doing. In fact, they'd just finished regrowing her hand when I left. In terms of physical health at least, Isa will be fine," Shirou said soothingly, or he attempted to. He wasn't exactly well-versed in dealing with cases like this.

He began leading the way, just as Vanessa had suggested. He smirked slightly in amusement when her face paled as she realised who he was, "Emiya Shirou? As in that heretic magus killer?"

He could tell just from the way the muscles in her legs tensed slightly that she had contemplated running away at that very moment. A part of him always found it morbidly amusing how his name could strike fear into even the most arrogant, most skilled of magi. The rest of him despaired.

"Yes. I'm usually called the Magus Killer. Not sure what part of me is a heretic though," he remarked, walking much faster than he had previously been able to before. The mana recharge had done wonders, though he would still need to rest his muscles.

"I saw a crater in the city a while ago. Police reports said that a dark haired girl with unknown powers was involved. Was that you by any chance?" he asked as they continued towards their destination. Shirou reckoned they were getting close to where he'd left everyone.

[Daiki]

Learning her sister was safe for the time being, eased up her mind. Just a bit. There was still what he didn't want to reveal, wounds that her sister wouldn't discuss about easily? What could it be? And there was something that bothered her.

"Wait a sec, did you really say regrown? As in like a plant or...?" She stopped, delusive smile showing on her traits. "You meant to say you have people who can restore lost limbs? I don't think I've ever heard about such high level healing magecraft, and I would dare to say I'm rather good in that field." She pondered for a moment, genuinely surprised people could have such an ability. Of course, it was probably a result from this town, or whatever someone wished to call it, gathering people from different worlds and/or dimensions.

Just like that Sephiroth guy, she thought.

"Yes. I'm usually called the Magus Killer. Not sure what part of me is a heretic though."

His remark was legitimate but Vanessa shrugged honestly. "You know how it is. Lots of people talking, changing things to look more convenient." She gave him a curious look. "Like, how you have faced an Apostle Ancestor and survived to tell the tale, that you battled against the Seventh of the Burial Agency, destroyed an shady cult of demon worshipers, got rid of a virus which did spread in Estonia by purging the whole population of a city... For some you're an angel who saved their life, for others you're an unworthy magus, or a cold blooded murderer." She paused before chuckling. "Of course people tend to exaggerate. You might have offended quite a bunch at some point though. You're not quite respected among the Clock Tower, well as much as I know, although people seem to fear you a lot." She hesitated a second before giving her opinion, throwing a side glance with an hint of amusement.

"Dunno, why it's the case though. You seem like a decent guy."

[OPOI]

"Yes, Forest was the one who managed to heal your sister. I can't really apply our knowledge of magecraft to her ability as she's a vampire from another dimension. As in actually a vampire, not a dead apostle. It was quite likely a literal feat of magic," Shirou said. It really had been lucky that the vampire had been present to heal Isa. If she hadn't, he'd most likely be fetching Vanessa for Isa's funeral. The twins had been very lucky in that regard, unlike many other people he knew.

"You know how it is. Lots of people talking, changing things to look more convenient," Vanessa had continued on after he'd confirmed his identity, "Like, how you have faced an Apostle Ancestor and survived to tell the tale, that you battled against the Seventh of the Burial Agency, destroyed an shady cult of demon worshipers, got rid of a virus which did spread in Estonia by purging the whole population of a city... For some you're an angel who saved their life, for others you're an unworthy magus, or a cold blooded murderer."

All events which he'd performed, often pulling through by the skin of his teeth. He'd been so lucky on so many occasions. If Sumire hadn't been completely drunk and focused on the fight, if Nanako hadn't decided to pick that fight to rebel against abuse from Ciel by refusing to change to her pilebunker form, if the Head Priest of the demon cult had moved 20 cm in either direction...

Estonia hadn't been just any virus. It had been created by a magi, and could have potentially ended the human race if allowed to spread. Meeting Archer there had proven that much.

"Of course people tend to exaggerate. You might have offended quite a bunch at some point though. You're not quite respected among the Clock Tower, well as much as I know, although people seem to fear you a lot," Vanessa said, chuckling slightly, obviously believing it all to be exaggerations. She glanced at him in amusement, before saying,

"Dunno, why it's the case though. You seem like a decent guy."

Shirou chuckled slightly at that. They were two of a kind, these twins.

"Most people don't see this side of me often. I still remember how back when I was just a student in Japan, I was known as a 'the false janitor' because I couldn't refuse anyone's plea for help," he said.

"In my line of profession, it's unavoidable that I've ruffled some feathers. The very existence of a Magus Killer, someone who uses magecraft to end other magi; will offend many. Not to mention all the enemies my father had made in his time...I don't really care what the people in the Clock Tower think of me though. If being a worthy magus is being like some of the one's I've had to eliminate, I think I'm better off being just a cold blooded murderer who happens to use magecraft."

