On hearing Rider's rant about her past, Isa's face had fallen, clearly guilty at hitting such a raw nerve.
"I'm sorry, I said something rather insensitive. Didn't mean to remember you of something bad", she said, apologetically.
Aww, what a nice girl.
"No, it's OK, you couldn't have known", Rider said in reply.
As she described Sakura's relationship with Shirou, though, she couldn't help but notice the girl turning crimson. Whilst such innocence was not something she saw much of, she could understand it in such a young girl. They continued to converse, Rider glad to hear that the girl bore her no ill-will, and understood the situation she was in.
She continued speaking, greeting Hakuno, acting strangely formally towards her, before turning to greet Forest and, then, Rin.
Rider couldn't help but notice how Isa greeted Rin.
Odd, I've never met her before.But there were
plenty of alternate versions of people here, so it made sense for there to be another one. Whether or not Rin knew her in return she wasn't sure.
Then, as Shirou started to speak, Rider could see Isa trying to intervene, quite reasonably. She continued doing so as Rider herself spoke, to no avail. Forest also spoke up, attacking Shirou's version of events. Rider nodded along as Forest chewed out Shirou and his attitude.
But, then, as she fantasised about Rin, the vampire turned to speak to her, clearly having read her thoughts.
"Lord and Lady, is
that all you think about?"
Rider blushed slightly, feeling somewhat embarrassed at her most private thoughts being announced to the world.
Oh, so she can read thoughts as well? she thought, uncomfortably.
Although, I do wonder if she has any concept of "privacy"....But, before she could address the vampire and explain herself, the boy who had said he was Shirou's son announced himself.
"my name proper is Satoshi Alexander Emiya Pendragon. I am the prince of knights, king of heroes, heir to the house Einzbern and the dragon. The second of my titles was earned defeating Gilgamesh and stripping him of such. Emiya Shirou is my father and my mother is Arturia Pendragon the king of knights, most know her as king Arthur, history got the male part wrong because Merlin used magic. And no, Rider usually thinks about any current book she's reading. As for my world every one is alive, I would give a full list but that would take too long for the current situation but my grandfather and your master are very much among them as well as Rin there being the head of the mage association."
He's Saber's
son?Rider's face showed clear shock at that revelation. Whilst the idea of Saber living through the war was hardly implausible, given that she herself was a survivor of it, she knew that Heroic Spirits could not bear children. Further, since he knew her and, apparently, Archer, at least three of the servants had survived, which begged the question of how they were getting prana.
Still, whilst she couldn't understand how his world could come to be, she was willing to accept that he was almost certainly telling the truth. She could clearly see indications of Saber's parentage in his unusual hair colour and, further, he clearly knew personal details about her, such as her love of reading. Overall, he did seem like someone she could trust. His world seemed a nice enough place and, whilst she had never had the chance to get to Saber well enough to judge her, she
did trust Shirou, at least versions of him that were normal enough to settle down and have a family.
Then he continued.
"As to the issue here I'm afraid your outrage is a little misplaced. While killing innocent people is wrong tactically speaking it was Shirous only choice, I say this because I'm well aware of what happens to a person drained by vampirisms cold touch, both in the case of your method Rider as your sisters attacked me and by the standard vampire means. Also please keep something in mind Forest, you are a western vampire, the eastern ones are much more horrific when you are drained by them, you can become a zombie, ghoul or even another vampire but eastern vampires have little in the way of self control due to their bodies constantly deterioration leaving them in agony. It's not a thing I would wish on any one , Shirou did what he thought was right and given that I understand what it is to be powerless I can't blame him for picking the option with the best odds of survival and spare a victim torturous pains."
OK, has he listened to a damn word I said?Some of his logic did make sense, if you took Shirou at face value and accepted his ridiculous assertion that Forest and Rider both intended to kill the girl even though that was evidentially not the case. Still, it was pretty clear that he was entirely overlooking the utter
idiocy that Shirou had displayed in jumping to the conclusion that the girl was in iminent danger of an agonising death and deciding to pre-empt that by putting a bullet in her head. That sort of idiotic thinking was the sort of thing she expected from an overly-eager child like Kiyoshi, not a fully-grown adult like Shirou. Although even Kiyoshi would never attack someone he
knew to be innocent....
The boy continued with his speech.
