61
Fanfiction / Re: Crossover ideas thread
« on: July 20, 2013, 07:35:01 AM »
Just curious: do you have an explanation as to why the Fourth War was delayed for so long?
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62
Fanfiction / Re: Fate/Refraction
« on: July 18, 2013, 09:07:43 PM »
Just googled "Shirou high jump" and voila. Herp derp, I am el stupido. Rewriting now.
As to your other point, the chapter's not over yet. That idea picks up considerable momentum at exactly the wrong time.
As to your other point, the chapter's not over yet. That idea picks up considerable momentum at exactly the wrong time.
Spoiler for Hiden:
63
Fanfiction / Re: Fate/Refraction
« on: July 18, 2013, 06:21:28 PM »
Really? All the things I could find online say that he was pole vaulting, though I don't remember firsthand if that's what he was doing.
Yeah, that bit is still pretty messy. Justifications for idiot Caster:
1) It's been a long-ass time for her (3+ decades) since she last saw him. Even the people closest to him would forget some things.
2) The thought did come to her mind (Partition III A). She just chose to ignore it, though, especially since the rest of her was so preoccupied with other things.
3) The first time she learns about this "kid" is when Lancer makes that comment about how he doesn't seem to stay dead. Before, she had no idea he was there (standing on top of the building he was inside doesn't help much, and Caster in her current state is not terribly good at detecting other people's presences magically). Basically, all she knows about him when she first sees him is that he could be a solution to a problem she was having.
Like I said, rough.
Yeah, that bit is still pretty messy. Justifications for idiot Caster:
1) It's been a long-ass time for her (3+ decades) since she last saw him. Even the people closest to him would forget some things.
2) The thought did come to her mind (Partition III A). She just chose to ignore it, though, especially since the rest of her was so preoccupied with other things.
3) The first time she learns about this "kid" is when Lancer makes that comment about how he doesn't seem to stay dead. Before, she had no idea he was there (standing on top of the building he was inside doesn't help much, and Caster in her current state is not terribly good at detecting other people's presences magically). Basically, all she knows about him when she first sees him is that he could be a solution to a problem she was having.
Like I said, rough.
64
Fanfiction / Re: Fate/Refraction
« on: July 18, 2013, 06:01:44 PM »
This is what I have so far of Chapter 4. The last bit is pretty rough, so expect some revisions.
EDIT: Full chapter up!
Chapter 4: Disjunction
Saturday, 2/2 – Evening
Sakura
That night, she dreamt of a simpler time, a memory of when she was young.
She saw him while leaving school one day: a young boy on the field, dashing towards the high jump bar.
Time and time again, he tried to soar. Time and time again, the laws of physics refused to cooperate with him, and he was sent tumbling to the ground far short of his goal. It didn’t seem to register, though, as he would just get up and try again.
Never mind that he was covered in scrapes and bruises. Never mind that no one was around to see him struggle. Never mind that it was a hopeless endeavor, with the bar set far too high for a boy of his age. All he wanted was to reach it, regardless of what it would do to him.
It was the most stupid, inspiring, and saddening thing she had ever seen. Stupid, in that he was aiming for something that he had no chance of reaching. Inspiring, in that he did it anyway, with an iron determination that rejected the very idea of giving up. Saddening, in that she could never replicate that courage, no matter how badly she wished she could.
It would be useless to her anyways. Such resolve would only be broken by Grandfather’s relentless “treatments”, with pain being the only thing to show for it. She could only watch him from afar, like a moth to a lantern flame: close enough to be illuminated by his light, but separate enough to avoid being burned by the intensity of the very radiance she craved.
She watched him for a long time.
=======
Caster
[Twoa: Yay! Meninges time! Though coup-contrecoup injuries usually make them all bloody and sticky…]
[III A: Really, I’m not sure why you made that psychopathic comment to Lancer back there. It’s not like you need to do circuit extractions anymore.]
[Twob: Because it was funny?]
Her mind had a point. Cleaning up wasn’t technically part of the bargain , and spiritual dissections were no longer necessary now that she had a more direct way to achieve her objective.
Force of habit? Paranoia about the conditions of the geis? The last vestiges of her moral compass, telling her to at least look at the face of the person she’d just killed? It didn’t really matter to her anymore, and pursuing that line of thought would only distract her from what was actually important. She wanted to, so she did.
Besides, feeling sorry for yourself never brought anyone back from the dead. She had tried that already.
[1B: Hate to interrupt my own little introspection, but... he’s moving again.]
… what?
Sure enough, the boy was moving, in the sort of panicked limp reserved for the wounded who found themselves on the wrong side of a battlefield. He definitely looked the part: the front of his sweater had been blown away, revealing an angry-looking burn covering his midsection, while his arms were charred raw, presumably since he had tried to shield himself. The back of his hood was stained red with blood, and the blood running from his back indicated that he had sustained abrasions from when he skidded along the asphalt. Given the evident physical damage and myriad internal injuries he must be suffering from (severe concussion, pneumothorax in one or both lungs, etc.), it was amazing that he could even stand, much less move.
This guy doesn’t know how to give up, does he?
[iii b: said the kettle to the pot.]
She could let him go. Any of his attempts to inform the world about tonight’s events would probably be written up as trauma-induced hallucinations, assuming he even survived the night. Really, the probability of him being an information leak was essentially zero.
Besides, Lancer had never said anything about ensuring he stayed down.
…
Spek. Arrow configuration: All astral severing. Full charge. Let’s make it quick.
>> … are you sure about this?
It’s not a problem, right? You should have enough space for that inscription, now that we don’t have to apply all those long-range compensation spells anymore.
>> I was talking about the fact that we still want to kill him. What’s with the bloodlust all of a sudden? It’s not like us.
Bloodlust? No, it definitely wasn’t that.
She had spared the lives of strangers before. Saved them, even. That always came back to haunt her.
It was more than that, though. For whatever reason, it seemed that the impossible was a regular occurrence for her. She had done things that were considered undoable, had had things happen to her that were too preposterous to even think about accounting for. Though the likelihood of the boy becoming a problem was pretty much nil, the probability of her reliving this War was also pretty much nil, and look how that turned out.
True, it was hardly a statistically robust pattern. But could she let this boy go, on the off chance that doing so would somehow destroy her resolve, sabotage her ability to save them when she had the opportunity? Was the possibility of losing him again worth it when compared to the life of an innocent bystander?
She didn’t need to think about it.
>> … alright then.
Of course it wasn’t.
=======
Shirou
Shirou was in awe of his hood’s tenacity. Despite everything that had happened, it was still stuck to his head. The matted blood probably helped.
He was in pain. That went without saying.
He was jogging, somehow. It took all his concentration just to stay upright.
Why am I running again?
He wasn’t really sure. Something about bright spears and red lights or something. His memories were fuzzy. His mind, swirling about in a disorienting fashion, didn’t seem to know that it was supposed to stay inside his skull.
Stop that.
He nearly did. Running, that is. But for some reason, he kept going. It was as if something was pulling him home.
Home. Right. He wanted to get home. But why run? He was only a couple of meters from his house. Surely he didn’t have to run when it was so close. In his current state, he was more likely to trip and fall on his face, and he really didn’t want that for some reason.
FssssssssSSSSSSS
That sounded familiar. It also sounded wrong, like it was coming towards him instead of moving away from –
The arrow hitting the wall directly in front of him was enough to make Shirou remember exactly why he was running.
=======
Caster
[iii b: GAAAAAAAAAAAAH! FUCK!]
[Twoa: I think what threebie here is trying to say is that you just blew out your right rhomboid muscle.]
That would definitely explain why she missed.
Dammit. Such an easy target, too: a slowly moving human 500 meters out. She only missed by a couple of centimeters, but that was more than enough.
Boom
The arrow self-destructed. The blast wasn’t as powerful as that of dedicated explosive arrows, but it still would’ve had a slight stunning effect if he was close enough. Of course, by the time it detonated, he was already far enough away. Naturally.
Is my right arm in good enough condition to hold the bow?
[Twoa: Probably, if you don’t mind threebie hating you even more.]
When have I ever?
[iii b: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! AAAH! GODDAMN IT!]
She switched the bow to her right hand and drew with her left, a direct violation of the kyudo method she’d learned. Her right arm was slightly shaky, which explained the dramatic increase of her circular error probable. Still, she still had a 74% chance to hit from this range, now 400 meters out. Since she had six arrows left, this virtually guaranteed that at least one of them would hit. For this particular arrow type, one hit was all she needed.
Sight in. Relax. There is nothing but the target. All she could see was the target.
The moment before she released the arrow, all she could see was red.
[iii b: AAAAAUGH! FUCK! FUCK! AAAAAH!]
[Twoa: That was your right eye going bye-bye.]
She opened her left eye. The arrow had gone extremely wide, missing the target completely and embedding itself in a familiar-looking doorway.
Feelings of frustration welled up before she locked them out. Under normal circumstances, she wouldn’t have lost track of her body condition like that. This wasn’t like her.
Wait. Speaking of losing track of important things, wasn’t that the door to –
Boom
The boy barged through the explosively-unlocked gates to the Emiya estate and made for the house.
…
Shirou’s house.
…
Shirou.
In an instant, her mental walls were temporarily overwhelmed by the parts of her consciousness she’d been repressing, a torrent of memories, personality fragments, and pent-up emotions: nostalgia and grief and resolve and madness and ecstasy and need and pain and sorrow and loneliness and rage and joy and emptiness and hope and hopelessness and LOVE and HATE and WHY DID YOU HAVE TO –
While Caster’s core partition, the seat of her personality and final authority on all her decisions, tried to re-contain this mess, her subpartitions continued to work, shielded from the mental turmoil.
[1A: Target has entered se – Emiya residence grounds.]
[1B: Still can’t get a positive ID on him. Damn that hoodie. How is that hood still up?]
[Twoa: OHMYGOD CAN WE PLEASE FOLLOW HIM? PLEASE PLEASE PLEAS – oh, but Shirou might not like having to clean up a dead body…]
[Twob: Hah! This is convenient. After we take this kid out, we’ll be in the perfect place to prevent Saber from being summoned. Sometimes, life just works out all right.]
[III A: … I think we should call off the attack and see what happens. Isn’t anyone else getting a really bad feeling about all this?]
[iii b: YES, IF PAIN COUNTS AS A “BAD FEELING”.]
It took a couple of seconds for her to get her mind back under control, an eternity for someone running on constant thought acceleration. To help her refocus, she asked herself a simple question.
Why did he go in there?
It was a coincidence, nothing more. The desperate boy simply wanted to find a place of safety, and when the opportunity arose, he seized it. She couldn’t fault his choice, as the Emiya house was better than most. Thankfully, it was unlikely that he had more than a passing acquaintance with the proprietor, since Shirou wasn’t the most social person over the course of his short life.
It would be a problem if Shirou woke up, though: it would be just like him to take in a nearly-dead stranger appearing out of the darkness of the night. While it would be easy enough to wipe his memory, any action she took towards him would only increase the danger he was in, as she was sure Zouken was monitoring her every move. Giving him more leverage than he already had wasn’t something she intended to do.
Plus, she wouldn’t put it past Shirou to summon Saber in defense of another, especially since she still wasn’t sure why Saber was summoned at all. Her original plan was almost as messed up as her eye, but she could still try to keep Shirou from entering the War.
If worst came to worst, she could always try projecting that iridescent dagger, though considering her current mental and physical instability she wasn’t sure if she could pull it off anymore. Additionally, her odds of actually being able to hit Saber with it were not encouraging, especially when factoring in the disorientation that came with using those unique magic circuits and the poor state her body as currently in.
She could have Spek do it, though trying to rush a projection like that would likely fry the cloak’s projection capabilities, which would be sorely needed in a direct confrontation with Saber. In short, having to deal with Saber would probably result in Caster’s premature demise.
Better to just kill this kid now before he causes any more trouble, like going into the house or something.
[1B: He’s gone inside the house.]
Fuck.
=======
Shirou
He wasn’t sure why he had grabbed the umbrella by the door. It just felt good to hold onto something that could be a weapon. Reassuring.
Gripping it like a sword, he cautiously but quickly made his down the hall, heading for the shed out back. Shirou had no idea where his unseen assailant was, but judging from their persistence it was likely that they would be arriving on the premises at any moment. When that happened, it would be better if he was in a good hiding place, ready to ambush his attacker if they happened to find him.
He didn’t know if that would do him much good, but it was better than nothing.