[Daiki]

"A vampire who isn't an apostle, eh? Curious to meet with her." She played nonchalantly with a lock of hair. "I'll go and call this magic feat a miracle for now. Definitely will ask about it, once we reach them."
She eventually thought it would be better to give him the truth about the earlier event.

"The crater thing... Well, I was involved, yeah. To make it short, I saw two men fighting. "She started moving her hands in a mimicry of what happened at the moment, however, it looked like some incomprehensible nonsense from an outsider. "You know, WISH, SHUUU, WOOOSHH, VRRAAAMMM!!"

After a second she stopped moving and her kept up with her story.

"One of them, a tall, handsome, silver haired guy holding the longest japanese sword I have ever saw. Name was Sephiroth. His opponent was apparently involved in terrorist attacks or something. Knew he was suspicious when he went for the police unit. These guys got hit pretty hard. So, I ended up giving a hand, planning to leave the guy to the authorities afterward." She came to an halt, grimacing. The crater you heard about was the result of the confrontation. However, I didn't expect Sephiroth to kill the guy on the spot. He wasn't going anywhere and would have probably surrendered in the end but, he never got the chance."

She sighed.

"Well, I started scolding the swordsman but Isa's beam reached me pretty hard and I passed out. When I woke up, I left without wasting a second and I ended up bumping into a certain person. You know the rest."

She crossed arms. "Any question?"

Most people don't see this side of me often.

"Oh? And why is that? I mean, I'm not gonna pry in your private life or anything but I'm just curious about why you wouldn't open to others like you do with me. It doesn't seem unnatural at all."

I still remember how back when I was just a student in Japan, I was known as a 'the false janitor' because I couldn't refuse anyone's plea for help.

Nessa laughed openly for at least a whole minute. When she calmed enough, she gave him an apology in the form of a grin.

"Sorry, I just didn't expect that from you. It's like telling me that a vampire hunter had in the past sold products in a bakery or something. A bit difficult to imagine."

The laughing mood was short lived though.

In my line of profession, it's unavoidable that I've ruffled some feathers. The very existence of a Magus Killer, someone who uses magecraft to end other magi; will offend many. Not to mention all the enemies my father had made in his time...

These words were cold but she expected something like that from someone who would kill magus on a regular basis. After all, he was used to interact with the worst of their kind. She should have felt offended by it, but she simply looked at him, noticing a change in his expression. Eyes made of steel indeed.

"You remind me of my teacher," she said with a warm smile at the reminiscence of the woman. "She was also a magus killer at one point, an Enforcer. Although I suspect she mostly worked on artifacts chase rather than human hunt most of her years."

I don't really care what the people in the Clock Tower think of me though. If being a worthy magus is being like some of the one's I've had to eliminate, I think I'm better off being just a cold blooded murderer who happens to use magecraft.

 Vanessa stared at Shirou. "However you seem mistaken on one thing, Emiya Shirou." She pointed a finger and tapped his nose gently once. "You're actually better off smiling," she said simply.

"You know, humans always search for something they lack. Because of that desire, it makes us flawed. For example, most magi just simply search a path to the root.  Some don't even have a wish of their own initially, but they seek it regardless and soon it becomes their own desire. What I learned from observation is that when you're truly focused on something, you tend to forget about the rest. Morals vanish one after another. When you're criticized by others you ignore it because they don't see things the same way. Different perspectives affect how interpreted your  actions will be judged and you start to become bold. After a while, things become blurry. You reach a dead end, try again. Another dead end. Now, you become frustratred and start doubting your own abilities. In the end, you become desesperate and commit atrocities. In the end you can even lose your sense of self."

 Nessa pressed an open hand on Shirou's heart. "What matters is here. As long as you can smile, then, there's no regrets to have. Even if you happen to lose your way, all you have to do is search the moment where you trailed off. Set yourself back and try again." The older twin glanced at the man. "As long as you can still smile, you can keep things in perspective. As long as you start looking at life from such a point of view, it's easier to live with yourself and thus, another world of possibilities opens to you. As long as you can smile. "

Nessa removed her hand. And winked at him.

"So smile a lot from now on."

She addressed him a wide grin.

"But seriously, tell me more about your false janitor life. I'm sure you were bullied, you have the looks of it, come on, tell me everything!!"

[lantzblades]

Sakura smiled at Isa. Unlike her other smiles this one was genuine. "See now, first reasonable person in the bunch. To answer your questions yes I am, I'm one of three sisters he has. What's happened to my little brother is the same as always. He shows up somewhere, helps people, gets no credit. Saves the day, doesn't say a single thing about the nasty things the people he saves calls him and comes home. Except that this time the people bad mouthing him are the village mob and they plan to burn the monster who to my knowledge has literally done nothing actually wrong. Although the quick and dirty way to explain it is that he was possessed by all the world's evil, including the rage and hatred of people who whose two Archer's killed. So he's balancing six billion people on his soul. Not sure how he manages it at all to be honest."