"Also Rider you'll have to accept that worlds like his counter balance yours and mine, cosmically speaking you cannot blame him for the hand of fate. More importantly though is the fact that he sugar coated it which says that he thinks what he does is at it's basic level wrong. This means he isn't completely gone and I think you of all people should see the merits of a second chance"
Whilst he was perhaps right about the sugar-coating, although she wasn't at all convinced that it wasn't simply an attempt to save his own skin, she didn't accept that he had no alternative but to become as he was. There was
always an alternative. The Rin and Shirou that she knew could attest to that.
As for a second chance, she did not as-of-yet have sufficient information about him to know for sure if he'd done anything unforgiveable, although she was beginning to suspect the worst. Still, she was willing to leave him alone for now, even if only because she simply couldn't afford the prana it would cost to kill him. Protecting the happiness of the Sakura she knew came before avenging the one she
didn't, assuming he was indeed responsible for her demise.
Besides, if he did still possess a concience, as Satoshi seemed to think, then a relatively painless death would be a
blessing compared to having to live with the full weight of his crimes, particularly when confronted with all the alternative possibilities.
This "Satoshi" guy was weird, though. Mere seconds ago he'd been threatening to beat Shirou into next week, now, after swallowing his bullshit whole, he was
defending him.
Before Rider could reply to his long speech, though, Shirou piped up.
"Thank you...Satoshi. If nothing else, I'm glad that you're not another idealistic idiot like I used to be, and can actually try to see the bigger picture. I guess Saber raised you well."
Rider couldn't help but laugh at that. The boy was Shirou's son and
acted like it. He was just aware of his limitations, much like the Shirou she knew was. She knew he would never put a bullet in the brain of an innocent girl in the way that this idiot had tried to.
Shirou continued, staring coldly at her.
"Well...I wasn't quite planning on aggravating everyone, so I better explain myself a bit better", he said.
Despite his statement, though, she couldn't help but feel that she was the one person he was
quite OK aggravating. She could tell from the way he stared at her that he felt this was a verbal battle to win allies for the forthcoming fight between them rather than an attempt to prevent said fight.
He turned to address Forest, a hint of sarcasm in his voice.
"First off, you said shoot the monsters, not the victim. If that option was available to me, in a way which didn't cause complete collateral damage, we wouldn't be here talking right now. I was not close enough to directly intervene, nor did I have allies whom I could have directed to your location. And, let's be honest, do you really think a mere high-velocity sniper bullet to the head would have stopped you, who had appeared at the time to be a Dead Apostle; and Rider, a full blown Servant capable of moving at speeds beyond most cars and tougher than a stainless steel vault? Well, maybe you, I don't know what you're capable of and what your weaknesses are, but definitely not a Servant. If anything, it might cause one of you to run away with the girl, or feed on her quicker so you could gain enough power to fight off a possible threat. And I wasn't going to leave Hakuno in your hands so you could make her into your Dead slave, or in Rider's hands where she would literally suffer a fate worse than death. So your suggestion is out. Unless you think it would have been a good idea to shoot a Noble Phantasm into an alleyway literally next to the city centre on the off chance that I manage to kill at least one of you. Not that it would have anyway, you would have detected it long before I could fire."
To be fair to him, he did have a point. If you focussed solely on her and Forest, ignoring everyone
else who was involved or intended to become involved, and assumed the absolute worst-case scenario, as he was seemingly prone to do, a mercy kill on the girl was indeed the best option. Of course, that entirely ignored the fact that he had no reason to believe that
either of them intended to kill the girl or cause her genuine harm, or that the girl had screamed for her servant shortly after, or that
Saber had been there to protect her. It
also ignored the fact that a bullet to the girl's head in that situation wasn't going to work
either, as subsequent events had proven.
Shirou then turned to Forest, and bowed, before saying "I do have to thank you though for delaying Rider, now that I know what your true intentions were. I'm sorry I over-complicated this matter."
Rider's face turned sour hearing that. It was clear to her that her initial impression was right. He was trying to turn everyone against her.
"And you. You have some nerve to lecture me on my choice, to be outraged at my actions. The one who should be outraged is me. You say I have no sense. That what you're the one responsible for saving Hakuno and thus bears no blame in this matter. How dare you! You were only going to take a little bit of prana? That's bullshit and you know it!"
