Rin saw a bright flash, right where they were heading. Archer gestured towards the source of the light. "I take it that your friend is that way?"
She gave a grim nod in response, her smile fading. "Looks like we really are in for a fight." The young magus put on a determined smile. "But it's probably nothing the two of us can't handle. Let's clean up this mess so we can go back to the apartments and get settled in." Rin didn't mind the upcoming fight entirely, but the thought of getting cleaned up and getting some rest was quite appealing within itself.
The sooner we get this done, the better.***
Ten Years Ago
Finn whistled a merry tune as he grabbed a soda from the refrigerator, hardly noticing the precipitation that quickly formed on the can. Hot summer's day that it was, it probably hadn't been the best day to take a quick run, but he felt like it was worth it. As he walked by, casually flipping back the tab of his pop can, he heard noises coming from the living room. Curious, he walked over to the entryway and peered inside.
Sitting perhaps a bit close to the TV was his little sister, her eyes narrowed in determination, her fingers dancing over the buttons on the controller in her hand as she pressed the buttons perhaps a touch too hard. She was playing Super Mario World, and she seemed to be in the last stage, and struggling at that. With the sound of the death jingle and a "gah!" from Mille, things didn't seem to be improving on that front.
Weird that she's playing Super Mario World. Lately she's mostly been trying to study Magecraft. Taking a swig from his pop can, Finn walked over to his frustrated younger sibling. "Hey sis. Playing some Mario?"
Mille had restarted the level, her eyes not leaving the screen. "I'm trying to beat this game all by myself. Every time I've played, it's been with you helping me somehow or you playing as Player 2. I'm trying to be more independant, so I'm starting with something simple."
Finn tilted his head. "But you're seven. Does that even matter?"
"I'm a big girl now. And big girls have to learn to take care of themselves. I can't be all weak and useless. No one likes a weak and useless girl."
Finn frowned a bit. "Huh? You're not weak and useless. Getting help sometimes doesn't make you weak and useless either. You sure you don't want me to help you out as Luigi?"
"No. I'm doing this all by myself and that's that."
"Can I at least give you some tips?"
"
No."
"Can I even watch?"
Mille sighed. "Fine. But try not to talk. I wanna concentrate."
So Finn watched his sister play for a good hour. She eventually figured out how to get through the main stage, but kept dying to Bowser. Mille looked like she wanted to throw her controller at the nearby wall. "Arrgh! Stupid game! That stupid lizard's cheating! Why'm I having so much trouble!?"
Finn spoke up. "You sure you don't want me to help? Even big girls don't have to do everything on their own you know."
Mille looked at her brother in exasperation. "I told you, I wanna do this by myself! How am I supposed to be a great Magus if I rely on everyone else all the time?"
So that's why she's doing this. Finn sat down next to his sister. "Actually, I think you try to do stuff by yourself too often. But still, I got faith in ya." Finn grinned at her. "Maybe all you need is a different approach."
"Like what exactly?" she replied, crossing her arms over her chest.
"Try having more fun with it," Finn said. "Don't worry so much about trying to achieve it, just enjoy playing the game and go with it."
"Don't know how that's supposed to help," Mille muttered. But she tried to do as he said, forgetting the consequences and just enjoying the game. It took a few rounds, but she managed to beat Bowser and the game with him.
Mille stared at the credits dumbfounded before turning to her brother, confused. "Wait, when I took it less seriously, it became easier. How did that work?"
Finn grinned. "Because you were having fun. If you take stuff so seriously all the time, you're more likely to get all worried and... stuff. Makes it harder to focus on things."
Mille stared at him blankly. "But that doesn't make sense. Don't you have to take things seriously in order to do your best?"
Her brother shrugged. "Eh, it's kinda hard to explain. It's just something you kinda have to find out for yourself I think. You're super smart, so I bet you figure it out someday."
"I don't know if I ever will." Mille turned off the game console before getting up to leave. "I'm going to try and run a bit. A strong magus also has a healthy body." She turned back to Finn. "And, umm.... thanks for the advice." She hesitated, before giving Finn a quick hug. Her face was flushed embarrassment for doing such a sappy thing as she ran out to take her run.
Finn smiled at his sister as she made her dash for the outdoors.
She's way too serious 'bout stuff, but I'm glad she's my little sis. Gotta admire that determination. He frowned.
....But she's always so worried about doing well in everything and trying to do things on her own. Why's she so worried about it? It's not like anyone but me's gonna see it, and then, why care about what anybody else thinks? ...I don't know, maybe when she's older, she'll start having more fun with stuff and not feel like she has to try so hard all the time. Finn shrugged.
Ah well, time for another pop from the fridge, I'm thirsty. If I take the one behind the milk carton, Mom won't notice and yell at me to drink healthier or whatever.The Present
The car ride towards the hotel had been mostly silent. Mille had spent most of the ride glowering at the windshield. The atmosphere weighed heavily on Finn as he tried to think of something to break the ice. Finn actually found himself a bit perplexed by his sister's behavior. She'd always been too serious and a bit on the grouchy side, but not to this extreme.