Sakura paused as a pitched whine indicated her gear had finished the recharge cycle. "You! If you ever compare my brother as worse than the king of Ulruuk again I will punch you straight in the mouth. How dare you compare that baby eating, homicidal rapist to my brother. That gold plated fuck box killed your father and you call my brother worse.  If I could manage to convert bitchiness into electricity the world would have free energy just from you alone."

Sakura's body took trying to quell the rage she felt, for the most part she calmed down as she turned to Archer.

"no, I didn't listen, I've been here all of five minutes and you expect me to take hearsay as evidence, if you want me to take you seriously then give proof of what you say. You've omitted quite a bit of the details. I can't take he threatened me seriously when you all shrug off the arboreal vampire's threat she rip my mind apart for a phone number as if that's an ok use of a threat but you admittedly going to murder someone isn't."

Sakura paused again and turned to Forest "the violations of body mind or soul are monstrous crimes. I would expect someone in your position to understand as much."

Sakura straight away turned to  Kiyoshi. "Kiyoshi Emiya, you are my only hope." she muttered chuckling  as she knelt down to give him as much of an even standing as she could. "Kiyo, can you come help me? I need to get Taiga but she won't come if adults are forcing her. Besides your aunty and my brother need to talk about grown up stuff for a bit." she asked.

[OPOI]

Shirou was surprised when Vanessa suddenly keeled over laughing about his past. It wasn't that funny! His face must have shown some of his outrage, because she quickly stopped, offering a grin as an apology.

"Sorry, I just didn't expect that from you. It's like telling me that a vampire hunter had in the past sold products in a bakery or something. A bit difficult to imagine," she choked out, face still rosy from her laughing fit. Her analogy made him chuckle a little as well. He always forgot that he was practically the Clock Tower's equivalence to the bogeyman. Going from that point of view, it would be pretty hilarious to know that someone like him used to be a pushover.

He quickly sobered up though, before continuing on with his explanation. By the end, Vanessa was completely sobered up, staring at him in shock. A predictable reaction. He'd seen that same face every time he opened up about himself, that look of shock, quickly followed by disgu-

She poked him on the nose.
You're actually better off smiling," she said simply.

"You know, humans always search for something they lack. Because of that desire, it makes us flawed. For example, most magi just simply search a path to the root.  Some don't even have a wish of their own initially, but they seek it regardless and soon it becomes their own desire. What I learned from observation is that when you're truly focused on something, you tend to forget about the rest. Morals vanish one after another. When you're criticized by others you ignore it because they don't see things the same way. Different perspectives affect how interpreted your  actions will be judged and you start to become bold. After a while, things become blurry. You reach a dead end, try again. Another dead end. Now, you become frustratred and start doubting your own abilities. In the end, you become desesperate and commit atrocities. In the end you can even lose your sense of self."

She pressed her palm onto his chest, just above his heart. If she felt inclined to, she could probably have killed him right there and then. Instead she continued.

 "What matters is here. As long as you can smile, then, there's no regrets to have. Even if you happen to lose your way, all you have to do is search the moment where you trailed off. Set yourself back and try again. As long as you can still smile, you can keep things in perspective. As long as you start looking at life from such a point of view, it's easier to live with yourself and thus, another world of possibilities opens to you. As long as you can smile. "

Vanessa then winked at him. "So smile a lot more from now on," she chirped with a grin, "But seriously, tell me more about your false janitor life. I'm sure you were bullied, you have the looks of it, come on, tell me everything!!"

These two twins really were two of a kind...
What did they see in him? He was cordial right now, but that was only due to extenuating circumstances. Isa hadn't even seen this part of him when she had made her judgement on his character, and yet, she too held belief that he was more than just a murderer who killed for the sake of others. That he could redeem himself.

He smirked slightly in amusement.

"Look at you. A few minutes earlier you were contemplating running away from me, and now here you are lecturing me on how to live better," he said teasingly, "...But I'll keep what you said in mind."

"Is my school life really that interesting to you?" Shirou said exasperatedly. At her enthusiastic nodding, Shirou sighed, resigned to his fate.

"I wasn't bullied per say. Not as in everyone hated me and went out of their way to hurt me. I was far too useful and nice for that to happen. No, the only things they really did was to either pass off their cleaning assignments over to me, so they could go hang out with their friends. I enjoyed the feeling of being able to help, so I always said yes, even if it ended up inconveniencing me," he explained, a ghost of a smile on his face as he remembered simpler times.

"My friend Shinji used to do it all the time. Though in hindsight, he wasn't my friend at all, he was probably the worst one out of all of them..." he mused, face darkening as he remembered...that girl's brother, and how she had suffered at his hands.