A cloud passed in front of the moon, cutting off the moonlight that illuminated the hallway. Although Shirou knew his home well enough to navigate by feel, it took his eyes a moment to adjust to the newborn darkness, as he didn’t want to turn on the lights and give away his position.
Thus, by the time he reached the end of the hallway and noticed the holes in the ceiling and the strange looking arrows embedded in the floor behind him, it was already far too late.
BOOM
In an act of desperation, Shirou deployed the umbrella and tried to Reinforce it. To his astonishment, it worked, blocking the initial wave of projectiles.
BOOM
It was also somewhat useful against the secondary explosions, though it did nothing to absorb his new backwards momentum. Again, Shirou felt weightless as he was hurled backwards.
CRASH
He wasn’t having much luck with windows tonight.
=======
Caster
The boy was blasted through one of the sliding glass doors, tumbled a bit, and landed face-down in the yard. For some odd reason, he was holding an open umbrella.
[Twob: Hah! We should call that one the “Rainmaker”! Makes glass fly and people cry! And reach for their umbrellas. Sounds a lot better than ‘Arrow Configuration: 3 parts woodcutter, 3 parts launcher: claymore, gem, 1 part scanning’, anyway.]
[1B: … Twob, sometimes your horrible names make me want to cry.]
[iii b: IF WE STILL HAD TEAR DUCTS, THAT’S WHAT I’D MAKE US DO ALL THE TIME.]
Well, there was no way that Shirou wasn’t awake now. She only had a couple seconds before he came investigating.
Spek, rewrite the remaining long-range arrows we have for pure explosive power. Full charge. I don’t trust my aim right now, so might as well make it a non-issue.
>> First one ready in a second.
She was only 100 or so meters from the house and descending rapidly. Her trajectory would put her right next to the holes she’d made with the woodcutters (modified to punch through tile), where Spek could reconnect with the arrows she’d fired inside earlier and monitor Shirou’s position.
[III A: No one else finds it odd that he got into the house in the first place? Or that the lights are still out, even though Shirou should be home by now?]
Ugh. III A was being nitpicky again. That subpartition was invaluable when dealing with all things magical, but its constant criticisms and general negativity could be quite grating at times.
The form on the ground started moving again. At this point, she wasn’t surprised that he had just survived two miniature, arrow-mounted claymores at point-blank range.
Of course, that’s why she currently had an extremely powerful gem-arrow nocked and ready to fire.
[1A: III A has a point. It is unlike Shirou to leave the doors to his house unlocked if he is away, and there are no signs of forced entry in the front of the house.]
The boy got up. She fired. A bell rang.
[1B: Wait. Doesn’t the Emiya residence’s bounded field only respond to those with malicious intent towards its residents? Does the house consider the kid a guest, even though Shirou hasn’t invited him in yet?]
As she landed on the roof, a large explosion consumed the yard. No matter how tenacious he was, it was unlikely that the boy could’ve survived that unassisted.
Spek. That connection?
Her mind was entertaining some funny ideas. Ideas that pointed to a ludicrous conclusion.
The boy couldn’t be Shirou.
No, it was impossible. All she needed to do to disprove it was to wait for Spek to confirm his presence in the house, and everything would be fine.
[Twob: But it would be just like him to stay late and do some stupid job at school to help someone out, even if it meant staying long after classes ended. Wouldn’t it?]
Well, yes, it would. But it couldn’t be Shirou.
[iii b: WHY NOT?]
Because it was impossible.
[iii b: WHAT WAS THAT THING YOU SAID ABOUT THE IMPOSSIBLE AGAIN?]
>> There’s no one inside.
No.
Scan again!
>> I already did! Five times! There’s no one there!
AGAIN!
[Twoa: M-maybe he’s in the shed?]
The boy had survived, and was running for the old, definitely locked shed. He left behind a tattered umbrella.
His hoodie had finally given out, and though his back was to her, she could clearly see his rust-red hair before he unlocked the door to the storehouse and disappeared inside.
But it couldn’t be, right? Right? That was just… dried blood! Even though dried blood is usually brown or black.
And he probably just stole that key. The key to the old shed? The key that only Shirou… should… have…
She terminated that line of thought and jumped off the roof to follow him.
=======
Sakura
It was the chance of a lifetime.
He’d been burned, his shoulder broken. Since he lived alone, it would be tough for him to cook and clean with only his left arm.
So she became his right.
He was reluctant, at first. But she had learned something of persistence from him, and eventually he gave in. The day he had accepted her into his life was one of the happiest moments of her own.
He came to love her as something like a sister, and that was fine with her. She had never expected her crazy scheme to work, never believed that she would be able to bask in his light every single day. Like they always said in those stories, it was like a dream come true.
And deep in her subconscious, past the pain and exhaustion and self-loathing, she dared to wish for something even grander. Maybe, in time, his love might grow and blossom into something that could match or exceed her own. It was a wild, selfish, impossible wish, because while time was all she needed, her time was slowly running out.
But even if that dream never came to pass, she’d always remember that time, days when she truly felt a fragile hope. That life she spent with him, with the boy who seemed to shine like a star, would be forever woven in the fabric of her soul.
Deep in sleep, Sakura smiled. It would be nice if all her dreams could be like this one.
=======
Shirou
With a groan, the door slammed shut. The umbrella had finally given up on that last attack, and Shirou wondered why his attacker didn’t just make a blast that large in the first place. It certainly would’ve saved them both a lot of trouble.
Though his body was as torn up as his clothing, his mind seemed to get clearer. Was he just getting better at ignoring pain? He’d certainly gone through a crash course in pain tolerance up until now, and maybe it was finally starting to pay dividends.
Not that it would make a difference. He would die in this dark, lonely place, with only a crater in the floor being proof that Emiya Shirou had ever existed.
He was disturbed by that thought, though not for the reasons one might expect. He held no fear of death, as that had been burned out of him long ago. No, what he feared was the failure to become that which he had aspired to.
He would die without having the chance to live his dream.
Dammit.
He wouldn’t be missed by anyone, much. Except for Issei. And Taiga. And Sakura. And maybe Shinji.
DAMMIT.
Is that all he would be remembered as? A lonely orphan, who entertained childish dreams of becoming a hero? One swallowed by the night, mourned by few, and forgotten by the world at large?
DAMMIT.
No. He couldn’t die here. He had people to save. How could he do that if he couldn’t even save himself?
“DAMMIT, I –“
His mind was sharp. His survival was possible, obtainable, necessary. If he died here, those who called for a hero would die unanswered. If he died here, those who could’ve been saved would face their end without hope, just like him.
If he died here, he wouldn’t be able to face Kiritsugu in the next life.
“ – WON’T DIE MEANINGLESSLY –“
If only he had a sword.
“ – WHEN I HAVE SO MUCH LEFT TO DO!”
=======
Caster
In their panic, her partition subdivisions collapsed. She was grateful for the immediate reduction in thought volume.
[1: We have to pull back! There’s no way you could have known that it was Shirou until recently. The plan is no longer salvageable, but if we leave now we’ll at least be able to prevent –]
She turned off Partition 1. It was no longer being impartial.
[Two: This can’t be happening. He’s not dead again, right? Right? Oh god, we have to –]
She turned off Partition Two. It was no longer helpful in this situation.
[III: I could try to make you feel some remorse, but honestly you’re doing a better job than I ever could right now.]
She turned off Partition III. It was now redundant.
Now, she was at least alone in her head. Her mind was blank and intensely focused, if only because she would suffer a complete mental breakdown otherwise.
All she wanted was to see the face of the boy she’d almost killed, to confirm that it was the same boy she had spent her life trying to save.
The wind had picked up, and there was a characteristic buildup of astral energy inside the shed that could only indicate one thing: a summoning was taking place.
She hesitated briefly, then resumed moving towards the shed. Since Spektrum was now pouring all its resources into interfering with her movement, Caster had to fight for every step. Between that and the damage her legs had suffered during Lancer’s pursuit, the best she could manage was a brisk walk.
>> Stop! Going in there won’t accomplish anything! Do you want to die?!
Three meters away. Two meters. One.
>> You’ll be their enemy if they see you! Is that what you want to be?
She was right at door. She tried to move her arm to open it, but it wouldn’t budge.
>> No! You’re not thinking straight! You’re not thinking at all!
Confirm: Core partition override of Spektrum emergency possession functionality.
>> Dammit, LISTEN TO ME!
She grabbed the handle.
>> PRISM!
Her old title, and what now served as her last name. She paid it no mind.
She pulled once. The rusted door didn’t budge.
>> TOMATO TOHMATOU!
Ordinarily, that particular nickname definitely would’ve gotten her attention. These circumstances were far from ordinary, though.
She pulled harder. The door gave slightly as a gust of air escaped from inside the shed.
>> SAKURA!
The door opened, and her worst fears were confirmed.
“… no.”
=======
A flash of light, a shining knight, and the voice of his salvation.
“I ask of you, are you my Master?”
He had called, and hope had answered.
The same could not be said for her.
EDIT: Full chapter up!
Chapter 4: Disjunction
Saturday, 2/2 – Evening
Sakura
That night, she dreamt of a simpler time, a memory of when she was young.
She saw him while leaving school one day: a young boy on the field, dashing towards the high jump bar.
Time and time again, he tried to soar. Time and time again, the laws of physics refused to cooperate with him, and he was sent tumbling to the ground far short of his goal. It didn’t seem to register, though, as he would just get up and try again.
Never mind that he was covered in scrapes and bruises. Never mind that no one was around to see him struggle. Never mind that it was a hopeless endeavor, with the bar set far too high for a boy of his age. All he wanted was to reach it, regardless of what it would do to him.
It was the most stupid, inspiring, and saddening thing she had ever seen. Stupid, in that he was aiming for something that he had no chance of reaching. Inspiring, in that he did it anyway, with an iron determination that rejected the very idea of giving up. Saddening, in that she could never replicate that courage, no matter how badly she wished she could.
It would be useless to her anyways. Such resolve would only be broken by Grandfather’s relentless “treatments”, with pain being the only thing to show for it. She could only watch him from afar, like a moth to a lantern flame: close enough to be illuminated by his light, but separate enough to avoid being burned by the intensity of the very radiance she craved.
She watched him for a long time.
=======
Caster
[Twoa: Yay! Meninges time! Though coup-contrecoup injuries usually make them all bloody and sticky…]
[III A: Really, I’m not sure why you made that psychopathic comment to Lancer back there. It’s not like you need to do circuit extractions anymore.]
[Twob: Because it was funny?]
Her mind had a point. Cleaning up wasn’t technically part of the bargain , and spiritual dissections were no longer necessary now that she had a more direct way to achieve her objective.
Force of habit? Paranoia about the conditions of the geis? The last vestiges of her moral compass, telling her to at least look at the face of the person she’d just killed? It didn’t really matter to her anymore, and pursuing that line of thought would only distract her from what was actually important. She wanted to, so she did.
Besides, feeling sorry for yourself never brought anyone back from the dead. She had tried that already.
[1B: Hate to interrupt my own little introspection, but... he’s moving again.]
… what?
Sure enough, the boy was moving, in the sort of panicked limp reserved for the wounded who found themselves on the wrong side of a battlefield. He definitely looked the part: the front of his sweater had been blown away, revealing an angry-looking burn covering his midsection, while his arms were charred raw, presumably since he had tried to shield himself. The back of his hood was stained red with blood, and the blood running from his back indicated that he had sustained abrasions from when he skidded along the asphalt. Given the evident physical damage and myriad internal injuries he must be suffering from (severe concussion, pneumothorax in one or both lungs, etc.), it was amazing that he could even stand, much less move.
This guy doesn’t know how to give up, does he?
[iii b: said the kettle to the pot.]
She could let him go. Any of his attempts to inform the world about tonight’s events would probably be written up as trauma-induced hallucinations, assuming he even survived the night. Really, the probability of him being an information leak was essentially zero.
Besides, Lancer had never said anything about ensuring he stayed down.
…
Spek. Arrow configuration: All astral severing. Full charge. Let’s make it quick.
>> … are you sure about this?
It’s not a problem, right? You should have enough space for that inscription, now that we don’t have to apply all those long-range compensation spells anymore.
>> I was talking about the fact that we still want to kill him. What’s with the bloodlust all of a sudden? It’s not like us.
Bloodlust? No, it definitely wasn’t that.
She had spared the lives of strangers before. Saved them, even. That always came back to haunt her.