It didn't take him long to think of the most likely answer- The Magus Association. Someone as eager to prove herself as Mille would have a hard time dealing with all the elitism and classism that the Association had running rampant through it like a plague. Mille came from a country that was looked down upon by the Association, her family was fairly new and used an unpopular form of Magecraft, and she was female. In spite of her talent, with all the backwards viewpoints that many Association members held so tightly, it was likely they looked down at her as no more than some very nice breeding stock. Knowing how boneheaded Mille could be about things, she likely didn't even consider any of that and kept trying to impress them anyway. With that all in mind, it didn't surprise him that she was so bitter and angry now.
That's probably why she has that grudge she seems to have against Tohsaka too, he thought.
She has a slightly older family and got pretty successful, so sis probably hates her for that. But that seems too petty for sis. Did the Association change her, or is there something more specific that's the cause?There was a bright flash of light near their destination, which looked kind of like some kind of explosion. "That can't be good." Finn took advantage of the street being empty to put even more pressure on the gas pedal. "Let's put the pedal to the metal."
"You're already going too fast! What if you hit something?!"
"Your big brother knows what he's doing. Trust me, we'll be fine!" Finn felt bad that this was pretty much the only conversation they'd had the entire car ride, but perhaps now wasn't the best time anyway. He had a pretty big bomb to drop anyway newswise, and he didn't want to distract Mille for the upcoming battle.
Finn zipped and zagged until they reached the hotel parking lot. No one there. They ran towards the general direction of the explosion from before. What they saw was a chaotic mess. Three figures were fighting off a massive horde of vampires: a tall, copper skinned man wearing a red biker jacket and wielding a strange pair of swords, a tall blonde woman fighting quite skillfully with a katana, and a young man with silver hair and a .44.
Mille quickly surmised that the blonde woman must be Forest. She wasn't sure who the two men were, but the tall man looked oddly identical to Archer in a number of ways. One thing was clear though. With this many vampires, the three alone couldn't hold out on their own without falling out of exhaustion.
But as if delivered from on high, the familiar blue clad figure of Lancer swooped down and took down a swarm of undead, the mighty spear tearing the undead asunder in a burst of gore they could see even from this distance.
They saw him readjust his stance and prepare to throw the terrible red spear. From even where they stood, they could hear his shout. "Gae Bolg!" A brilliant burst of red light cut its way through hoards of the undead, magnificent in the destruction and entrails it left within its wake.
Mille looked on for a moment in stunned silence. "It's him then. It's really him."
Finn looked at his sister, confused. "Huh? What are you talking about, sis?"
The magus girl turned around to face her brother at almost inhuman speed. "W-what?! What do you mean you can't tell who he is?!" She pointed rather sharply in Lancer's direction. "That's Cu Chulainn you moron! You know, the one from the stories we heard as kids? One of the greatest heroes in Irish lore?
Do you have no pride or respect for your heritage?!"
Finn rubbed the back of his neck. "Oh yeah, him. Yeah, I thought that attack sounded familiar. Huh, that's pretty cool. Must be a Servant then?"
Mille pinched the bridge of her nose. "Are you really that stupid?"
Finn shrugged. "Eh, just wasn't that worried about the details. I like to keep things simple and focus on the important stuff. The important thing earlier was that he wasn't going to kill me with that mean spear of his. And the important thing now is that those guys over there need a hand." He took his rifle that he had retrieved from the apartments earlier down from his shoulder and readied it for firing. "So then, what's the plan?"
Mille carefully surveyed the area around her. She noticed that the vampires were mostly clustered around the combatants, so there was a large space near where they were open and clear of the creatures for the most part. Mille retrieved a knife from her backpack. "Get rid of the vampires by way of fire. I'm going to set up a trap over here for them. I'll need someone or multiple someones to lure them over here when the time is right. I'll give you a whistle when I've got it set up. I'll need time to draw all the runes for the circle though, so I'll need this place to stay relatively clear until then."
"And what do you want me to do?"
"Tell the others about my plan if possible. And not die I guess. Otherwise, I got it covered." She gave him a dismissive gesture, almost as if she were shooing him away. "Now get over there, and be careful. Get up on the rooftops if you have to. If this works out the way I have it planned, we should be able to get rid of most of the vampires in one shot."
Finn nodded. "Got it. Don't worry about me, this isn't the first time I've done missions like this." He grinned at her and gave her a thumbs up. "Just leave it to me!"
Mille rolled her eyes. "Whatever, just get going." She sighed. "And good luck, I guess."
Finn nodded and headed off towards the fray. Mille got over to her starting position and began carving runes. The prana cost would be high, and it'd be tedious work, but if she pulled this off, the conflict would hopefully come to a much swifter end.