Shirou opened his mouth to say more, but was cut off by the sounds of conflict and shouting. He broke into a run, peering around the corner to see what had happened. He face-palmed when he realised it had been nothing more than everyone arguing. Again. What had they gotten up to while he'd been gone? God, how do they get anything done?

He turned to Vanessa.

"Well...these are my compatriots. Not that I really had a choice in the matter. Besides Forest, Rin and Hakuno, every single one of them are idiots...so don't pay them too much mind," he said flatly, before pointing over to the blond vampire. He waited patiently, telling Vanessa to stay put, "Once they get into this mood, they'll argue forever. We'll wait until they've finally finished before we enter. It'll be easier that way."

Once he deemed everything had finally settled, he motioned Vanessa to follow him.
"Come on," he said, stepping out into the open.

[Daiki]

"Look at you. A few minutes earlier you were contemplating running away from me, and now here you are lecturing me on how to live better," he declared with a smirk.

She took an innocent expression, feigning ignorance. "I don't know what you mean. It was simply a general advice," she said with a lopsided smile.

"...But I'll keep what you said in mind." He confirmed.

She approved with the thumbs up and listened to what he had to say.

"I wasn't bullied per say. Not as in everyone hated me and went out of their way to hurt me. I was far too useful and nice for that to happen. No, the only things they really did was to either pass off their cleaning assignments over to me, so they could go hang out with their friends. I enjoyed the feeling of being able to help, so I always said yes, even if it ended up inconveniencing me."

Nessa raised eyebrows with interest, she wondered what could have changed so much for him to become a mercenary. Clearly he had a deep sense of duty back then. And people took advantage of that. She frowned, it was disgusting behavior to say the least. But the worst was that Shirou was taking it happily. Who would ever accept gladly to do others' chores? This guy was already a bit strange back then. "I want to be of use," sounded like what someone with no purpose would do. Yet, she doubted it was that simple.

"My friend Shinji used to do it all the time. Though in hindsight, he wasn't my friend at all, he was probably the worst one out of all of them..."

His face took a sadder expression following these words. Probably something happened to his friend? She could only emit speculation at this point. However, she wasn't lost in thoughts for too long, for Shirou started running.

"Hey, where are you... Ah, whatever." She followed at full speed. After a corner and she found Shirou addressing her. "Well...these are my compatriots. Not that I really had a choice in the matter. Besides Forest, Rin and Hakuno, every single one of them are idiots...so don't pay them too much mind."

The girl looked at the group arguing over something she could make sense of from here. "Sure looks like everyone's passionate." They were numerous but she wasn't interested in them for now. It took her a bit to find Isabella. Without realizing it herself, she started to walk in her direction, well, she simply followed Shirou's lead anyway. Isabella was surrounded by people but it was definitively her. She had changed clothes and still had bandages covering her. Seeing her like that made Vanessa's blood boil.

"Finally found you, bloody idiot," she grunted, before approaching her twin.

[Cherry Lover]

"So she hasn't changed for thirty years. Why doesn't that shock me?" Archer said, drawing a glare from Rin.

Rider smiled at that. Whilst she had never really had much chance to see Rin's interactions with her servant, she knew from Rin's own descriptions that there had been quite a lot of good-natured bickering between them. And, she also knew how much fun it was to tease Rin in that manner. Her master was an expert at it, although there was, of course, never any malice involved.

But, despite her amusement, she did not lose track of the situation, and remained alert to the possible danger, her weapons still drawn. The Darkened Archer responded to Shuya's head-butt by punching him in the stomach with what seemed to be blade-covered hands. Rider waited for Shuya's response, ready to jump in to assist her allies in Rin's defence if necessary. Instead, though, the newly-arrived man approached them, intending to fix the conflict that had arisen. Using Rin's concern for Isa and a sickeningly-sweet smile, he managed to persuade her to overlook Shuya's response and attitude, albeit somewhat grudgingly. And, with Rin accepting, the Darkened Archer followed rapidly.

Shuya, though, was less-than-impressed with the man's peacemaking attempts. He had quite obviously expected and wanted a violent response.

"You're too naive", he said, the disappointment clear in his voice. "Why did you hold back? I gave you all  a solid pretext to jump seriously at me. I pointed my blade on one of your girls and you didn't so much as react."

He turned to the newcomer, castigating him for his attempt at peace-making and making out that it had been the wrong option, despite it having clearly achieved the aims. Then, he turned to Rider.

"Same goes to you, Rider", he said. "I sensed your hesitation when the blade was on the girl, which I understand as a wish to not cause harm for her. However, you never came to me after I moved the sword away. Remember what I said about not trusting me? Killing as prevention was perfectly justified. And you know it."

What an idiot, thought Rider.

Yes, killing him would have been entirely justified in that situation, but that didn't mean it was sensible, given the circumstances. He seemed to view the world as one in which you should constantly seek out reasons to kill, rather than one where you should always look for reasons not to kill, as her master always would.