It was more than that, though. For whatever reason, it seemed that the impossible was a regular occurrence for her. She had done things that were considered undoable, had had things happen to her that were too preposterous to even think about accounting for. Though the likelihood of the boy becoming a problem was pretty much nil, the probability of her reliving this War was also pretty much nil, and look how that turned out.
True, it was hardly a statistically robust pattern. But could she let this boy go, on the off chance that doing so would somehow destroy her resolve, sabotage her ability to save them when she had the opportunity? Was the possibility of losing him again worth it when compared to the life of an innocent bystander?
She didn’t need to think about it.
>> … alright then.
Of course it wasn’t.
=======
Shirou
Shirou was in awe of his hood’s tenacity. Despite everything that had happened, it was still stuck to his head. The matted blood probably helped.
He was in pain. That went without saying.
He was jogging, somehow. It took all his concentration just to stay upright.
Why am I running again?
He wasn’t really sure. Something about bright spears and red lights or something. His memories were fuzzy. His mind, swirling about in a disorienting fashion, didn’t seem to know that it was supposed to stay inside his skull.
Stop that.
He nearly did. Running, that is. But for some reason, he kept going. It was as if something was pulling him home.
Home. Right. He wanted to get home. But why run? He was only a couple of meters from his house. Surely he didn’t have to run when it was so close. In his current state, he was more likely to trip and fall on his face, and he really didn’t want that for some reason.
FssssssssSSSSSSS
That sounded familiar. It also sounded wrong, like it was coming towards him instead of moving away from –
The arrow hitting the wall directly in front of him was enough to make Shirou remember exactly why he was running.
=======
Caster
[iii b: GAAAAAAAAAAAAH! FUCK!]
[Twoa: I think what threebie here is trying to say is that you just blew out your right rhomboid muscle.]
That would definitely explain why she missed.
Dammit. Such an easy target, too: a slowly moving human 500 meters out. She only missed by a couple of centimeters, but that was more than enough.
Boom
The arrow self-destructed. The blast wasn’t as powerful as that of dedicated explosive arrows, but it still would’ve had a slight stunning effect if he was close enough. Of course, by the time it detonated, he was already far enough away. Naturally.
Is my right arm in good enough condition to hold the bow?
[Twoa: Probably, if you don’t mind threebie hating you even more.]
When have I ever?
[iii b: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! AAAH! GODDAMN IT!]
She switched the bow to her right hand and drew with her left, a direct violation of the kyudo method she’d learned. Her right arm was slightly shaky, which explained the dramatic increase of her circular error probable. Still, she still had a 74% chance to hit from this range, now 400 meters out. Since she had six arrows left, this virtually guaranteed that at least one of them would hit. For this particular arrow type, one hit was all she needed.
Sight in. Relax. There is nothing but the target. All she could see was the target.
The moment before she released the arrow, all she could see was red.
[iii b: AAAAAUGH! FUCK! FUCK! AAAAAH!]
[Twoa: That was your right eye going bye-bye.]
She opened her left eye. The arrow had gone extremely wide, missing the target completely and embedding itself in a familiar-looking doorway.
Feelings of frustration welled up before she locked them out. Under normal circumstances, she wouldn’t have lost track of her body condition like that. This wasn’t like her.
Wait. Speaking of losing track of important things, wasn’t that the door to –
Boom
The boy barged through the explosively-unlocked gates to the Emiya estate and made for the house.
…
Shirou’s house.
…
Shirou.
In an instant, her mental walls were temporarily overwhelmed by the parts of her consciousness she’d been repressing, a torrent of memories, personality fragments, and pent-up emotions: nostalgia and grief and resolve and madness and ecstasy and need and pain and sorrow and loneliness and rage and joy and emptiness and hope and hopelessness and LOVE and HATE and WHY DID YOU HAVE TO –
While Caster’s core partition, the seat of her personality and final authority on all her decisions, tried to re-contain this mess, her subpartitions continued to work, shielded from the mental turmoil.
[1A: Target has entered se – Emiya residence grounds.]
[1B: Still can’t get a positive ID on him. Damn that hoodie. How is that hood still up?]
[Twoa: OHMYGOD CAN WE PLEASE FOLLOW HIM? PLEASE PLEASE PLEAS – oh, but Shirou might not like having to clean up a dead body…]
[Twob: Hah! This is convenient. After we take this kid out, we’ll be in the perfect place to prevent Saber from being summoned. Sometimes, life just works out all right.]
[III A: … I think we should call off the attack and see what happens. Isn’t anyone else getting a really bad feeling about all this?]
[iii b: YES, IF PAIN COUNTS AS A “BAD FEELING”.]
It took a couple of seconds for her to get her mind back under control, an eternity for someone running on constant thought acceleration. To help her refocus, she asked herself a simple question.
Why did he go in there?
It was a coincidence, nothing more. The desperate boy simply wanted to find a place of safety, and when the opportunity arose, he seized it. She couldn’t fault his choice, as the Emiya house was better than most. Thankfully, it was unlikely that he had more than a passing acquaintance with the proprietor, since Shirou wasn’t the most social person over the course of his short life.
It would be a problem if Shirou woke up, though: it would be just like him to take in a nearly-dead stranger appearing out of the darkness of the night. While it would be easy enough to wipe his memory, any action she took towards him would only increase the danger he was in, as she was sure Zouken was monitoring her every move. Giving him more leverage than he already had wasn’t something she intended to do.
Plus, she wouldn’t put it past Shirou to summon Saber in defense of another, especially since she still wasn’t sure why Saber was summoned at all. Her original plan was almost as messed up as her eye, but she could still try to keep Shirou from entering the War.
If worst came to worst, she could always try projecting that iridescent dagger, though considering her current mental and physical instability she wasn’t sure if she could pull it off anymore. Additionally, her odds of actually being able to hit Saber with it were not encouraging, especially when factoring in the disorientation that came with using those unique magic circuits and the poor state her body as currently in.
She could have Spek do it, though trying to rush a projection like that would likely fry the cloak’s projection capabilities, which would be sorely needed in a direct confrontation with Saber. In short, having to deal with Saber would probably result in Caster’s premature demise.
Better to just kill this kid now before he causes any more trouble, like going into the house or something.
[1B: He’s gone inside the house.]
Fuck.
=======
Shirou
He wasn’t sure why he had grabbed the umbrella by the door. It just felt good to hold onto something that could be a weapon. Reassuring.
Gripping it like a sword, he cautiously but quickly made his down the hall, heading for the shed out back. Shirou had no idea where his unseen assailant was, but judging from their persistence it was likely that they would be arriving on the premises at any moment. When that happened, it would be better if he was in a good hiding place, ready to ambush his attacker if they happened to find him.
He didn’t know if that would do him much good, but it was better than nothing.
A cloud passed in front of the moon, cutting off the moonlight that illuminated the hallway. Although Shirou knew his home well enough to navigate by feel, it took his eyes a moment to adjust to the newborn darkness, as he didn’t want to turn on the lights and give away his position.
Thus, by the time he reached the end of the hallway and noticed the holes in the ceiling and the strange looking arrows embedded in the floor behind him, it was already far too late.
BOOM
In an act of desperation, Shirou deployed the umbrella and tried to Reinforce it. To his astonishment, it worked, blocking the initial wave of projectiles.
BOOM
It was also somewhat useful against the secondary explosions, though it did nothing to absorb his new backwards momentum. Again, Shirou felt weightless as he was hurled backwards.
CRASH
He wasn’t having much luck with windows tonight.
=======
Caster
The boy was blasted through one of the sliding glass doors, tumbled a bit, and landed face-down in the yard. For some odd reason, he was holding an open umbrella.
[Twob: Hah! We should call that one the “Rainmaker”! Makes glass fly and people cry! And reach for their umbrellas. Sounds a lot better than ‘Arrow Configuration: 3 parts woodcutter, 3 parts launcher: claymore, gem, 1 part scanning’, anyway.]
[1B: … Twob, sometimes your horrible names make me want to cry.]
[iii b: IF WE STILL HAD TEAR DUCTS, THAT’S WHAT I’D MAKE US DO ALL THE TIME.]
Well, there was no way that Shirou wasn’t awake now. She only had a couple seconds before he came investigating.
Spek, rewrite the remaining long-range arrows we have for pure explosive power. Full charge. I don’t trust my aim right now, so might as well make it a non-issue.
>> First one ready in a second.
She was only 100 or so meters from the house and descending rapidly. Her trajectory would put her right next to the holes she’d made with the woodcutters (modified to punch through tile), where Spek could reconnect with the arrows she’d fired inside earlier and monitor Shirou’s position.
[III A: No one else finds it odd that he got into the house in the first place? Or that the lights are still out, even though Shirou should be home by now?]
Ugh. III A was being nitpicky again. That subpartition was invaluable when dealing with all things magical, but its constant criticisms and general negativity could be quite grating at times.
The form on the ground started moving again. At this point, she wasn’t surprised that he had just survived two miniature, arrow-mounted claymores at point-blank range.
Of course, that’s why she currently had an extremely powerful gem-arrow nocked and ready to fire.
[1A: III A has a point. It is unlike Shirou to leave the doors to his house unlocked if he is away, and there are no signs of forced entry in the front of the house.]
The boy got up. She fired. A bell rang.
[1B: Wait. Doesn’t the Emiya residence’s bounded field only respond to those with malicious intent towards its residents? Does the house consider the kid a guest, even though Shirou hasn’t invited him in yet?]
As she landed on the roof, a large explosion consumed the yard. No matter how tenacious he was, it was unlikely that the boy could’ve survived that unassisted.
Spek. That connection?
Her mind was entertaining some funny ideas. Ideas that pointed to a ludicrous conclusion.
The boy couldn’t be Shirou.
No, it was impossible. All she needed to do to disprove it was to wait for Spek to confirm his presence in the house, and everything would be fine.
[Twob: But it would be just like him to stay late and do some stupid job at school to help someone out, even if it meant staying long after classes ended. Wouldn’t it?]
Well, yes, it would. But it couldn’t be Shirou.
[iii b: WHY NOT?]
Because it was impossible.
[iii b: WHAT WAS THAT THING YOU SAID ABOUT THE IMPOSSIBLE AGAIN?]
>> There’s no one inside.
No.
Scan again!
>> I already did! Five times! There’s no one there!
AGAIN!
[Twoa: M-maybe he’s in the shed?]
The boy had survived, and was running for the old, definitely locked shed. He left behind a tattered umbrella.
His hoodie had finally given out, and though his back was to her, she could clearly see his rust-red hair before he unlocked the door to the storehouse and disappeared inside.
But it couldn’t be, right? Right? That was just… dried blood! Even though dried blood is usually brown or black.
And he probably just stole that key. The key to the old shed? The key that only Shirou… should… have…
She terminated that line of thought and jumped off the roof to follow him.
=======
Sakura
It was the chance of a lifetime.
He’d been burned, his shoulder broken. Since he lived alone, it would be tough for him to cook and clean with only his left arm.
So she became his right.
He was reluctant, at first. But she had learned something of persistence from him, and eventually he gave in. The day he had accepted her into his life was one of the happiest moments of her own.
He came to love her as something like a sister, and that was fine with her. She had never expected her crazy scheme to work, never believed that she would be able to bask in his light every single day. Like they always said in those stories, it was like a dream come true.
And deep in her subconscious, past the pain and exhaustion and self-loathing, she dared to wish for something even grander. Maybe, in time, his love might grow and blossom into something that could match or exceed her own. It was a wild, selfish, impossible wish, because while time was all she needed, her time was slowly running out.
But even if that dream never came to pass, she’d always remember that time, days when she truly felt a fragile hope. That life she spent with him, with the boy who seemed to shine like a star, would be forever woven in the fabric of her soul.
Deep in sleep, Sakura smiled. It would be nice if all her dreams could be like this one.
=======
Shirou
With a groan, the door slammed shut. The umbrella had finally given up on that last attack, and Shirou wondered why his attacker didn’t just make a blast that large in the first place. It certainly would’ve saved them both a lot of trouble.
Though his body was as torn up as his clothing, his mind seemed to get clearer. Was he just getting better at ignoring pain? He’d certainly gone through a crash course in pain tolerance up until now, and maybe it was finally starting to pay dividends.
Not that it would make a difference. He would die in this dark, lonely place, with only a crater in the floor being proof that Emiya Shirou had ever existed.
He was disturbed by that thought, though not for the reasons one might expect. He held no fear of death, as that had been burned out of him long ago. No, what he feared was the failure to become that which he had aspired to.
