Lend Me Your Wings
The phone rings. His real phone, the phone of the Second Magus Killer, not the one of Emiya Shirou. His feelings have long since diluted, when he sacrificed Sakura and all the people he had know for the sake of the world, but, still, he felts a sudden sense of excitement, not weaker that the first time he took on his father´s role. This is what he had been born for, after all. To be a hero. He takes off the phone from the pocket of the holy shroud, opens it, checks the caller I.D. Waver, uh. This was going to be good. He puts the phone to his ear.
"Waver, what it is this time?"
"Emiya." he replies, curtly. "Have you heard about MBI? It stands for Mid Bio Informatics."
"Yeah, I have heard of them. Whats going on?"
"I have been suspicious of that organization before-their raise had been too fast to be natural-, but none of the nobles had seen it fit to act. You know how snobbish they are. But now, MBI has become a problem they can´t ignore anymore. We have received worrying report of the agents we have stationed in Shin Tokyo. There are creatures, strange new creatures, that look almost human all over the city, fighting without a care. And with magic." Shirou grits his teeth, but doesn´t say anything more. "In less that a week, there had be several deaths attributed to those creatures and that's just the deaths they could confirm."
"I get it. I am going to assume the secret is not out yet-you wouldn´t have called me for that kind of damage control. You think, reasonably enough, that the only people that could hide that kind of thing is a corporation as rich as MBI, and so they must have a connection with those things. You want to me to investigate them and stop their plans, whatever they may be, dead in their tracks." his lips pursued into a thin line. "And capture one of these creatures so that the Clock Tower can experiment as they see fit, I suppose. That´s about it?"
"Yes, exactly. As expected from you, Emiya."
"Anything else?"
"No."
"Very well." Shirou says, and hangs up without saying one more word. He puts the phone back on his pocket, approached the only bookshelf in the room and grabbed its side. He pushes, and the bookshelf turns completely, exposing its other side. Hanging all over it, the cold steel of his collection of firearms glitters. Pistols, shotguns, rifles and more. It took him some time to amass this collection, which was probably at least comparable to his father´s own. Or so he liked to think, anyway. He grabs several of them, and stuffs all into a backpack. He would have preferred to just project the guns and not have to carry anything, but when he had started out he had found that projecting the gun and each bullet was a waste of both time and Od. After that, he turns the bookshelf around again, and puts several books on the top of the guns, covering them. Just in case.
Shirou straights, gets out of the apartment and heads for the nearest airport, fully prepared for whatever may come. Yes, there was a chance the guns were going to be worthless in a fight with those things, but, even so, they could be useful. And more time to make preparations would have been welcome too, but none of it mattered. After all, his body was made out of swords.
He will prevail, like he always does.
The airport people didn´t raise a fuss, of course. That would have be different years ago, back before he had turned his mind into steel, but now he had grow up. Most magic, aside from his own special brand of projection, was out of his depth, but now he was not quite amateur enough to not know how to make the security not even thinking of looking his bag loaded with weapons. So, half an hour after he headed out, he was sitting inside one of the planes, the bag at his feet, waiting for its launch.
He had never liked flying, the sensation of not having his destiny resting on his own hands was sickening, but he could stomach it. Especially for this. It wasn´t just another Dead Apostle Hunt, or some crazy magi with more magic power that common sense. It was a new, monstrous species hanging over the people of Shin Tokyo-no, more like over all humanity- like the executioner´s sword. This was by far the most important mission he had received in the five years since he took the mantle of the Magus Killer. Thinking that seemed callous, somehow, but it was true.
Shirou leans back into his seat, and looks out of the window. The passengers gradually entered, filling the seats of the plane, and breaking the near total silence with their hustle and bustle. He closed his eyes, and breathed in, taking in the atmosphere. This what he was fighting for, the right that these normal people had to continue existing. It always made him happy. No, more than that. The sign of all those smiling faces had always been what keep him alive. What made him let Rin go ahead and kill Sakura, and what had given him the strength to kill all of them and destroy the Holy Grail. Thanks to that, the mess of the Fifth Heaven´s Feel had some meaning.