"Shuya, you misunderstand us. We are not unwilling to kill, but nor are we searching for pretexts to do so. If we kill someone, it is because it is necessary as well as justified. Killing you in Rin's defence might have been justifiable, but it was not necessary."

Rider approached Shuya more closely and whispered to him, ensuring Kiyoshi could not hear.

"If it was as simple as just 'killing' you I would gladly have done so. As far as I am concerned, the world is far better off without bloodthirsty idiots like you.


However, I have no desire to waste my limited supply of prana in a fight that we will not get the chance to finish, and nor will I waste my time fighting you over some idle threat you will never fulfill. Further, I do not intend to traumatise Kiyoshi by making him watch his Aunt kill someone unless I absolutely must. The last thing he needs is encouragement in following that path."

Kiyoshi, though, was in full agreement with the guy. As far as he was concerned, people who threatened his family like that deserved everything they got. However, right now his first priority was his presumably-somewhat-shaken Aunt, who he had approached, checking if she was OK.

In response to his question, Rin sighed, before replying.

"Yeah, I'm fine. It's going to take more than some creep to take me down", she said. "Your Auntie's pretty tough, you know. Both strong and elegant. That's the Tohsaka way."

Kiyoshi was glad to hear that, although not overly surprised. He knew his aunt was strong-willed and tough, although not on the same level as his mother. And she was usually pretty elegant, too, although he knew her well enough to know that elegant facade would slip sometimes.

As for the "Tohsaka way", well, he was fully aware of what that meant. His real aunt had tried to push the philosophy on him enough times. Of course, he never took any notice. As much as he loved his aunt, he had no interest in following the path of a magus.

He and Rider listened as Archer replied, questioning her elegance, leading to the two of them bickering. Kiyoshi felt somewhat confused, whilst Rider nearly burst-out laughing at the way the servant was flustering her.

But, in the end, Rin got the upper hand.

"And I'm sure he's looking forward to all the cookies Uncle Archer is going to be making him. Because Uncle Archer would never turn down a special request from a special nephew, not when he knows it'll make him sad." Rin's smile gained a wicked edge. "Because Uncle Archer knows what will happen if he makes his special nephew sad, now doesn't he?"

Archer sighed at that statement, knowing he was trapped, and Rider could barely contain her amusement. Kiyoshi, however, was delighted. He loved cooking, and he loved eating his father's food too.

"Yay! We're going to bake cookies!" Kiyoshi said, not even bothering to check with Archer first.

"Will you help us, Aunty Rin? It'll be great fun", he added enthusiastically.

At that, Rider actually did burst-out laughing, as Rin's attempt at getting revenge on Archer backfired spectacularly.

Kiyoshi, meanwhile, felt very excited by the idea of cooking with the alternate form of his father and aunt. He knew they were both good cooks, and he found cooking a very enjoyable pursuit. It was something he could definitely look forward to.

Rider then left to tend to Isa, whilst Kiyoshi remained with his aunt, and "Uncle" Archer. However, their conversation quickly turned to less-happy things. Sakura's comments had clearly riled Rin and Archer. When the darkened Archer informed them of Sakura's parentage, it brought an extremely negative response from Rin.

"Wait... she- she's ours?! B-but that, how, why. Her?!"

Rider's immediate thought was that Sakura was acting exactly like you'd expect Rin's child to act when in a bad mood, and exactly like Rin herself was acting. Really bitchy.

Rin and Archer continued, alternating between disowning the girl and attacking her views on Satoshi.

Whilst she was somewhat shocked at the level of nastiness and coldness in their comments, Rider did generally think Rin was right. As far as she was concerned, she would much rather that asshole version of Shirou die than Archer, servant or not. And, she also found the concept that the life of a servant was somehow less important somewhat distasteful, even if she did still put her life well below that of her master despite Sakura's constant efforts to convince her that she mattered just as much. To her, Satoshi's defence of Shirou at Archer's expense was simply not reasonable.

Kiyoshi, on the other hand, was much less equivocal about it. Whilst he was unhappy about the idea of Satoshi threatening to kill another person, he also didn't like the fact that Archer had done much the same thing. But, mostly he was just shocked at the level of nastiness his previously-kind aunt was showing towards her own daughter. To him, family was family, whatever universe you were from. You might disagree with them or get angry with them, but he could not accept such coldness on their part.

And, it only got worse, with Rin and Archer disowning her and attempting to pin the "blame" for her existence on one another, before finally coming to an agreement that neither of them were that awful.

Kiyoshi was quite frankly disgusted with her. He knew how much it hurt to be disowned in that manner. It had hurt him when Taiga had rejected him as her brother. And, the way they were talking about Sakura was just plain mean, particularly when she was stood right in front of them. He could not stand it any longer.

Kiyoshi looked at her sadly, before turning around and walking away, a tear in his eye and his heart broken. He knew his aunt could be mean  sometimes, but never like that. Not to the people she loved or to her family.