He would die without having the chance to live his dream.
Dammit.
He wouldn’t be missed by anyone, much. Except for Issei. And Taiga. And Sakura. And maybe Shinji.
DAMMIT.
Is that all he would be remembered as? A lonely orphan, who entertained childish dreams of becoming a hero? One swallowed by the night, mourned by few, and forgotten by the world at large?
DAMMIT.
No. He couldn’t die here. He had people to save. How could he do that if he couldn’t even save himself?
“DAMMIT, I –“
His mind was sharp. His survival was possible, obtainable, necessary. If he died here, those who called for a hero would die unanswered. If he died here, those who could’ve been saved would face their end without hope, just like him.
If he died here, he wouldn’t be able to face Kiritsugu in the next life.
“ – WON’T DIE MEANINGLESSLY –“
If only he had a sword.
“ – WHEN I HAVE SO MUCH LEFT TO DO!”
=======
Caster
In their panic, her partition subdivisions collapsed. She was grateful for the immediate reduction in thought volume.
[1: We have to pull back! There’s no way you could have known that it was Shirou until recently. The plan is no longer salvageable, but if we leave now we’ll at least be able to prevent –]
She turned off Partition 1. It was no longer being impartial.
[Two: This can’t be happening. He’s not dead again, right? Right? Oh god, we have to –]
She turned off Partition Two. It was no longer helpful in this situation.
[III: I could try to make you feel some remorse, but honestly you’re doing a better job than I ever could right now.]
She turned off Partition III. It was now redundant.
Now, she was at least alone in her head. Her mind was blank and intensely focused, if only because she would suffer a complete mental breakdown otherwise.
All she wanted was to see the face of the boy she’d almost killed, to confirm that it was the same boy she had spent her life trying to save.
The wind had picked up, and there was a characteristic buildup of astral energy inside the shed that could only indicate one thing: a summoning was taking place.
She hesitated briefly, then resumed moving towards the shed. Since Spektrum was now pouring all its resources into interfering with her movement, Caster had to fight for every step. Between that and the damage her legs had suffered during Lancer’s pursuit, the best she could manage was a brisk walk.
>> Stop! Going in there won’t accomplish anything! Do you want to die?!
Three meters away. Two meters. One.
>> You’ll be their enemy if they see you! Is that what you want to be?
She was right at door. She tried to move her arm to open it, but it wouldn’t budge.
>> No! You’re not thinking straight! You’re not thinking at all!
Confirm: Core partition override of Spektrum emergency possession functionality.
>> Dammit, LISTEN TO ME!
She grabbed the handle.
>> PRISM!
Her old title, and what now served as her last name. She paid it no mind.
She pulled once. The rusted door didn’t budge.
>> TOMATO TOHMATOU!
Ordinarily, that particular nickname definitely would’ve gotten her attention. These circumstances were far from ordinary, though.
She pulled harder. The door gave slightly as a gust of air escaped from inside the shed.
>> SAKURA!
The door opened, and her worst fears were confirmed.
“… no.”
=======
A flash of light, a shining knight, and the voice of his salvation.
“I ask of you, are you my Master?”
He had called, and hope had answered.
The same could not be said for her.
65
Fanfiction / Re: Fate/Refraction
« on: July 09, 2013, 02:25:46 AM »
To your comment on how screwed up she is: Believe me. This bit is just the tip of the iceberg.
She is, to some degree, aware of just how messed up she is, but she's long past caring.
Point about the Association: True, and I'm sorry if that came across as a justification. She had a moral compass once upon a time, and still has some vestigial components of it, but for the most part she threw it away when it wasn't useful to her anymore (yet another trend regarding Caster's incredibly messed up life).
She is, to some degree, aware of just how messed up she is, but she's long past caring.
Point about the Association: True, and I'm sorry if that came across as a justification. She had a moral compass once upon a time, and still has some vestigial components of it, but for the most part she threw it away when it wasn't useful to her anymore (yet another trend regarding Caster's incredibly messed up life).
66
Fanfiction / Re: Fate/Refraction
« on: July 09, 2013, 12:58:17 AM »
The reason she examines bodies is that they were a potential (if extremely unlikely) way for her to be able to fulfill her "wish". However, now that she's back during the Fifth War, it's actually not necessary for her to do this kind of thing anymore, now that she has a more direct path to her goal. It's really more of a force-of-habit thing than anything else at this point (and parts of her own consciousness call her out on this, though they're not against the principle of the whole dissection thing *urk*).
Try not judge her too much, though. It was a habit she developed during a particularly bleak time of her life.
As for fucked-up things... oh dear. You might not like what I have planned for the story. If dark things aren't your cup of tea, then you may not like what happens at around the halfway point.
EDIT: For better or for worse, most magi view normal people as expendable, right? Even the Mage's Association doesn't really care, so long as it's not too public. According to the Association's standards, Caster isn't out of line - at least, not for that particular reason.
Try not judge her too much, though. It was a habit she developed during a particularly bleak time of her life.
As for fucked-up things... oh dear. You might not like what I have planned for the story. If dark things aren't your cup of tea, then you may not like what happens at around the halfway point.
EDIT: For better or for worse, most magi view normal people as expendable, right? Even the Mage's Association doesn't really care, so long as it's not too public. According to the Association's standards, Caster isn't out of line - at least, not for that particular reason.
67
Fanfiction / Re: Fate/Refraction
« on: July 08, 2013, 11:09:13 PM »
I can't really tell you that much more, other than 1) a lot can happen in a couple of decades and 2) I really hope I didn't drop the ball on Caster's backstory 
.
She's not a complete psychopath and doesn't enjoy the act of killing (Subpartition Twoa loves people and their assorted parts, and Twob loves fighting, but neither of them specifically enjoy killing), but if people get in her way and she is given the lethal option, then it doesn't really bother her to go that route, as long as it helps her towards her objective. She isn't looking to actively murder everyone in Fuyuki City, but if that's the price she has to pay to get what she wants... well then.
The reasoning for her eagerness to get to the body is complicated, but the short reason is that she doesn't want to let a potentially valuable research item go to waste.
To clarify: she did not start out this way. She's had a rough life.
If you're thinking that this will lead to problems with her Master later, you're right.
.She's not a complete psychopath and doesn't enjoy the act of killing (Subpartition Twoa loves people and their assorted parts, and Twob loves fighting, but neither of them specifically enjoy killing), but if people get in her way and she is given the lethal option, then it doesn't really bother her to go that route, as long as it helps her towards her objective. She isn't looking to actively murder everyone in Fuyuki City, but if that's the price she has to pay to get what she wants... well then.
The reasoning for her eagerness to get to the body is complicated, but the short reason is that she doesn't want to let a potentially valuable research item go to waste.
To clarify: she did not start out this way. She's had a rough life.
If you're thinking that this will lead to problems with her Master later, you're right.
68
Fanfiction / Re: Fate/Refraction
« on: July 08, 2013, 11:02:55 PM »
There are a couple of exceptions to that rule, but... yeah.
69
Fanfiction / Re: Fate/Refraction
« on: July 08, 2013, 09:26:26 PM »Spoiler for Hiden:
I should probably make that more clear. Revision time!
70
Fanfiction / Re: Fate/Refraction
« on: July 08, 2013, 06:21:15 PM »Spoiler for Hiden:
Oops. Fixing now.
72
Fanfiction / Re: Fate/Refraction
« on: July 05, 2013, 05:35:29 AM »
Chapter 3: A Slight Deviation
Saturday, 2/2 – Evening
Lancer
Lancer liked his Master, but sometimes the girl was too serious for her own good.
Take, for example, their strategy meeting this afternoon.
“You are to conceal yourself and patrol Miyama Town for any signs of enemy magical activity. Pay special attention to the Homurahara Academy, as at least 2 other Masters currently attend that school. I’ll reconnoiter the Shinto area and – are you even listening to me?!”
His Master was cute when flustered, but Lancer was having a bad feeling about this.
“Hm? Oh, of course I am, lass. I was just waiting for the bit where you to tell me that I could go all out if I actually find someone.”
The look he got pretty much confirmed his suspicions.
“Absolutely not. If you can prod them into revealing their Noble Phantasms, then by all means do so, but I strictly forbid you from giving yourself away. We need to do this right if we’re going to win, and that involves knowing your enemy before you fight. I’m not going to let you throw your life away for some… stupid notion of honor!”
Things only got worse from there, culminating in his Master using a Command Spell that prevented him from fighting at full power unless she could see him.
He didn’t know why, but for some reason Lancer thought that that shady priest was somehow behind all of this.
He passed the school for the thirtieth time that day. Like the last twenty-nine times, all he could detect was –
A very potent bounded field going up around it.
Lancer blinked, then smiled. Maybe tonight wasn’t going to be as boring as he first thought.
=======
Archer
As soon as Rin dismantled the last circle, drawn on the side of the west building, Archer felt the boundary field become a lot more noticeable. Those irritating circles apparently prevented the more malicious ones underneath from connecting to each other, presumably to help hide them better. Now that all the stealth circles were gone, the ones underneath were now active and free to plunder to their creator’s content. The only upside to this whole scenario was that the plundering field, for whatever reason, still wasn’t fully charged.
“Master, we should come back another time. Any enemy Servants or Masters in the area would have definitely noticed that field going up.”
Rin shook her head. “I appreciate your concern, Archer, but I can’t let this slide. Fuyuki is my city, and I won’t allow this good-for-nothing Master to just do as he pleases. This is a school, for God’s sake!”
She went back to examining the circle. “You’re right, though. We shouldn’t stay for much longer, but I think I can at least reduce the daily prana intake these circles are getting before we leave. Archer, could you– “
Archer’s combat instincts started screaming at him.
“Well, well, well. What’s a pretty girl like you doing at this hour? Shouldn’t you be at home studying or something?”
The Servant in blue had come out of nowhere. Judging by the evil-looking lance slung casually across his shoulder, Archer guessed that this was Lancer.
“Unless, of course, the thing that just went up is related to your studies.”
His easy smile and relaxed posture were distinctly at odds with the killing intent he was barely suppressing. Though Rin was obviously surprised and frightened, Archer had to give her credit: she had the presence of mind to start readying some of the jewels in her pocket. They probably wouldn’t help much, but still. It was the thought that counted.
“Isn’t that right? Tohsaka… Ren? Len? Ring?”
As his Master spluttered a response (“It’s Rin!”), Lancer rushed her, closing the distance between them in a heartbeat. Fortunately for her, Archer’s materialization was faster.
Trace – ON!
CLANG
Archer crossed his blades and deflected the thrust downwards, the spear barely missing his thigh. Before he could counterattack, Lancer hopped backwards to create space and assumed a neutral stance, spear leveled at Archer.
“Yo! I was wondering when you’d show up!”
The knight in blue charged again. The tip of his spear seemed to dance.
He has more reach and is faster than me. He’ll feint to create an opening, then poke me full of holes when my guard is in the wrong place.
As if on cue, the tip of the spear seemed to freeze in place as Lancer lunged at his face.
In that case –
Archer felt the spear graze by as he jerked his head at the last moment, feeling slightly smug by the surprised look on Lancer’s face.
Wasn’t expecting that, huh?
He swung with both swords, boosting the attraction between Kanshou and Byakuya to increase the speed of the swing. Fast as he was, though, Lancer was faster, managing to evade the attack by jumping backwards again.
Tch. Almost.
“ – the hell? You got a death wish or something?”
Actually, yes. In a manner of speaking.
Lancer lunged again, though this time his approach was more cautious.
Doesn’t want to overcommit again. He’ll come at an oblique angle to try and get in my blind spot.
Lancer veered to Archer’s left mid-charge, hoping to flank the knight in red. Faster than the human eye could see, the lance slashed down towards Archer’s neck.
Archer ducked, the spear glancing off his shoulder guard, and tensed to swing again. Predictably, Lancer disengaged again.
Not this time.
Lancer opened his mouth to say something, but the sword thrown at his face forced him to block instead.
CLANG
“What kind of Saber throws away his own swor-“
While Lancer was momentarily distracted, Archer rushed. Projecting a replacement for the sword he’d just thrown, he was in range before the Servant in blue could react.
CLANG
Unfortunately, Archer wasn’t fast enough to land his attack before Lancer recovered, guarding against the twin swords with his spear. They were deadlocked, one trying to overpower the other, two supernatural beings locked in the most basic contest of strength there was.
Which was just as well.
“RIN! GET AWAY FROM HERE! NOW!”