He smiles, only vaguely aware of the pilot informing through the intercom that they were about to launch, and keep on smiling even though his grin may look silly to other people. The plane starts moving through the railway, picking up speed on the way. The scenery beyond the windows became a blur. It ascends. The ground starts growing smaller and smaller every moment, until it disappeared beneath the clouds from his view. The plane cuts through the skies, heading towards Shin Tokyo.
When night fell, he pretended to fall sleep, but his legs were on either side of the bag and his hands were clenched, fully prepared for the projection of the twin swords, Kanshou and Bakuya. Sleep would do him good, but considering the influence of MBI and the unknown capabilities of those creatures, he doesn´t feel that it is safe to do so. And, of course, leave the weapons unattended isn´t exactly safe, either. Even so, is quite boring. There is not even plans to be made, because doing such things is impossible when he doesn´t know anything of real importance about his enemies.
After quite a long time, Shirou felt the plane landing. He pretends to wake up, and goes out of the plane in line with the other passengers. Going out of the airport safely took him quite a bit of mind manipulation magic, but he manages to do it. As he walks through the streets of Shin Tokyo, looking for a suitable apartment, he carefully examines his surroundings and the people. It doesn´t take long for him to see one of those creatures. She looks perfect-like a model just didn´t fit-, in a long sleeved, thin white shirt, short black skirt and tight height stockings, but her magical energy was just plain unnatural. It stank.
When he reaches the first suitable place, he had already saw worrying amounts of those creatures, either wandering the streets or in the roof, none of which had taken any apparent notice of him. All of them looked like inhumanly beautiful woman, and he had saw a mark in some of them, but he didn´t know enough about them to even begin to guess its meaning. Aside for those two things, the creatures didn´t have any common characteristics.
He settles himself in which was to be his house for the duration of the mission, takes a notebook and a pen, and makes a rough sketch of the design of the mark of those things. When he finished, he took a photo of the drawing, and called Waver. He picked up before it even ringed once.
"I have reached Shin Tokyo, and I have already brought an apartment." Shirou says. "The reports were true. I have sensed and saw more that twenty of those creatures in the time that took me to find a suitable apartment. They all look disturbingly human, and, so far, the only ones that I have found were female. Some of them carry a mark, the same one. I have made a sketch of the mark, and will send it to you when this call ends. Don´t call me even if you find anything about it. I call you myself, and you can tell me then."
"Understood." He replies, curtly. "Thank you, Emiya."
Then, Waver hangs up. Shirou sends it the image of the drawing, puts the phone down and goes where he had put the bag. He put a handgun on his pocket, and one shotgun inside the shroud, then went out to restart the reconnaissance.
After an hour of aimlessly walking around, he found several points of concentration of those creatures, aside from the MBI. It was... not much to go on, actually, he needed more pieces for that, but at least it was something. Shirou stops briefly, to get a drink from a nearby bending machine. He pops the lip, and raises the can to his mouth. A scream, distinctively feminine. He stiffens, and looks upwards, searching for the owner of the voice. He sees her, a creature garbed in a shrine girl outfit, on the air, dropping fast. He steps aside, and lets it fall clumsily to the ground on its hands and knees. It only gave a single, irritated moan, like surviving such a fall was normal. Really, those things were not capable of blending in.
"Ah, as expected. That was too high to jump from." The creature mutters, as it straightens itself.
Two more creatures jumped down in front of this one. Their garments were even more outrageous, barely covering their breast and ass, held by thin straps and wishful thinking. Truthfully, they looked more like a pair of cheap whores rather that like monsters. It was hard to take them seriously but, still, he steps in front of the shrine creature, hands clenched at his sides. He would have just finished that creature off, and beat down the other two for his answers, but one way or another, it didn´t matter, as long as he got what he want.
"What do you think you are doing?" The one on the right said, and the thing sounded surprised, too. Uh, that seriously pissed him off. They hadn´t not right to act like this, when her kind had killed so many humans dismissively. "Step aside. You don´t know what you are meddling with."