However, he didn't get very far before Sakura also approached.

Rider, meanwhile, had been talking to Isa. The girl's response to Rider's worried comment about telling her sister the truth had been a good one. The girl had clearly understood her meaning. At the same time, Forest had approached her, responding to her worries about Sakura.

"I'll help keep Kiyoshi safe.  Even if this theoretical Sakura isn't your Sakura, I know you'll want to go save the day.  Just be careful", she said.

Rider felt glad at that. Whilst she knew that Kiyoshi would trust Rin more than Forest, it was nice to have someone else around who would protect him. It freed her up to go and deal with Satoshi without worry.

Before she could reply, though, the other Sakura began to talk, answering Isa's prior question about her brother.

"See now, first reasonable person in the bunch", she said, causing Rider to frown at the implied insult. "To answer your questions yes I am, I'm one of three sisters he has. What's happened to my little brother is the same as always. He shows up somewhere, helps people, gets no credit. Saves the day, doesn't say a single thing about the nasty things the people he saves calls him and comes home. Except that this time the people bad mouthing him are the village mob and they plan to burn the monster who to my knowledge has literally done nothing actually wrong. Although the quick and dirty way to explain it is that he was possessed by all the world's evil, including the rage and hatred of people who whose two Archer's killed. So he's balancing six billion people on his soul. Not sure how he manages it at all to be honest."

Whilst she was annoyed at Sakura's dismissal of her as "unreasonable", she did understand what the girl was getting at. She knew from her master's experiences what it was like to be possessed by Angra Mainyu, and she was just as unsure as her how he could handle the pressure.

Before Rider could reply, though, Sakura turned to Rin and Archer, becoming noticably angrier. She launched into an angry tirade about the "king of Uruk", whoever the hell that was, accusing Rin of comparing him to Satoshi.

Rider was confused. She'd never heard of any such person and, yet, Sakura was claiming this person had murdered Rin's father.

Not that he didn't deserve it anyway... thought Rider, recalling how he had treated her master.

Kiyoshi, meanwhile, was now confused and upset. He could understand Sakura being unhappy with Rin for her attitude towards her, but that didn't seem to be the issue. Instead, she'd latched on to something about a "gold-plated fuck-box" and launched into a foul-mouthed rant about comparing him to her brother.

But, whilst he was somewhat annoyed at the girl's vitrol towards her mother, he could at least understand her desire to defend her brother, even if what she was saying was incomprehensible. And, at least she had not gone as far as outright disowning.

Then, the girl spoke to Forest, clearly annoyed with something she'd done, presumably using her psychic abilities.

Rider frowned. Forest had complained at her for having the tenacity to think before, and she'd found it somewhat irritating, so she could understand why the girl might be annoyed. However, she didn't really know what had happened, so she could hardly comment.

Then, finally, she walked over to Kiyoshi.

Kiyo, can you come help me? I need to get Taiga but she won't come if adults are forcing her. Besides your aunty and my brother need to talk about grown up stuff for a bit."

With that, Kiyoshi brightened up, whilst Rider sighed audibly.

She actually wants my help! Kiyoshi thought, excitedly.

He knew that Aunt Rider would disapprove, and he would like to make things up with Aunt Rin despite her nastiness towards Sakura, but there was simply no way he could turn Sakura down. Taiga needed his help. He would rescue the poor girl like the hero he was, and bring her back to Forest's house.

"Of course I'll help!" he said. "No hero would leave an innocent girl lost and alone like that."

But, then, he looked at his Aunt, and his face fell once more. Despite everything, she was still his aunt, he didn't want to just abandon her. He wouldn't just disown her in the way she had so cruelly done to her own daughter.

"Aunty Rin, Sakura, why are you being so mean to each other?", he said, tearfully. "You're family, family should be kind to one another. And, Aunty Rin, disowning your daughter like that is really nasty and hurtful. You were so nice to me, too...."

Rider, meanwhile, was just trying to find a way to stop him going. She just wanted him to go home and go to sleep. Ultimately, though, she knew it would be a losing battle. He would never forgive her if she forced him to abandon a helpless child like that.

Still, she felt she should at least try.

"Are you sure, Kiysohi? It's late, and you need sleep. Plus, if you go with her, how will you get home?" she said.

Then, she turned to the others and spoke.

"Sakura, whilst I do not appreciate being called 'unreasonable', I'm sorry if I made false assumptions about how your brother is in his darkened state. I just know how Angra Mainyu affected my master, and I did not honestly expect anyone else to fare better than her. She is an exceptionally strong person, after all, as you must surely know.

As for Satoshi, I have decided. I will be going after him.

Honestly, I have no other choice. The risk to my master or alternate forms of her is too great to ignore. But, I will return to the apartment first. I need to know where I am going, and I have a call to make. Plus, I need to be sure Kiyoshi gets back safely.