=======
Rin
She knew it would be dangerous. Two legends fighting to the death, an epic contest of will as the heroes of lore took to the field in a competition for the ultimate prize.
She never thought it would be so beautiful, though.
Sparks flew as the Servants clashed, with Archer holding his ground against Lancer’s onslaught. Several times, Rin thought that her Servant was finished, only to have him dodge at the last moment and respond with an attack of his own.
She was so entranced that she was actually startled when one of the figures addressed her directly.
“RIN! GET AWAY FROM HERE! NOW!”
Her mind restarted. Archer’s defending you, and he can’t fight effectively if you’re in the way. Move!
As she reinforced her legs and sprinted for the gate, her mind continued to work.
How did Lancer get here so fast? Was he expecting us? And where is his Master?
Realization hit her like a blast of cold water. Lancer had only appeared when the second boundary field was re-established.
It was almost as if it were some sort of signal.
She turned around and tried to tell Archer that it was a trap. The only thing she saw was a red lance heading straight for her.
=======
Lancer
He was technically following orders.
She said that he could prod them a little. Sticking them with his spear counted as prodding, right?
He went for the girl first, vaguely remembering her face from one of his Master’s briefings. Her Servant was still in spirit form, and attacking her would be the quickest way to get him to appear.
Lancer was not disappointed. Even though he couldn’t fight at his best, it was still fun.
As he dueled the mysterious red knight, who was possibly Saber, Lancer felt his blood start to boil. His opposite was a strange one: though he shouldn’t have stood a chance against Lancer, he was somehow managing to keep up, matching Lancer blow for blow. It was almost as if he knew what Lancer was thinking in advance.
Lancer certainly didn’t know what his opponent was thinking when he threw his sword.
Whoever he was, at least Lancer knew this much: physically, this knight in red was weaker than him.
“RIN! GET AWAY FROM HERE! NOW!”
A holding action, huh? Lancer could appreciate that. He couldn’t let it succeed, though – the Rin girl had worked a very naughty bit of magecraft on the school, and though his Master would be furious at him for disobeying her orders, he’d make her understand. The enemy was breaking her precious Association’s rules by being so brazen, so he had to kill her to prevent exposure to the world at large.
And come on, one Master eliminated. What was there not to like?
He pushed, and the red knight jumped back to avoid the slash that never came. Instead of continuing the fight, Lancer disengaged to pursue the girl, who was dashing towards the gate.
It’s a shame, really. She’s got a nice pair of legs.
========
Caster
Fuck. It had to be her, didn’t it.
Concealed by Spektrum’s active camouflage, Caster watched Archer and Lancer’s fight from the roof of the school. What she was currently concerned about, however, was the pigtailed magus currently gaping at them.
Spek. Arrow configuration: Five parts grounding, one leech, one pain-inducing. 30% charge, active on impact. Reverse barb.
Rin. A host of complicated and contradictory feelings welled up inside her before she locked them out. Caster would have preferred it if she didn’t have to kill the girl, but the chance to take out two Servants and an enemy Master was a chance to good to pass up.
Besides, Zouken was probably spying on her. If she showed any mercy here, he might hurt Sakura again as “punishment”. To Caster, that was unforgivable.
Rin started to run. Caster hoped she would draw the other two Servants – Lancer and Archer, according to Partition 1B – away from the school building and give Caster an optimal firing solution. She could fire while the two Servants dueled right below her, but her chances of fighting them off if her first strike didn’t kill them both were slim (less than 1%, or “statistically insignificant”, according to 1A). Why risk it?
Lancer peeled off, angling for Rin. Archer threw his sword, which managed to deflect the spear before it could connect. Caster released a breath she didn’t realize she was holding.
… dammit.
Archer and Lancer continued their duel. Rin tried to get away, but Lancer managed to keep up as he fought off Archer’s increasingly desperate assault.
[1A: Archer disarmed for the 27th time.]
[Twob: If you’re going to shoot, now’s the time. They’re clumped up, 76 meters away, and almost to the gate. Can’t really get more ideal than that.]
[III A: Now that I see him again, it looks like he’s… projecting. Projecting swords. Is he…?]
No. She couldn’t wait any longer. The time for hesitation had passed a long time ago.
[Twoa: Deactivating tapetum lucidum in right eye. Adjusting shape for maximum visual acuity at 76 meters.]
[iii b: ow.]
Caster felt her right eye throb as it changed configuration. Eyes that weren’t her “natural” eye color always degraded faster, though this particular color usually lasted longer than this. It looked like she would have to replace it soon.
Don’t pay it any mind. Focus.
Her mind cleared, her body relaxed. Her focus was only on the target.
After breaking off again, Archer threw several pairs of his strange black-and-white swords at Lancer, enclosing the blue Servant in a whirlwind of spinning steel. The whole time, the red knight seemed to be chanting something.
She took one of the seven barbed arrows Spektrum had made and drew it past her right ear, her composite yumi taut at full draw.
The two Servants stopped fighting for a moment. Archer projected more menacing versions of his favorite weapons, while Lancer took a wide stance and started drawing in mana to his cursed spear. Rin was shouting. All of them were standing still.
“Listen to me! It’s a tr-“
Caster took aim and fired three arrows in quick succession. Her last arrow was for Rin.
=======
They were staring each other down, both preparing to end the fight in a single, decisive blow.
Archer: “Crane Wing –“
Lancer: “Gae –“
They felt it at the same time.
Lancer had the benefit of Protection from Arrows, a skill he’d had since birth. He heard the arrow and cancelled his attack to bat it away, blocking the flying swords that came at him next almost as an afterthought.
Archer had the benefit of being an archer. He noticed a familiar shape coming towards him, illuminated by the light of the full moon, and dodged out of the way.
Rin didn’t have the benefit of anything, and was thus surprised mid-sentence when the arrow took her in the collarbone.
“Guh -” was all she could say before the binding spell in the arrow pinned her to the ground.
=======
Caster
She could see how Archer had dodged the arrow – it was his specialty, after all – but she couldn’t figure out how Lancer had seen it coming. Evidently, her knowledge about his capabilities was far from complete.
Lancer started dashing towards the building. The same building she was currently standing on.
Shit! Did he see me? Spek, change to combat configuration: ambush.
>> Ready in 10.
She jumped off the rooftop and prepared for the worst.
=======
Lancer
His eyes traced the arrow’s path back to its point of origin, but all Lancer could see was a fence and a slight… distortion.
Archer ran to help his fallen Master, but by then Lancer was interested something far more important.
There, staring out from a ground floor window, was a hooded boy looking on awe and terror.
=======
Rin
The moon looked red tonight. Crimson, almost. That was probably because of the pain, though.
Pain. So much pain. She tried to think of better words to describe it, but the pain was too much, and she stopped trying.
“Rin! Stay with me! RIN!”
Someone was yelling at her. Someone wearing red. He was shaking her.
“… stop that. Just wanna… wanna sleep…”
“Get a hold of yourself! You can’t let this beat you! You’re a Tohsaka, aren’t you?!“
Toh… sa… ka? That’s right… that’s who she was, wasn’t it.
“Damn… straight… *cough* D… don’t you… forget it…”
She felt something get pressed into her hand. Many somethings.
“Listen. You were struck by an arrow. It looks like it barely missed your subclavian, but you’re still in shock and losing blood. I can remove the arrow, but you’ll have to heal yourself. Do you understand me?”
Healing? She didn’t need any healing. All she needed was to go home, have Archer make her a cup of tea, and maybe take a nice long bath –
A burst of pain. Someone tugged on the thing that was sticking up into the sky. She vaguely thought that it wasn’t supposed to be there.
“Dammit. Looks like it’s stuck to the ground.”
It hurt. She didn’t like things that hurt. Where was Archer? He could tell this person to stop hurting her.
“S-stop that.”
Splurk
Rin screamed as Archer pulled her off the arrow. The meter-long shaft was barbed in exactly the wrong direction.
She couldn’t think. She couldn’t breathe. She couldn’t feel. All she could picture was a dagger piercing her heart, a shoulder knitting itself back together.
“HEILEN!”
She shouted a word in a language she didn’t recognize, drew power from the jewels she held in her hand, then passed out of the cold, hard ground.
=======
Shirou
He ran for his life. Tearing through the hallways of the empty school, Shirou regretted that he chose to pass up track for the archery team. At the time, it had seemed more practical, given his desire to become a hero of justice.
Now, pursued by a being that was more powerful than he could ever have imagined, he wished that he could just go back in time and beat himself silly.
“Tch. You’re a slippery one, I’ll give you that.”
The voice was right behind him. Shirou made a hard left and veered into a classroom, slamming the door behind him. When the man in blue kicked it open, Shirou had almost made it to the windows.
Almost – there - !
A kicked desk caught him squarely in the back and knocked him out of the window with a loud crash. Covered in lacerations and breathing heavily, he rolled over. At least he’d go out facing his death.
“Sorry, kid, but the rules say no witnesses. I promise I’ll make it quick.”
The man seemed almost regretful, but Shirou could feel him drawing in a massive amount of mana, concentrating it in that blood-red spear of his.
“Nothing personal.”
As the spear ripped through his heart, Shirou wondered why dying had to hurt so much.
=======
Archer
She got up. Inside, Archer breathed a sigh of relief.
“How long was I out?”
“Only a couple minutes. I must say, that was an impressive piece of work, Master.”
Rin smiled groggily, and tested out her shoulder. She winced once or twice, but for the most part it looked functional.
“Of course it was. I am a magus of the Tohsaka family, after all.”
“Believe me, I was sorely tempted to tell you that you were an Einzbern. Or maybe a Matou.”
She bristled. “Don’t even joke about that sort of – “
There was a loud crash as a window broke somewhere. Though she had only just woken up, Rin started sprinting towards the source of the sound.
“Where’s Lancer?”
“He went into the building you’re running towards. The one we should probably be running away from?”
She didn’t listen. Sighing, Archer retraced Kanshou and Byakuya and took off after his headstrong Master.
=======
Rin
Part of her told her that she was making a huge mistake. Part of her told her that what she was doing was probably exactly what Lancer and his unknown friend wanted.
She didn’t care, because most of her really wanted to get the bastard who shot her.
In a flash, Archer was right beside her. “Master, I really don’t think we should be doing this.”
She ignored him. “When Lancer got here, did you feel anyone else come with him?”
“No. Why?”
Stupid, stupid, stupid! Lancer was just a decoy.
“You weren’t supposed to. This was a trap, and we fell for it like a couple of idiots. Whoever set it up was probably trying to take us both out at the same time, but since you managed to avoid it, Lancer retreated to regroup with his partner.”
“I see. So why are you following them?”
“Because they probably don’t expect us to recover this fast. I certainly didn’t. If we catch up to them now, we might be able to catch them off guard and get in a little sneak attack of our own.”
They were close to the source of the sound. Rin checked her pockets to see how many of her saved-up jewels she had left, and found that she only had three left. She must’ve used most of them reconstructing her shoulder.
Dammit. Sometimes I’m too good for my own good.
Three wasn’t going to be enough. She needed something big. It looks like she was going to have to use it after all.
I just hope it’ll be worth it.
Pulling out her pendant, she rounded the corner with Archer, and saw…
A pool of blood, most of it spilling from a single wound.
A body covered in cuts and surrounded by broken glass, with a hole where the heart should be.
A face she recognized.
“… … … Shirou?”
=======
Lancer
He was back on patrol, only this time he was pissed.
Sure, that Saber guy seemed to be confused as to what class he was actually supposed to be, but at least he had the courage to fight head-on. Lancer could respect that.
What he couldn’t respect was some conniving snit shooting at him in the dark, interrupting his duel, and distracting him with an innocent bystander to escape without even having the courtesy to show himself.
Then again, he didn’t expect much more from an Archer anyways.
There. To the right, a familiar distortion moving down a side road. Lancer changed course and started his pursuit.
=======
Shirou
He woke up. That, in and of itself, surprised him.
Wasn’t I dead?
He looked down at his torso. Though his sweater was shredded and covered in blood, the skin underneath was perfectly smooth. It was almost as if he had never been sliced up by glass and stabbed in the heart at all.
Huh.
Someone had saved him. Shirou wished he could thank them and tell them they should’ve saved someone else instead. He wouldn’t have minded: it’s the job of a hero to be selfless, after all.
The moonlight glinted off of something beside him.
A pendant?
He picked it up, and heard a rapid series of explosions. Clearly, the night wasn’t over just yet.