"Trace, on." Shirou says, puts his hands inside the holy shroud and projected his favorite weapons. Yang-sword Kanshou, yin-sword Bakuya. They were not especially powerful Noble Phantasms. Even their best move, Crane Wing Three Realm, was nothing more that the steady breakdown on the opponent´s defense using the attraction ability of the swords to ensure a lethal strike. But they were powerful swords, and he was most accustomed to them. He drew them, and faces the creatures head on.
"What..." The creature muttered, and then Shirou moves. He croses the distance between them in instant, and swings both swords at its throat. Its ally didn´t even react, so his swords tore its throat without resistance. It screams at the top of its lugs, and steps back, its hands going to its throat to stop the bleeding. His feet dug into the floor, and he swung Bakuya once again. This time, the other one stepped in front of it, and the yin sword made a deep gash on its left arm. The creature lifted a hand, and he crossed the two sword in front of his head on instinct, just in time to block a blast of lighting coming from that hand.
The power of the impact throws him a few step back, but his swords came away from the attack without even a scratch. The creature looks at him, stunned, with one hand on its companions back, which had fallen to its knees. They don´t know about mages, then. Uh. Interesting.
"What the hell? You are a Sekirei, too?" it says, its voice trembling. That word didn´t held any meaning for him, but he files it away for later. Waver would dig something out, if there was something to be dug out. "What are you interfering? Are you with that bastard, Homura? Eh, answer me!"
"Hibiki..." The bleeding one gurgles out, spitting blood.
"Hikari. " Hibiki says, looking between its ally and him, its eyes wide and round. "Please, don´t talk. That wound..."
Shirou moves after them again, satisfied with the information their reactions had gave him. The creatures step back hurriedly, launching waves of lighting at him. He ducks under the first one, parries the next one with Kanshou, cuts the next down with Bakuya and swings both of his swords at them. Hibiki gasps, and pushes Hikari aside. His swords go cleanly through its heart. Hibiki tosses, spitting blood on his face. It thrashes about, but quickly goes limp. He brings back the sword, and advances towards the other creature. It sends another bolt of lightning towards him. He tries to parry it with Kanshou, but the sword breaks down instead and it hits him dead on.
He screams. His vision briefly goes white, and his whole body trembles spasmodically. He felts like he could collapse at any second. When the electricity crackled its last, he was breathing in and out, painfully and far too fast, but it didn´t matter. What had got him was the shock of the hit, not the pain. After the Fifth Heaven´s Feel, pain was meaningless. So, even though it hurt, even thought he had to force his every step, he moves, projects another Kanshou and slices the defenseless thing across the chest with both swords. It falls on its back. The attack is fatal. The yang-sword had crushed its spine, and ruptured its organs. He notes it had not moved to escape or attack despite the advantage of having caught him with the lightning, but he doesn´t dwell on it. What mattered was that, once more, he was alive and his enemies were dead. What mattered that he would still protect the world.
"Oh! Oh!" The other creature screams, like an over excited kid. Shirou turns towards it, the swords firmly clenched in his hands. It had stood up, and approached him but, despite of what he had just done, she didn´t show any signs of hostility. Oh. So he misunderstood, after all. It was not that they didn´t knew how to blend in-at least, not in the case of this one- just that with a company as influential as MBI, they didn´t care about it. It pisses him off. Really fucking pissed him off. If he didn´t need that thing alive for now, he would have killed it where it stood. "That´s awesome! You took them down like it was nothing! Eh, eh! Are you fist type Sekirei too? Can we fight?"
Perhaps the thing had really confused him for one of her species, it was a reasonable answer. There was just no meaning in giving an outsider information. Of course, he still had to consider another more obvious answer, that this creature was mentally retarded and he was just over thinking it. Ah, whatever. It will give him the answers. He thinks about raising Kanshou to her throat, but it drops down on him, wrapping her arms around his shoulders. It nuzzles his chest, its face completely red.
"Musubi doesn´t understand." it says, panting heavily. "You are a Sekirei... aren´t you? You can´t be my Ashikabi-sama."