As for you, Forest, I'm not sure what you did to Sakura, but it isn't nice to invade people's minds."

[Alice]

Forest waited until Finn was gone before she looked at Millie as Lancer put her down.  She said with a grin, "Your brother's sort of daft, isn't he? Don't worry, we'll make it to the compound just fine."

Mille sighed. "More than just sort of, believe me."
Then events continued, and Forest replied to her statement. 

"No, then she might go crying to her brother and apparently he's the biggest, baddest motherfucker all along in this town.  Plus, she's really not my type. I try to keep 'stuck up bitch' from my diet."

Mille nodded. "I suppose that makes sense. There's probably an aftertaste. That can't be pleasant."

However, it seemed that it was more than just Forest that had a reply for her.

Archer Alter heard Millie's words about the other Archer and Rin getting a room and grinned.  He said, "If anyone's getting a room with her, its me."

Mille heard the thoughts of the others and had no reservations about voicing her own. "So that's why he sucks up to her so much. Creepy as that is, at least he's being honest."

Rin herself was blushing quite hard. All she managed to say was, "W-we'll talk about it when we get back."

Then things continued, and the conflict between the two Tohsakas raged onward. Rin was clearly furious at Sakura's response to Isa. Mille was content to just watch, until the boy who was apparently Rin's nephew raised his objections. She blinked, then realized what had happened. Mille sighed- while she didn't care about defending Tohsaka so much, she did want to set the record straight, as the kid seemed to have missed half the story, at least from what she'd heard.

"They got frustrated and didn't think about their flirting material. That's all."

***

Oddly enough, the name "Alaya" didn't quite register with Archer, though he felt like he should be more than familiar with it- to the point where he almost winced upon hearing it. However, the rest registered with him quite clearly. He turned to his darker counterpart.

"To be honest, I'd rather bake cookies than be someone's 'killbot' any day, as humiliating as that prospect may be."

Then he heard his darker self's line about Rin and her room. It took him a bit to process it, but when he did, he stood there in stunned silence. And he kept that silence. He knew there was much he could say that would only serve to dig his own grave.

Then the amazonian Rin lookalike, who he now knew to be called Sakura, responded to Isa, detailing how wonderful and heroic Toshi was, which made him roll his eyes. This was followed with a tyrade at Rin- something to do with... Gilgamesh, from the sounds of things? Maybe? Though he wasn't entirely sure where it'd even come from, Rin hadn't said anything about him. What he did know is that Rin was fuming, and she naturally flew off the handle.

However, Rin herself was cut off by Kiyoshi. Archer was confused for a moment about the whole "disowning" thing. Then a redheaded girl responded to him, and the pieces began to form. Oh damn...

The girl's explanation he found was inadequate, on top of being somewhat embarrassing with the flirting bit, and Rin was clearly still fuming, so he expanded on it. "Well... see, Sakura was already disregarding us as her parents, instead treating us as separate people. Plus she said some things that... well, they deeply insulted some of us and angered others of us. Plus your aunt... well, it may seem old to you, at your age, but Rin is only about eighteen years old. Having a child that old at that age doesn't tend to register. And well... we got frustrated, and our frustration came out naturally, without the pair of us thinking about what we were saying."

He ran a hand through his hair, hoping that explanation was sufficient. He noticed that Rin was calming down. It was up to her now.

***

Rin blinked in surprise at the half demon's lecture. However, she took it to heart, as willing as she was to cement her authority. "I-I knew that," she said. "But don't expect me to take it so easy on you next time, you hear me?"

Archer just sighed. Indeed, some things never changed.

Then Sakura's lecture happened. Rin began to see red. "I didn't say any of that! What's with you?! First you say all that stuff and then you put words in my mouth! And what are you even talking about?! Who are you even talking about, and what does that even have to do with my father?! What do you know about my-"

"Aunty Rin, Sakura, why are you being so mean to each other?", Kiyoshi said, tearfully. "You're family, family should be kind to one another. And, Aunty Rin, disowning your daughter like that is really nasty and hurtful. You were so nice to me, too...."

She stopped, but couldn't respond, still blinded by rage. Then Archer's words on the subject processed. While she was still enraged at Sakura, she did feel bad for what Kiyoshi felt. Plus there was no way she was letting Sakura get the high ground.

She turned to Sakura, with Archer shaking his head a little as he managed to pick up on part of her true intentions with this little apology. "Look, I'm... I'm sorry I went that far. I wasn't thinking. However...." She crossed her arms in front of her chest. "If you're going to treat us like we're not your parents, then expect us to act in kind. I don't know if it's some kind of policy to keep alternate universe forms separate from your versions from wherever you come from, but either way, I want you to understand that. I also think you owe some people here some apologies. We may have said some hurtful things, but you've said quite a bit yourself."

***

Finn grinned at Lancer's complement. "I'm glad to hear it, thanks. You seem like a pretty great guy yourself." He chuckled a bit. "Sure seem to have caught my sister's eye at least. That takes someone pretty special to pull that off. Even more so to get her to smile."