=======
Caster
The modified claymores went off. They were extremely effective anti-personnel mines with an effective range of 50 meters, covering a 60-degree arc with 700 steel balls (replaced with charged gems) propelled at a speed of 1,200 meters per second.
[1A: Confirmed miss.]
Lancer outran them.
This is getting ridiculous.
The space Lancer just occupied exploded as the gems detonated. It didn’t slow down the blue Servant at all. In fact, he was accelerating.
[1A: Contact in 3.2 seconds.]
Dammit, Spek! Close-combat! NOW!
>> 5.4 seconds! Sorry!
Crap, crap, crap.
Is long-range interdiction still in your boot memory?
>> Yeah, 0.9 seconds.
DO IT.
He was getting closer, and judging by the murder on his face he wasn’t here to say hello.
>> Ready!
[1A: 2.2 seconds.]
Arrow config: All parts really, really thick! Full charge, detonate on command! NOW!
Her camouflage dropped as Spek devoted all its energy to projecting the arrows. It wasn’t really helping anymore.
Lancer’s eyes widened in anticipation. “There you are.”
He lunged.
[1A: 0.7 seconds.]
>> Here!
Caster grabbed an arrow in each hand. They looked more like meter-long spikes, really.
[1A: Contact.]
=======
Lancer
CLANG
Not again.
The woman had blocked him with a pair of funny-looking arrows that she pulled out of nowhere. Considering the way this night had been shaping up so far, Lancer really shouldn’t have been surprised.
“So now you want to fight fair? Better late than never, I guess.”
She threw an arrow at him (again with the throwing?) while dashing into the forest behind the school. He dodged it easily, but was a bit surprised when it exploded next to him. He was thrown into the trees lining the road.
Damn that sneaky, underhanded…
Whoever she was – Archer, he presumed – she was getting on his nerves more and more. While she was fast, he was much faster.
But goddamn if she wasn’t slippery.
While he could easily dodge all the arrow-spikes that came at him, she seemed to have an endless amount of them, and was throwing them in a fashion that cut off all his approach paths, forcing him to keep his distance.
Her erratic movements weren’t helping much, either, as her variable speed and rapid course changes caused him to almost lose her several times. It was infuriating: if he went too fast, he would overshoot when she changed course, and if he went too slowly, she would suddenly get a burst of speed from out of nowhere.
He always said that he preferred pursuing troublesome women – after all, the harder the chase, the sweeter the goal. Now, though, he was finding that his enjoyment dwindled the more literal the chase became.
The irony was not lost on him.
Dammit. It would be so much simpler if he could just throw Gae Bolg at her, but that option was unavailable at this time, courtesy of his Master. Truthfully, Lancer wasn’t all that surprised: it figured that his cursed luck with the women he liked and the women he wanted dead would only serve to reinforce each other..
Ah well. After several frustrating minutes, she seemed to tire slightly, and a hole opened in her wall of explosions. Lancer dashed through, and after a few close calls he was finally in range. No harm in revealing himself to a dead woman, right?
“Gae –“
Wait. In the distance. Was that…?
For the second time that night, Lancer’s fight was interrupted by the sight of a hooded boy running away.
“Fuck!”
=======
Caster
“Gae – Fuck!”
Caster was certain she didn’t hear that correctly.
“Excuse me?”
Lancer was standing in the middle of the road, eyes focusing on something far away.
“What the hell? I was certain that I killed that guy!”
Caster followed his gaze, reshaping her eyes again. She could barely make out the form of a boy, wearing a tattered sweater and running for his life.
“Dammit. I promised him I’d make it quick, too.”
The boy turned a corner and disappeared from view. Exasperated by something, Lancer turned to her.
“Listen. I really, really, really don’t like you, but I don’t have the time to deal with you right now. I gave the kid my word that I’d kill him, and I really can’t let him get away. No witnesses and all that.”
Huh. A sense of obligation. She could find a use for that.
“Tell you what. I’ll let you go tonight, and tomorrow we continue where we left off. Sound good?”
Ordinarily, Caster would have agreed just to get him off her tail, but she could feel the telltale signs of a geis in his words. She had bad memories of those, and of Irish things in general.
She could refuse, but he might just decide to continue fighting after all. Considering the shape her body was in, that probably wouldn’t end well for her.
So, she tried something else: a counter-offer.
“While that does sound tempting, are you sure you’ll be able to catch up to the boy before becomes a liability? For all you know, he could be messaging all his friends about the crazy things he saw tonight.”
Spek. Close combat and Lichts. In case things don’t pan out.
>> Roger.
Lancer’s eyes narrowed. “Speed’s not a problem.”
“Evidently. Your problem is one of finding him. He’s more than a couple of kilometers away by now, and your chances of catching up to him are pretty low, even with your speed.”
“I have tracking runes.”
“Because you obviously thought to leave one on a corpse in the off chance that it would miraculously come back to life and run off again. You’re not a Dead Apostle, right?”
“… I have good eyes.”
“That won’t help much if he’s in a house.”
“I’ll search them.”
“Sure. Because a man in a blue leotard with an evil-looking spear crashing through a bunch of houses is definitely not going to be witnessed by anyone.”
He started to respond, then thought better of it.
Got you.
Lancer harrumphed instead. “You got a better idea, then?”
“As a matter of fact, I do. Let me go tonight, and I’ll take care of your little problem before it becomes a much bigger one.”
Lancer looked like he was in physical pain. He knew he had been outmaneuvered, and tried to come up with some sort of retort.
“… looks like I don’t have much of a choice, do I?”
“Not really, no.”
Lancer sighed, defeated. “Fine. Bring him down and you can leave. It’s a deal.”
She smiled as she felt the geis bind them both to their word. Specifically, to the words Lancer had just said.
Spek, recall the Lichts and go to long-range interdiction.
“Watch closely, tights boy. You’re in for a show.”
=======
Shirou
He’d been running for almost four kilometers straight before he had to stop.
Panting heavily and leaning on a utility pole, Shirou looked around, and started to relax. He didn’t see his blue-haired killer anywhere, and felt that he was far enough away from the school to start slowing down a bit. His house was right around the corner.
Shirou started to chuckle a bit. Not hysterically, mind you, just enough to blow off some steam. He’d just escaped death multiple times today, and the adrenaline from his panicked run was making him giddy.
Thus, he felt cheated somewhat when the pole section above him exploded and knocked him face-first into the ground.
=======
Caster
Crouching in his tree, Lancer whistled in spite of himself. “Man, but I’ll be damned if that wasn’t a good shot.”
[Twoa: Careful. Right eye’s about to give out, and you’ve only got a few more shots in your right shoulder, to say nothing of your legs. That sprint really did a number on you.]
[iii b: right eye at 13%. it hurts a lot. right shoulder, arm at 57%. legs are pretty much gone, at maybe 4% average.]
Caster wasn’t surprised. She could reach out pretty far if she had to, but even so, three kilometers was really pushing it, especially since her body was about to fall apart. She had to use all her reinforcement circuits to enhance her right eye and arm to be able to get the range necessary, something that she did only out of necessity.
She tried to use her Magic Circuits as little as possible these days.
“I don’t get it, though. Why did you hit the part of the pole above him, instead of hitting him directly?”
“These rules say no witnesses or suspicious evidence, right? It’s going to be hard to explain away a crater in the middle of a sidewalk with no obvious cause. If there’s a reason – say, a blown transformer – people will be more likely to accept it at face value, no matter how far-fetched it is.”
She didn’t say that it was also because hitting a sprinting human, in profile, at 3 kilometers, was not possible for her. Hell, it probably wasn’t possible for anyone, living or dead. Hitting stationary power fixtures was a lot more reasonable.
Spek. Boost the charge a little. The concussive effects aren’t good enough.
>> Sure thing.
The hooded form got up again and kept running. Caster sighted in on the next valid target – another pole-mounted transformer – and fired. The figure was knocked down again, but he still got up.
Tch. He’s a persistent one.
She hit a ground-based transformer on her next shot, and for a moment she thought he was down. But no, he still managed to pull himself up. He seemed to catch on to what she was doing, because he ran out into the middle of the street.
Perfect. Spek, give me a woodcutter.
She fired two arrows. The first arrow sliced through a utility pole, causing it to fall right in front of the boy. The next one caused the now-grounded transformer to detonate.
He didn’t get up this time.
She faced Lancer. “I’ve held up my end of the bargain.”
Lancer scowled. “So you have. Where are you going now?”
Caster beamed at him. “How cute. It seems I charmed him with my feminine wiles.”
Lancer snorted. “As if. I wouldn’t touch you with a seven-meter sarissa. Just thought I’d see if I could figure out where I could find you later. You know, so I can finish you off.”
“Well, I’m off to ‘confirm’ the kill and clean up a bit, if you know what I mean.”
He did, if that grimace was any indication.
Spek. Explosive propulsion time. Shaped prana bursts for stealth. I really don’t feel like running anymore.
“Hey Archer. You saw me duel that Saber who didn’t know how to fight properly, right? As much as I dislike you, at least you know what you’re supposed to be doing, even if you are underhanded about it. ”
Caster paused for a second, then smiled a wicked smile.
On second thought, high-explosive for extreme visibility. Give me some shiny magical leg protection too, while you’re at it.
She blasted herself into the air, laughing as she went. The look on Lancer’s face was priceless.
=======
Lancer
Lancer rubbed his head, disentangled himself from the bushes he’d fallen into, and screamed:
“AM I THE ONLY ONE IN THIS FUCKING WAR WHO DOES WHAT THEY’RE SUPPOSED TO?!”
Saturday, 2/2 – Evening
Lancer
Lancer liked his Master, but sometimes the girl was too serious for her own good.
Take, for example, their strategy meeting this afternoon.
“You are to conceal yourself and patrol Miyama Town for any signs of enemy magical activity. Pay special attention to the Homurahara Academy, as at least 2 other Masters currently attend that school. I’ll reconnoiter the Shinto area and – are you even listening to me?!”
His Master was cute when flustered, but Lancer was having a bad feeling about this.
“Hm? Oh, of course I am, lass. I was just waiting for the bit where you to tell me that I could go all out if I actually find someone.”
The look he got pretty much confirmed his suspicions.
“Absolutely not. If you can prod them into revealing their Noble Phantasms, then by all means do so, but I strictly forbid you from giving yourself away. We need to do this right if we’re going to win, and that involves knowing your enemy before you fight. I’m not going to let you throw your life away for some… stupid notion of honor!”
Things only got worse from there, culminating in his Master using a Command Spell that prevented him from fighting at full power unless she could see him.
He didn’t know why, but for some reason Lancer thought that that shady priest was somehow behind all of this.
He passed the school for the thirtieth time that day. Like the last twenty-nine times, all he could detect was –
A very potent bounded field going up around it.
Lancer blinked, then smiled. Maybe tonight wasn’t going to be as boring as he first thought.
=======
Archer
As soon as Rin dismantled the last circle, drawn on the side of the west building, Archer felt the boundary field become a lot more noticeable. Those irritating circles apparently prevented the more malicious ones underneath from connecting to each other, presumably to help hide them better. Now that all the stealth circles were gone, the ones underneath were now active and free to plunder to their creator’s content. The only upside to this whole scenario was that the plundering field, for whatever reason, still wasn’t fully charged.
“Master, we should come back another time. Any enemy Servants or Masters in the area would have definitely noticed that field going up.”
Rin shook her head. “I appreciate your concern, Archer, but I can’t let this slide. Fuyuki is my city, and I won’t allow this good-for-nothing Master to just do as he pleases. This is a school, for God’s sake!”
She went back to examining the circle. “You’re right, though. We shouldn’t stay for much longer, but I think I can at least reduce the daily prana intake these circles are getting before we leave. Archer, could you– “
Archer’s combat instincts started screaming at him.
“Well, well, well. What’s a pretty girl like you doing at this hour? Shouldn’t you be at home studying or something?”
The Servant in blue had come out of nowhere. Judging by the evil-looking lance slung casually across his shoulder, Archer guessed that this was Lancer.
“Unless, of course, the thing that just went up is related to your studies.”
His easy smile and relaxed posture were distinctly at odds with the killing intent he was barely suppressing. Though Rin was obviously surprised and frightened, Archer had to give her credit: she had the presence of mind to start readying some of the jewels in her pocket. They probably wouldn’t help much, but still. It was the thought that counted.
“Isn’t that right? Tohsaka… Ren? Len? Ring?”