Rider's face contorted with anger at his words, and the clear attempt to pin the blame for Hakuno's near death at his hands on
her. Then, Shirou started to approach her. In response, Rider summoned up her nails once more, ready to deflect the coming attack. But, instead, he continued talking.
"The easiest and quickest choice for you would be to gain prana would have been by eating her soul, leaving her a lifeless shell, capable of only the bare minimum to survive."
Right, because the "easiest and quickest" choice is obviously
the only one anyone will ever take..., she thought, sarcastically, her anger growing at the way the idiot projected his philosophy on life and general laziness and unwillingness to take the difficult path onto her.
Angrily, she attempted to respond.
"Easiest and quickest. That's all you damn well care about, isn't it?!"
However, he continued to talk over her, paying no heed to her words whatsoever.
"Don't think I've forgotten what you did to Mitsuzuri. Tohsaka managed to save my friend Ayako from this fate, but even now she's suffering from the side effects. She suffers nightmares of the incident every night, and even if she can't remember what exactly happened, she's developed a phobia to the point that every time she's alone in a dark room, she's overcome with petrifying fear until someone comes to her aid."
That's funny, because the Ayako I
know is perfectly fine. She was even Sakura's bridesmaid."Or maybe you were going to go the slow way. Maybe, force a tantric ritual with a girl who seemingly had at best, a small untapped pool of prana in her body. Use your eyes to petrify her so she can't resist, or just brute force her onto the ground, then have your way with her until you were satisfied, on the off chance that you somehow gained mana from a schoolgirl who you knew was not a magus. And afterwards, to cover up your tracks, because I know you can't wipe people's memories; you would have no choice but to kill her right there and then or take her away to your lair, where you can do it again and again until she had no more prana left. Is that what you planned to do if the vampire here hadn't stopped you?"
Hearing his rant, Rider's anger grew further and further. He was clearly trying to ruin the trust Hakuno and the others had for her using lies and false assumptions. She had intended to do
none of those things. All she was intending to do was to drink a little of the girl's blood, as she had done to many people before. Even if the Ayako in his world had ended up traumatised, that was different. She had, presumably, been forced to attack her under Shinji's direction, and in a manner that was
designed to maximise the poor girl's suffering, for the enjoyment of her monstrous substitute master.
But, still he continued, the anger in his voice getting steadily worse.
"How on earth could I possibly just let you do that? How on earth could I just let a girl suffer either that or the experience of becoming the Dead in attempting to shoot the two of you down with a rifle? Yes, call me a murderer, but if I had absolutely no choice, I would much rather kill someone painlessly than to leave an innocent person to experience such a fate."
Rider prepared herself for the inevitable attack from the furious Shirou, her anger also rising as he continued to spout his ill-informed opinion. But, instead, he took a few moments to calm himself, before continuing to speak.
"Lastly...and the thing I find most unforgivable. You claim that you had no choice, that you're only trying to get prana to continue protecting a boy who you claim is my son. Well then, out of all the possible secluded alleys, all the possible deserving criminals and so-called scum with reasonable levels of prana you could have picked from, hell just in this nearby area, let alone this vast city...why did you decide to attack a harmless ordinary schoolgirl with small mana reserves who had just walked out of the city centre?"
The uncomfortable truth of his final statement only made Rider angrier. Reaching her boiling point, she moved to lunge at him. But, before she could do so, Isa, who had been unsuccessfully trying to stop the argument for some time, dived in between them, looking at the two of them alternately. Then, she began to speak.
"Are we finally done?" She asked calmly. "Because in case you didn't notice, Hakuno-san is safe." She addressed at Rider a glance. "Sure we could spend time pointing fingers about what COULD HAVE HAPPENED." Her voice erupted violently in the alley. "WHAT'S YOUR PROBLEM GUYS??? LOOK AT THE VICTIM." She yelled. "YEAH, SHE'S SHAKEN BUT STOP TREATING HER LIKE A CHILD, DAMMIT. SHE'S FINE NOW. SO WE CAN EITHER DECIDE WHO'S THE ONE WHO SCREWED THE MOST OR DECIDE TO MOVE ON WITH THIS TOPIC AND TRY TO FIND A SOLUTION IN ORDER TO AVOID SUCH A RESULT TO HAPPEN AGAIN WHICH IS TO PROVIDE A WAY TO SUPPLY RIDER WITH PRANA."