Then Shuya had a few words for him on his actions.

He tapped Finn's shoulder. "The reaction was okay, but you came at us with the intent of pacific reasoning which is a mistake. Would you call for peace when a friend faces danger? You're dealing with monsters here. If you go at it half-assed, you won't get anything but stupid drama. And listen to fire girl a bit. Rushing in like that wasn't the right call."

Finn shrugged. "Eh, while I don't mind a good fight every once in a while, I prefer the non-bloody method myself. Love and peace! Love and peace!, you get the drill. Plus it means less of my friends are hurt or dead. Kinda hard to go out and get a drink or have a game night with friends if they're all six feet under." He rubbed the back of his neck. "But yeah, I hear ya about the rushing in thing. My sis is smart like that. Really, I should know better." He grinned nice and wide. "But where's the fun in that, huh? Life is all about risks, even the really stupid ones!"

Mille groaned quite loudly and covered her face with her hands. "How are we even related...."

Finn then silently witnessed the other events, waiting to see if any additional mediating was needed. However, he noticed the young man who looked somewhat like Archer arriving with a girl that looked identical to Isa. He turned to Forest. "Whelp, looks like Team Asshole is disbanded, I think our missing sister is found!" He gave an embarrassed chuckle. "Now if only we can not fight long enough to get everyone back to the apartments and rested."

***

Hakuno hugged Isa again gently. "It's the least I could do. That's what friends are for, right?"

While she really didn't like the tall Rin look-alike's insinuation that Archer was a murderer, Hakuno decided that Isa came above everything else at the moment, and kept her attention focused there. She spotted Shirou, in better shape than he was before, accompanied by a girl who couldn't be anyone other than Vanessa. As the twin sister approached, Hakuno released Isa and gave her hand another gentle squeeze. "I'll be right here."

[Elf]

Forest raised her eyebrow at Rider and replied, "I didn't invade her mind.  I just pointed out that I could when she was withholding vital information.  And you know, just generally insulting us all around, but hey, I'll be nice because that's what I do."

She forced a smile on her face and looked at Sakura.  Then she said, "Look, we got off on the wrong foot and I apologize.  However I did try to help your brother and kept him for wracking up more dead bodies on his already weighted conscience from how you tell it. So, good luck storming the castle and all of that."

******

Lancer was leaning somewhat on Gae Bolg, shaking his head ever so slightly.  It was a right mess.  Everyone with their drama and slinging insults.  Not to mention all the bloody arguments. 

At least Finn sounded like a decent sort, and he had the blood of Ireland running through his veins.  He also seemed to already have a yen for Lancer's landlady; which wasn't a bad thing at all.  Then there was the fact that the girl's sister was brought back safe and sound.

He nodded at Finn and said, "It looks like Team Asshole wasn't needed at all."

He grinned at Shuya and said, "I know the fucker cheats."

******

Archer shrugged at Shuya's question and answered, "Just because I've been steeped in all the world's evil doesn't mean I enjoy needless killing.  You didn't actually hurt Rin."

Then he smirked and said, "And you're not worth the effort anyway."

Rin was getting flustered by his honest reply and he was about to walk over to her and say something when the blond vampire was between him and Shuya.  Lancer stood up straight and he blinked as the blond glared at them both.  She then looked at Finn and said, "This is how you stop two idiots from killing each other."

He registered a blond and black movement when his world exploded in agony.

There was a crushing blow that made him see stars and gag as her knee impacted with his groin.  The blow, unlike Shuya's telegraphed headbutt, had come completely out of nowhere.  He felt himself double over as he fought for air. 

However, there was a sense of satisfaction as he saw Shuya get the same treatment.   He heard that husky, female voice state to Finn, "That's how you deal with assholes, and Team Asshole is useless."

Archer did notice as she smiled at Emiya Shirou, wave, and say to him, "Thank you."

******

Lancer had to laugh as partly clothed Forest tucked a lock of hair behind her ear and strode away from the two men she just wounded.

He did look at Rider and offer, "If you want help, I'll go.  I'm still good for a fight."

******

Forest rejoined Millie, Rin, Rider, Sakura, and Kiyoshi.  She didn't need to read Rider's mind to know that she didn't want Kiyoshi going with her.  Not that she blamed the Servant.  If it would have been Gabriel at that age, she would have just told him "no" in a firm voice and made sure he stayed behind.

Then there was the fact that Emiya Shirou brought Vanessa back to her sister safe and sound while Team Asshole had utterly failed.  He also still had her gun, but she figured he could keep it.  She had a whole arsenal to choose from.  However, these people apparently needed to be guided.

She raised her hand and said, "Okay, we've got Vanessa back with her sister.  I think we've had enough excitement for one night.  I can lead everyone back to the stronghold and we can get some much needed rest."