As his Master spluttered a response (“It’s Rin!”), Lancer rushed her, closing the distance between them in a heartbeat. Fortunately for her, Archer’s materialization was faster.
Trace – ON!
CLANG
Archer crossed his blades and deflected the thrust downwards, the spear barely missing his thigh. Before he could counterattack, Lancer hopped backwards to create space and assumed a neutral stance, spear leveled at Archer.
“Yo! I was wondering when you’d show up!”
The knight in blue charged again. The tip of his spear seemed to dance.
He has more reach and is faster than me. He’ll feint to create an opening, then poke me full of holes when my guard is in the wrong place.
As if on cue, the tip of the spear seemed to freeze in place as Lancer lunged at his face.
In that case –
Archer felt the spear graze by as he jerked his head at the last moment, feeling slightly smug by the surprised look on Lancer’s face.
Wasn’t expecting that, huh?
He swung with both swords, boosting the attraction between Kanshou and Byakuya to increase the speed of the swing. Fast as he was, though, Lancer was faster, managing to evade the attack by jumping backwards again.
Tch. Almost.
“ – the hell? You got a death wish or something?”
Actually, yes. In a manner of speaking.
Lancer lunged again, though this time his approach was more cautious.
Doesn’t want to overcommit again. He’ll come at an oblique angle to try and get in my blind spot.
Lancer veered to Archer’s left mid-charge, hoping to flank the knight in red. Faster than the human eye could see, the lance slashed down towards Archer’s neck.
Archer ducked, the spear glancing off his shoulder guard, and tensed to swing again. Predictably, Lancer disengaged again.
Not this time.
Lancer opened his mouth to say something, but the sword thrown at his face forced him to block instead.
CLANG
“What kind of Saber throws away his own swor-“
While Lancer was momentarily distracted, Archer rushed. Projecting a replacement for the sword he’d just thrown, he was in range before the Servant in blue could react.
CLANG
Unfortunately, Archer wasn’t fast enough to land his attack before Lancer recovered, guarding against the twin swords with his spear. They were deadlocked, one trying to overpower the other, two supernatural beings locked in the most basic contest of strength there was.
Which was just as well.
“RIN! GET AWAY FROM HERE! NOW!”
=======
Rin
She knew it would be dangerous. Two legends fighting to the death, an epic contest of will as the heroes of lore took to the field in a competition for the ultimate prize.
She never thought it would be so beautiful, though.
Sparks flew as the Servants clashed, with Archer holding his ground against Lancer’s onslaught. Several times, Rin thought that her Servant was finished, only to have him dodge at the last moment and respond with an attack of his own.
She was so entranced that she was actually startled when one of the figures addressed her directly.
“RIN! GET AWAY FROM HERE! NOW!”
Her mind restarted. Archer’s defending you, and he can’t fight effectively if you’re in the way. Move!
As she reinforced her legs and sprinted for the gate, her mind continued to work.
How did Lancer get here so fast? Was he expecting us? And where is his Master?
Realization hit her like a blast of cold water. Lancer had only appeared when the second boundary field was re-established.
It was almost as if it were some sort of signal.
She turned around and tried to tell Archer that it was a trap. The only thing she saw was a red lance heading straight for her.
=======
Lancer
He was technically following orders.
She said that he could prod them a little. Sticking them with his spear counted as prodding, right?
He went for the girl first, vaguely remembering her face from one of his Master’s briefings. Her Servant was still in spirit form, and attacking her would be the quickest way to get him to appear.
Lancer was not disappointed. Even though he couldn’t fight at his best, it was still fun.
As he dueled the mysterious red knight, who was possibly Saber, Lancer felt his blood start to boil. His opposite was a strange one: though he shouldn’t have stood a chance against Lancer, he was somehow managing to keep up, matching Lancer blow for blow. It was almost as if he knew what Lancer was thinking in advance.
Lancer certainly didn’t know what his opponent was thinking when he threw his sword.
Whoever he was, at least Lancer knew this much: physically, this knight in red was weaker than him.
“RIN! GET AWAY FROM HERE! NOW!”
A holding action, huh? Lancer could appreciate that. He couldn’t let it succeed, though – the Rin girl had worked a very naughty bit of magecraft on the school, and though his Master would be furious at him for disobeying her orders, he’d make her understand. The enemy was breaking her precious Association’s rules by being so brazen, so he had to kill her to prevent exposure to the world at large.
And come on, one Master eliminated. What was there not to like?
He pushed, and the red knight jumped back to avoid the slash that never came. Instead of continuing the fight, Lancer disengaged to pursue the girl, who was dashing towards the gate.
It’s a shame, really. She’s got a nice pair of legs.
========
Caster
Fuck. It had to be her, didn’t it.
Concealed by Spektrum’s active camouflage, Caster watched Archer and Lancer’s fight from the roof of the school. What she was currently concerned about, however, was the pigtailed magus currently gaping at them.
Spek. Arrow configuration: Five parts grounding, one leech, one pain-inducing. 30% charge, active on impact. Reverse barb.
Rin. A host of complicated and contradictory feelings welled up inside her before she locked them out. Caster would have preferred it if she didn’t have to kill the girl, but the chance to take out two Servants and an enemy Master was a chance to good to pass up.
Besides, Zouken was probably spying on her. If she showed any mercy here, he might hurt Sakura again as “punishment”. To Caster, that was unforgivable.
Rin started to run. Caster hoped she would draw the other two Servants – Lancer and Archer, according to Partition 1B – away from the school building and give Caster an optimal firing solution. She could fire while the two Servants dueled right below her, but her chances of fighting them off if her first strike didn’t kill them both were slim (less than 1%, or “statistically insignificant”, according to 1A). Why risk it?
Lancer peeled off, angling for Rin. Archer threw his sword, which managed to deflect the spear before it could connect. Caster released a breath she didn’t realize she was holding.
… dammit.
Archer and Lancer continued their duel. Rin tried to get away, but Lancer managed to keep up as he fought off Archer’s increasingly desperate assault.
[1A: Archer disarmed for the 27th time.]
[Twob: If you’re going to shoot, now’s the time. They’re clumped up, 76 meters away, and almost to the gate. Can’t really get more ideal than that.]
[III A: Now that I see him again, it looks like he’s… projecting. Projecting swords. Is he…?]
No. She couldn’t wait any longer. The time for hesitation had passed a long time ago.
[Twoa: Deactivating tapetum lucidum in right eye. Adjusting shape for maximum visual acuity at 76 meters.]
[iii b: ow.]
Caster felt her right eye throb as it changed configuration. Eyes that weren’t her “natural” eye color always degraded faster, though this particular color usually lasted longer than this. It looked like she would have to replace it soon.
Don’t pay it any mind. Focus.
Her mind cleared, her body relaxed. Her focus was only on the target.
After breaking off again, Archer threw several pairs of his strange black-and-white swords at Lancer, enclosing the blue Servant in a whirlwind of spinning steel. The whole time, the red knight seemed to be chanting something.
She took one of the seven barbed arrows Spektrum had made and drew it past her right ear, her composite yumi taut at full draw.
The two Servants stopped fighting for a moment. Archer projected more menacing versions of his favorite weapons, while Lancer took a wide stance and started drawing in mana to his cursed spear. Rin was shouting. All of them were standing still.
“Listen to me! It’s a tr-“
Caster took aim and fired three arrows in quick succession. Her last arrow was for Rin.
=======
They were staring each other down, both preparing to end the fight in a single, decisive blow.
Archer: “Crane Wing –“
Lancer: “Gae –“
They felt it at the same time.
Lancer had the benefit of Protection from Arrows, a skill he’d had since birth. He heard the arrow and cancelled his attack to bat it away, blocking the flying swords that came at him next almost as an afterthought.
Archer had the benefit of being an archer. He noticed a familiar shape coming towards him, illuminated by the light of the full moon, and dodged out of the way.
Rin didn’t have the benefit of anything, and was thus surprised mid-sentence when the arrow took her in the collarbone.
“Guh -” was all she could say before the binding spell in the arrow pinned her to the ground.
=======
Caster
She could see how Archer had dodged the arrow – it was his specialty, after all – but she couldn’t figure out how Lancer had seen it coming. Evidently, her knowledge about his capabilities was far from complete.
Lancer started dashing towards the building. The same building she was currently standing on.
Shit! Did he see me? Spek, change to combat configuration: ambush.
>> Ready in 10.
She jumped off the rooftop and prepared for the worst.
=======
Lancer
His eyes traced the arrow’s path back to its point of origin, but all Lancer could see was a fence and a slight… distortion.
Archer ran to help his fallen Master, but by then Lancer was interested something far more important.
There, staring out from a ground floor window, was a hooded boy looking on awe and terror.
=======
Rin
The moon looked red tonight. Crimson, almost. That was probably because of the pain, though.
Pain. So much pain. She tried to think of better words to describe it, but the pain was too much, and she stopped trying.
“Rin! Stay with me! RIN!”
Someone was yelling at her. Someone wearing red. He was shaking her.
“… stop that. Just wanna… wanna sleep…”
“Get a hold of yourself! You can’t let this beat you! You’re a Tohsaka, aren’t you?!“
Toh… sa… ka? That’s right… that’s who she was, wasn’t it.
“Damn… straight… *cough* D… don’t you… forget it…”
She felt something get pressed into her hand. Many somethings.
“Listen. You were struck by an arrow. It looks like it barely missed your subclavian, but you’re still in shock and losing blood. I can remove the arrow, but you’ll have to heal yourself. Do you understand me?”
Healing? She didn’t need any healing. All she needed was to go home, have Archer make her a cup of tea, and maybe take a nice long bath –
A burst of pain. Someone tugged on the thing that was sticking up into the sky. She vaguely thought that it wasn’t supposed to be there.
“Dammit. Looks like it’s stuck to the ground.”
It hurt. She didn’t like things that hurt. Where was Archer? He could tell this person to stop hurting her.
“S-stop that.”
Splurk
Rin screamed as Archer pulled her off the arrow. The meter-long shaft was barbed in exactly the wrong direction.
She couldn’t think. She couldn’t breathe. She couldn’t feel. All she could picture was a dagger piercing her heart, a shoulder knitting itself back together.
“HEILEN!”
She shouted a word in a language she didn’t recognize, drew power from the jewels she held in her hand, then passed out of the cold, hard ground.
=======
Shirou
He ran for his life. Tearing through the hallways of the empty school, Shirou regretted that he chose to pass up track for the archery team. At the time, it had seemed more practical, given his desire to become a hero of justice.
Now, pursued by a being that was more powerful than he could ever have imagined, he wished that he could just go back in time and beat himself silly.
“Tch. You’re a slippery one, I’ll give you that.”
The voice was right behind him. Shirou made a hard left and veered into a classroom, slamming the door behind him. When the man in blue kicked it open, Shirou had almost made it to the windows.
Almost – there - !
A kicked desk caught him squarely in the back and knocked him out of the window with a loud crash. Covered in lacerations and breathing heavily, he rolled over. At least he’d go out facing his death.
“Sorry, kid, but the rules say no witnesses. I promise I’ll make it quick.”
The man seemed almost regretful, but Shirou could feel him drawing in a massive amount of mana, concentrating it in that blood-red spear of his.
“Nothing personal.”
As the spear ripped through his heart, Shirou wondered why dying had to hurt so much.
=======
Archer
She got up. Inside, Archer breathed a sigh of relief.
“How long was I out?”
“Only a couple minutes. I must say, that was an impressive piece of work, Master.”
Rin smiled groggily, and tested out her shoulder. She winced once or twice, but for the most part it looked functional.
“Of course it was. I am a magus of the Tohsaka family, after all.”
“Believe me, I was sorely tempted to tell you that you were an Einzbern. Or maybe a Matou.”
She bristled. “Don’t even joke about that sort of – “
There was a loud crash as a window broke somewhere. Though she had only just woken up, Rin started sprinting towards the source of the sound.
“Where’s Lancer?”
“He went into the building you’re running towards. The one we should probably be running away from?”
She didn’t listen. Sighing, Archer retraced Kanshou and Byakuya and took off after his headstrong Master.
=======
Rin
Part of her told her that she was making a huge mistake. Part of her told her that what she was doing was probably exactly what Lancer and his unknown friend wanted.
She didn’t care, because most of her really wanted to get the bastard who shot her.
In a flash, Archer was right beside her. “Master, I really don’t think we should be doing this.”
She ignored him. “When Lancer got here, did you feel anyone else come with him?”
“No. Why?”
Stupid, stupid, stupid! Lancer was just a decoy.