The anger and sadness in her voice shocked Rider into stopping her actions for the moment. Rider felt sorry for her, particularly since she was only trying to help. Once more, she channeled her anger and lust towards her master's extremely attractive, very clumsy and somewhat kinky big sister.
Rin bent over my knee being spanked.Rin bent over my knee being spanked.As she expected, thinking of the girl who was ultimately responsible for them being in this mess in the first place getting a sexy and well-deserved punishment calmed her somewhat, allowing her to focus more rationally on the situation at hand.
Dimly, over the top of her fantasies, she heard the girl ask "What will it be?"
But, before she could reply, Archer jumped in. Now that she was paying attention, she could recall that the servant's blood was practically boiling with anger. And, honestly, she could understand why. Not only had this idiot tried to kill her master, but he was an alternate version of Archer himself, one who had apparently followed a dark path. She recalled from her war that Archer had initially had issues with Shirou, but had abandoned them once the war hotted up. This Shirou seemed like the sort that might enflame those feelings even in the best of situations.
Rin attempted to jump in and placate her former servant, but to no avail.
"My apologies, to both of you. But... he and I need to have a few words", Archer said, the rage evident in his voice.
Rider prepared herself. Whilst she wasn't going to
provoke a fight, if one
did occur she knew very well which side she would support. After all, Archer
had ultimately saved Sakura, albeit indirectly, and in this case he was clearly in the right.
As the servant approached Shirou, Rider could see Rin and Hakuno conversing, clearly trying to think of a way to stop Archer. The fact that Hakuno had not already ordered him to stop implied that she clearly lacked any command spells, or at very least had only one remaining.
Meanwhile, the servant started to speak, clearly infuriated at Shirou's attitude. Rider found herself agreeing with almost every word he said. Shirou had acted
far too hastily, and without considering any possible alternatives. The girl had never been in any real danger, and anyone rational would have at least considered that possibility.
As he prepared to attack his alternate self, Rider also prepared, ready to join the battle at a moment's notice if she saw the opportunity to finish the idiot off without further consequences. But, instead, just as he was about to strike, Rin and Hakuno intervened. Mollified by their words, Archer put away his swords and stood down, but not before issuing a clear threat to his alternate self that any future attempts on his master's life would be met with lethal force.
The danger gone once more, Rider desummoned her nails. Then, finally, she was able to speak, and tell her side of the story.
"OK, now that that's done with, I'm sorry, Isa. I never wanted a fight, and nor do I want to upset Hakuno. I just need prana. Still, some of the things he has said cannot go unanswered, for Hakuno's own sake.
Archer is right, Shirou, you only ever consider the easiest and simplest option. So it's only natural for you to assume everyone else will, I guess, which is why you assumed that of me, and why you can't accept that I meant the girl no harm.
Not everyone is like that, thought, some of us like to
think before we act. True, it would be quicker to drain one girl to the point of death, but taking a small amount of prana from ten without causing them harm works just as well,
and it's less likely to attract attention, particularly in a city like this. As for the alternative method, as enjoyable as having a girl like Hakuno as a sex slave would be, I'm not so cruel as to do such a thing to someone so innocent.
At least without her consent, anyway...", she said with a meaningful and somewhat lusty glance in Hakuno's direction.
"Honestly, Shirou, I do wonder what happened to make you like this. The Shirou I know would
never take the easy option in that way. He has always searched for the alternative. When my master was ill and a potential danger to the whole world, he never gave up on her. Even her own
sister wanted to kill her, but he never gave up. He kept fighting and fighting and, in the end, he found a way. He found a way to save her. True, it almost cost him his own life in the process, but he saved her, and eventually managed to return to her side.
Why are you so different, Shirou? What happened to make you lose that determination?"
Then, in an attempt to calm the situation, Rin spoke up once more.
"Ah ha... So you asked me how Sakura is doing, earlier huh? She's doing great! Fantastic even! She and the Emiya-kun from my world are dating even! Called them before I left for this world, and they're doing just fine. As is the version of you that lives there."
Clearly this Rin was from a universe that, if not identical to hers, was very similar. Which meant she could be trusted. And, it
also meant she was likely alone and lonely. Which was something that Rider could definitely capitalise on....
"Ah, it's good to hear things worked out well in your world as well", Rider said, happily. "In my world, they're married. The version of
you that lives there was doing pretty well last time I saw her, although I can't vouch for her continued safety after she sent Sakura's beloved son here...."