"Ashikabi?" Shirou repeats. He knows he should be planning his next action, but this is just too weird. It is acting like a dog in heat, and it doesn´t seem like it is faking it. What would have caused a reaction like this? Then, it perks up, stands on the tip of its toes and wraps its lips around his. He froze up. A trickle of Od-not much, but a little- went out of him, even though he had not used any more magic, and into that creature. It was... creating a link between them. It steps back, and it moans, back arching suddenly and sharply. Light sprouts from its back, and as it grows it takes the shape of wings.
"I am number eighty eight, Musubi." It says, with warm eyes. It sounds practiced, like an Aria. It probably was an Aria."I will be your Sekirei, forever and ever."
Shirou stabs it with Kanshou; the yang-sword dug into its flesh without resistance. It doubles over, hands going to grasp the sword and spats out blood. It raises its head towards him, its eyes glazed over.
"Ashi..." It mutters, blood flowing out of its mouth. He still was unsure if its surprise was truthful. Time would tell. "Ashikabi-sama?"
Then, the thing changes. It was not a visual change, but a change of aura. It straights, despite the sword embed in its guts, like the pain was a triviality. Her eyes shined with focus. The wind blew off its ponytail, so its hair cascaded down to the small of its back. It clenches its hands into fists, and lungs at him. Shirou steps back, completely avoiding the attack. The blast of light, though, hits him head on. Pain shots through his entire body, his vision briefly goes white and he was sent flying. His flight comes to an abrupt stop when he hits a wall. He shakily stands up. Kanshou shakes in the things chest, rips itself free and streaks across the air, seeking to return to Bakuya. Shirou catches the sword idly, without taking his eyes off of the creature. Even though it must have felt it, it hadn´t not even twitched in pain.
"Why?" It asks, tears shining in its eyes, completely ignoring the hole in its chest. Shirou frowns; even its voice was different. This was not a mere change. It was like the thing had become a completely different being, in all aspects. "You have kind heart, I can sense it. We can sense it. Even thought you are strong, you are gentle as well, so why? Why would you hurt Musubi?"
This... unless this creature had gone nuts, it confirmed his theory. The creature standing before him was a different being. Things like how that was possibly, or even why, could why for later. He raises his twin steel blades, without saying a word. Anyway, he had to dealt with this quickly. Even if he would depend on MBI to kept this fight under wraps, that didn´t mean it was a good idea to let this go on for too long.
"So that is your answer?" It mutters. "I don´t understand. I can´t understand something like that. Love... love is such a beautiful thing that everybody should experience it. This world would be nothing more that an empty husk without love. But is okay, don´t worry. I make you understand."
Love. Despite himself, that word brings painful images to the forefront of his mind, images of that purple aired woman he should have forgotten by now. Sakura. Sakura. Sakura. He had be reborn in that fire, living while his mother burned alive, keeping on walking while others died around him, their pleads unheard, so, from the beginning, he didn´t have anything. Just Kiritsugu, the hero who had put him out of the fire and adopted him, and then the ideals he had inherited from him. He didn´t have clear memories of much, not since he had let go of everything to become a superhero. But Sakura... he always remembered her. Her smile, the way she looked at him, the taste of the food she prepared for him, how happy a single 'Its really good' made her. Ah.
I am the bone of my sword, he thinks, clenching his swords even tighter, to remind himself of what Emiya Shirou really was. Steel is my body, and fire is my blood.
It was a stupid thing. Always had been, really. The only thing he regretted was that he didn´t realize it sooner. You couldn't put yourself nor the ones you love above other people. If you had the power necessary to help, and you allowed yourself to be restrained by things like that, then you were just being selfish. Sakura and the others had been a mere nuisance.
"See? I can felt it in everything you do. You are just afraid of being hurt, aren´t you? Its okay. I will love forever." It says, in a disgustedly sweet tone. Oh, fuck that. Shirou advances, and swings his swords at it. It meets his charge with a wordless cry and clenched fists.
If the creature attacks are like the wind, then his attacks are like lighting. Even though the creature is both fast and strong, he overwhelms it, putting it into the defensive. The only attack allowed for it was the first. He had learned long ago to not react to an attack, but anticipate them, so he was always ten steps ahead. It was not a hard feat. Compared to even being in the presence of Herakles, the mad Berserker, it is nothing.