“You weren’t supposed to. This was a trap, and we fell for it like a couple of idiots. Whoever set it up was probably trying to take us both out at the same time, but since you managed to avoid it, Lancer retreated to regroup with his partner.”
“I see. So why are you following them?”
“Because they probably don’t expect us to recover this fast. I certainly didn’t. If we catch up to them now, we might be able to catch them off guard and get in a little sneak attack of our own.”
They were close to the source of the sound. Rin checked her pockets to see how many of her saved-up jewels she had left, and found that she only had three left. She must’ve used most of them reconstructing her shoulder.
Dammit. Sometimes I’m too good for my own good.
Three wasn’t going to be enough. She needed something big. It looks like she was going to have to use it after all.
I just hope it’ll be worth it.
Pulling out her pendant, she rounded the corner with Archer, and saw…
A pool of blood, most of it spilling from a single wound.
A body covered in cuts and surrounded by broken glass, with a hole where the heart should be.
A face she recognized.
“… … … Shirou?”
=======
Lancer
He was back on patrol, only this time he was pissed.
Sure, that Saber guy seemed to be confused as to what class he was actually supposed to be, but at least he had the courage to fight head-on. Lancer could respect that.
What he couldn’t respect was some conniving snit shooting at him in the dark, interrupting his duel, and distracting him with an innocent bystander to escape without even having the courtesy to show himself.
Then again, he didn’t expect much more from an Archer anyways.
There. To the right, a familiar distortion moving down a side road. Lancer changed course and started his pursuit.
=======
Shirou
He woke up. That, in and of itself, surprised him.
Wasn’t I dead?
He looked down at his torso. Though his sweater was shredded and covered in blood, the skin underneath was perfectly smooth. It was almost as if he had never been sliced up by glass and stabbed in the heart at all.
Huh.
Someone had saved him. Shirou wished he could thank them and tell them they should’ve saved someone else instead. He wouldn’t have minded: it’s the job of a hero to be selfless, after all.
The moonlight glinted off of something beside him.
A pendant?
He picked it up, and heard a rapid series of explosions. Clearly, the night wasn’t over just yet.
=======
Caster
The modified claymores went off. They were extremely effective anti-personnel mines with an effective range of 50 meters, covering a 60-degree arc with 700 steel balls (replaced with charged gems) propelled at a speed of 1,200 meters per second.
[1A: Confirmed miss.]
Lancer outran them.
This is getting ridiculous.
The space Lancer just occupied exploded as the gems detonated. It didn’t slow down the blue Servant at all. In fact, he was accelerating.
[1A: Contact in 3.2 seconds.]
Dammit, Spek! Close-combat! NOW!
>> 5.4 seconds! Sorry!
Crap, crap, crap.
Is long-range interdiction still in your boot memory?
>> Yeah, 0.9 seconds.
DO IT.
He was getting closer, and judging by the murder on his face he wasn’t here to say hello.
>> Ready!
[1A: 2.2 seconds.]
Arrow config: All parts really, really thick! Full charge, detonate on command! NOW!
Her camouflage dropped as Spek devoted all its energy to projecting the arrows. It wasn’t really helping anymore.
Lancer’s eyes widened in anticipation. “There you are.”
He lunged.
[1A: 0.7 seconds.]
>> Here!
Caster grabbed an arrow in each hand. They looked more like meter-long spikes, really.
[1A: Contact.]
=======
Lancer
CLANG
Not again.
The woman had blocked him with a pair of funny-looking arrows that she pulled out of nowhere. Considering the way this night had been shaping up so far, Lancer really shouldn’t have been surprised.
“So now you want to fight fair? Better late than never, I guess.”
She threw an arrow at him (again with the throwing?) while dashing into the forest behind the school. He dodged it easily, but was a bit surprised when it exploded next to him. He was thrown into the trees lining the road.
Damn that sneaky, underhanded…
Whoever she was – Archer, he presumed – she was getting on his nerves more and more. While she was fast, he was much faster.
But goddamn if she wasn’t slippery.
While he could easily dodge all the arrow-spikes that came at him, she seemed to have an endless amount of them, and was throwing them in a fashion that cut off all his approach paths, forcing him to keep his distance.
Her erratic movements weren’t helping much, either, as her variable speed and rapid course changes caused him to almost lose her several times. It was infuriating: if he went too fast, he would overshoot when she changed course, and if he went too slowly, she would suddenly get a burst of speed from out of nowhere.
He always said that he preferred pursuing troublesome women – after all, the harder the chase, the sweeter the goal. Now, though, he was finding that his enjoyment dwindled the more literal the chase became.
The irony was not lost on him.
Dammit. It would be so much simpler if he could just throw Gae Bolg at her, but that option was unavailable at this time, courtesy of his Master. Truthfully, Lancer wasn’t all that surprised: it figured that his cursed luck with the women he liked and the women he wanted dead would only serve to reinforce each other..
Ah well. After several frustrating minutes, she seemed to tire slightly, and a hole opened in her wall of explosions. Lancer dashed through, and after a few close calls he was finally in range. No harm in revealing himself to a dead woman, right?
“Gae –“
Wait. In the distance. Was that…?
For the second time that night, Lancer’s fight was interrupted by the sight of a hooded boy running away.
“Fuck!”
=======
Caster
“Gae – Fuck!”
Caster was certain she didn’t hear that correctly.
“Excuse me?”
Lancer was standing in the middle of the road, eyes focusing on something far away.
“What the hell? I was certain that I killed that guy!”
Caster followed his gaze, reshaping her eyes again. She could barely make out the form of a boy, wearing a tattered sweater and running for his life.
“Dammit. I promised him I’d make it quick, too.”
The boy turned a corner and disappeared from view. Exasperated by something, Lancer turned to her.
“Listen. I really, really, really don’t like you, but I don’t have the time to deal with you right now. I gave the kid my word that I’d kill him, and I really can’t let him get away. No witnesses and all that.”
Huh. A sense of obligation. She could find a use for that.
“Tell you what. I’ll let you go tonight, and tomorrow we continue where we left off. Sound good?”
Ordinarily, Caster would have agreed just to get him off her tail, but she could feel the telltale signs of a geis in his words. She had bad memories of those, and of Irish things in general.
She could refuse, but he might just decide to continue fighting after all. Considering the shape her body was in, that probably wouldn’t end well for her.
So, she tried something else: a counter-offer.
“While that does sound tempting, are you sure you’ll be able to catch up to the boy before becomes a liability? For all you know, he could be messaging all his friends about the crazy things he saw tonight.”
Spek. Close combat and Lichts. In case things don’t pan out.
>> Roger.
Lancer’s eyes narrowed. “Speed’s not a problem.”
“Evidently. Your problem is one of finding him. He’s more than a couple of kilometers away by now, and your chances of catching up to him are pretty low, even with your speed.”
“I have tracking runes.”
“Because you obviously thought to leave one on a corpse in the off chance that it would miraculously come back to life and run off again. You’re not a Dead Apostle, right?”
“… I have good eyes.”
“That won’t help much if he’s in a house.”
“I’ll search them.”
“Sure. Because a man in a blue leotard with an evil-looking spear crashing through a bunch of houses is definitely not going to be witnessed by anyone.”
He started to respond, then thought better of it.
Got you.
Lancer harrumphed instead. “You got a better idea, then?”
“As a matter of fact, I do. Let me go tonight, and I’ll take care of your little problem before it becomes a much bigger one.”
Lancer looked like he was in physical pain. He knew he had been outmaneuvered, and tried to come up with some sort of retort.
“… looks like I don’t have much of a choice, do I?”
“Not really, no.”
Lancer sighed, defeated. “Fine. Bring him down and you can leave. It’s a deal.”
She smiled as she felt the geis bind them both to their word. Specifically, to the words Lancer had just said.
Spek, recall the Lichts and go to long-range interdiction.
“Watch closely, tights boy. You’re in for a show.”
=======
Shirou
He’d been running for almost four kilometers straight before he had to stop.
Panting heavily and leaning on a utility pole, Shirou looked around, and started to relax. He didn’t see his blue-haired killer anywhere, and felt that he was far enough away from the school to start slowing down a bit. His house was right around the corner.
Shirou started to chuckle a bit. Not hysterically, mind you, just enough to blow off some steam. He’d just escaped death multiple times today, and the adrenaline from his panicked run was making him giddy.
Thus, he felt cheated somewhat when the pole section above him exploded and knocked him face-first into the ground.
=======
Caster
Crouching in his tree, Lancer whistled in spite of himself. “Man, but I’ll be damned if that wasn’t a good shot.”
[Twoa: Careful. Right eye’s about to give out, and you’ve only got a few more shots in your right shoulder, to say nothing of your legs. That sprint really did a number on you.]
[iii b: right eye at 13%. it hurts a lot. right shoulder, arm at 57%. legs are pretty much gone, at maybe 4% average.]
Caster wasn’t surprised. She could reach out pretty far if she had to, but even so, three kilometers was really pushing it, especially since her body was about to fall apart. She had to use all her reinforcement circuits to enhance her right eye and arm to be able to get the range necessary, something that she did only out of necessity.
She tried to use her Magic Circuits as little as possible these days.
“I don’t get it, though. Why did you hit the part of the pole above him, instead of hitting him directly?”
“These rules say no witnesses or suspicious evidence, right? It’s going to be hard to explain away a crater in the middle of a sidewalk with no obvious cause. If there’s a reason – say, a blown transformer – people will be more likely to accept it at face value, no matter how far-fetched it is.”
She didn’t say that it was also because hitting a sprinting human, in profile, at 3 kilometers, was not possible for her. Hell, it probably wasn’t possible for anyone, living or dead. Hitting stationary power fixtures was a lot more reasonable.
Spek. Boost the charge a little. The concussive effects aren’t good enough.
>> Sure thing.
The hooded form got up again and kept running. Caster sighted in on the next valid target – another pole-mounted transformer – and fired. The figure was knocked down again, but he still got up.
Tch. He’s a persistent one.
She hit a ground-based transformer on her next shot, and for a moment she thought he was down. But no, he still managed to pull himself up. He seemed to catch on to what she was doing, because he ran out into the middle of the street.
Perfect. Spek, give me a woodcutter.
She fired two arrows. The first arrow sliced through a utility pole, causing it to fall right in front of the boy. The next one caused the now-grounded transformer to detonate.
He didn’t get up this time.
She faced Lancer. “I’ve held up my end of the bargain.”
Lancer scowled. “So you have. Where are you going now?”
Caster beamed at him. “How cute. It seems I charmed him with my feminine wiles.”
Lancer snorted. “As if. I wouldn’t touch you with a seven-meter sarissa. Just thought I’d see if I could figure out where I could find you later. You know, so I can finish you off.”
“Well, I’m off to ‘confirm’ the kill and clean up a bit, if you know what I mean.”
He did, if that grimace was any indication.
Spek. Explosive propulsion time. Shaped prana bursts for stealth. I really don’t feel like running anymore.
“Hey Archer. You saw me duel that Saber who didn’t know how to fight properly, right? As much as I dislike you, at least you know what you’re supposed to be doing, even if you are underhanded about it. ”
Caster paused for a second, then smiled a wicked smile.
On second thought, high-explosive for extreme visibility. Give me some shiny magical leg protection too, while you’re at it.
She blasted herself into the air, laughing as she went. The look on Lancer’s face was priceless.
=======
Lancer
Lancer rubbed his head, disentangled himself from the bushes he’d fallen into, and screamed:
“AM I THE ONLY ONE IN THIS FUCKING WAR WHO DOES WHAT THEY’RE SUPPOSED TO?!”
73
Fanfiction / Re: Fate/Refraction
« on: July 04, 2013, 07:19:57 PM »
That's for sure.
Spoiler for Hiden:
74
Visual Novels / Re: Recommendations?
« on: July 04, 2013, 06:27:00 PM »
+1 on Ever 17. That game will fuck with your mind.
75
Fanfiction / Re: Fate/Refraction
« on: July 04, 2013, 06:21:30 PM »
True, true. It's a little embarrassing that you seem to understand this dynamic better than I do 
(and I appreciate your input).
However, there are a couple of assumptions you have about Caster that aren't quite correct, if only because you have so little info to work with. But you are quite right when you say Sakura's death would hinder her immensely.
(and I appreciate your input). However, there are a couple of assumptions you have about Caster that aren't quite correct, if only because you have so little info to work with. But you are quite right when you say Sakura's death would hinder her immensely.