Then, as she continued speaking, Rin's face became flustered.
"A-and I don't really have any idea why you think I need comforting or a-anything, but I guess I can consider it if I ever need it! Sooo then..."
In other words "I want to fuck you but I'm too Tsundere to admit it", Rider thought, smirking to herself.
Then, it got even better.
"About that peacekeeping thing! Let's get this all wrapped up then so we can get out of this stupid alley, shall we?", Rin said before turning to Forest and adding, "Forest, is it? So you've agreed to provide Rider with Prana? Have you ever done this sort of thing before? I can try to help you with any questions you might have, and even the transfer itself if need be. Even if I haven't been actively involved with what went on here, it'd be irresponsible of me to not offer to help however I can."
Rider couldn't help but give a playful smirk in Rin's direction.
"Yes, Rin, I'm sure you'd
love to demonstrate the ritual to Forest. Very..
thoroughly", she said, teasingly.
Although, don't
you have plenty of prana spare? You are one of the most powerful magi around, after all. If you want to take Forest's place, you're more than welcome", Rider said, grinning like a Cheshire Cat.
"Oh, that reminds me.
I'm sorry, Forest, if my
thoughts offended you," Rider said, a hint of annoyance in her words, "but I was simply recalling some of the fun times I have had with with the Rin that I know. This Rin's future self.
Imagining her getting a well-deserved and
extremely sexy punishment for putting us in this mess in the first place helped me direct my anger into lust and calm down a little, and prevented me escalating this situation even further", she said, looking at Rin once more in a manner that was clearly designed to convey her desire to carry out such a "punishment", although in a manner that Rin would also find enjoyable.
"Oh, and, Satoshi, I don't know what this Shirou's world is like or how he ended up like he did, but no-one ever
has to act that way. Killing in self-defence or in defence of those you love, sure, but not killing innocents in cold blood. The Shirou I know had that choice, to kill my innocent master to potentially save many more, but he understood that he had to put those he loved first, and that it was never just or right to murder an innocent person.
I can understand the reasoning about protecting the girl from worse, even if he was a bit hasty, but he seems to go beyond that. Even if she was in no danger at all, he would still have taken that shot if it meant distracting us or preventing us fighting and causing more destruction. People are people, not numbers. You can't just subtract off the number you kill from the number you save and decide your value on how high that number is. Sure, people can be redeemed, but sometimes they're just too far gone. With him, I'm not sure yet. I don't know just how much he's changed."
Then, she turned to Rin and Forest once more.
"But, yes, we do need to get down to 'business'. Whoever helps me is going to have to keep transferring prana until my master arrives, though, particularly if anything happens that causes me to fight.
You know, if you want, you can all join in. I'm sure Rin would be
quite OK to share the 'burden' with you two", she said, looking at Hakuno and Forest.
Yes, that would be great
fun, Rider thought, imagining a foursome with the three hot girls.
"If you want, you can help me with her 'punishment', too, if she agrees. Even if she's not the same Rin who sent me here, it
is her past self, so I think it's only fair she compensate me for her future mistakes", she said, grinning lustfully in Rin's direction. "I promise it will be enjoyable for all involved."
Then, Rider returned to a more serious (although still somewhat jovial) tone.
"First, though, we have to get out of this alley and find a suitable place. And, I need someone to look after Kiyoshi during the 'ritual'.
Actually, that reminds me. Rin, would you like to meet your nephew?" Rider said, her smile full of genuine warmth.
Kiyoshi stood there awaiting the girl's acknowledgement of his ability. But, her reply took him by surprise.
"I'm afraid kuro's trick is lost on me Kiyoshi as I cannot see your pet, or anything else for that matter"
Oh.
That made things much more difficult. How could he demonstrate his magic to a girl who couldn't
see?
At the same time, though, it also made him even more certain that he couldn't just let her walk away. The girl was a sitting duck. He couldn't leave her alone in a town like this.
"Oh, I see...", he said, somewhat uncertain of how to proceed.
"Well, look, why don't you come in and we can talk? I would honestly enjoy some company.
Plus, my conscience won't let me just leave you to wander the town alone. And, my mother would be very upset if she found out that I ignored a vulnerable child in need. She's very protective of children. My Aunty Rider will be back soon, and she'll keep you safe.
This town is very dangerous, you shouldn't go out alone", he said, carefully ignoring the fact that he had been about to do just that.