"You are keeping up with me. No, more than that. You are overwhelming me, despite that you are a human. Our connection proves it. So, what made you into this?" It asks, its tone even. Shirou doesn´t brother to reply. "Why wont you answer me? Are you ashamed of it?"
No, it was not that. If anything, the Fifth Heaven´s Feel had been the proudest moment of all his short life. It was just that words didn´t have any place in battle; they were just a waste of breath. What mattered here was the drive to kill each other.
"I get it out you, no matter what it takes." Uh, funny. Here it was talking about love-like the creature even knew what it was- with such a twisted personality. It was the kind of person who would break the arms and legs of the one it loved, rather that see that person walk away. Of course, he wanted to say it, but didn´t. "I show you my love."
Shirou is irritated by its constant blabbering about love, but he doesn´t show it. More like, he doesn´t want to show it. He merrily charges the blades with as must magical energy as he could, and throws them from both sides. They soar across the road, their speed turning them into a blur, and intersect. Even a creature such as this couldn´t come unscathed if hit by swords that easily penetrate steel. But the Sekirei punches both Kanshou and Bakuya away for her, without stopping its advance. Bakuya buries itself into a nearby tree. Kanshou, seeking its partner sword, stops its ascend, changes its route and descents towards the creature´s unprotected back.
It didn´t even expect it. Kanshou drew a bloody arc across its back, tearing up its clothing and sending it falling to the floor on its knees. While it gathers its breath, Kanshou buries itself in the same tree as the other sword. He doesnt´t care. He projects another set of blades, and throws them towards the creature again. Without looking to see if the swords hit, he crouches. Then, he jumps, with a sound like a cannon firing. He lands on the top of a nearby, straightens and projects a bow in his left hand. On the other, he projects Hrunting, puts on the bow, tenses it and fires. Hrunting is swallowed in red light and, before he can even blink, it hits the creature and explodes, making a cloud of dust. It screams, but it quickly fades away. The dust clears.
The Sekirei is alive, to his surprise, but only barely. Its clothes now were just scraps, its flesh was burned, and it was bleeding from several wounds. Its knees shook with the effort of staying up, and it is breathing heavily. With that kind of damage, it will die quickly it is left alone. It turns, flashing him part of its panty covered ass, and jumps into the roofs. He tries to move after it, but his head spins twice and he falls down to the ground with a dull thud. On his mouth, he tastes blood. Shit. That light had hit harder that he though.
When he lifts his head to the skies, it has already disappeared from his view. Fuck. No choice now, then. He stands up. What mattered now-even if MBI would cover the accident- was getting away. There was no need to push his luck. He jumps too, and lands on the top of a building. His knees crackled like gunshots. Despite his low expectations, this had been a productive day. He now knew what those creatures were and had got info about their abilities and classification. No matter how he saw it, he had not wasted his time. But... it vexed him. Than that creature had caught him off guard, stole some of his Od, had forced him to use such a strong Noble Phantasm as Hrunting to dealt with her and had managed to escape from him. It was a real headache. His Od would not be used to kill him remotely or anything outrageous like that, but, still, he had be defeated. No doubt about that.
He projects the two pairs of Kanshou and Bakuya, drops down to the ground, and he starts walking towards his apartment, like nothing had happened. He got inside, closed the door and settled down on the bed. It didn´t take him long to fall sleep.
Shirou waited a little more that he should, just to make sure. After all, Rin was just a wuss when it really mattered. Even though she had strode so confidently to kill her own sister, and spurted off those meaningless words, she was still tied down by her own emotions. It would take in a few moments to do it, if she even managed it all.
There. That should be enough time, even for her. He moved after her. Kirei watched him, but, even though he surely knows his intentions, he doesn´t even try to stop him. Just maintains that irritating smile. Eh, what bastard. He didn´t give a crap about Rin, even though he had taught her for so long. But whatever, it was all the better for him. That priest interference would have just complicated things. This was a one in a million chance. Since Rin was without her Servant by her side, he could kill her easily and be one step closer to winning this war. He couldn´t waste this chance.
He reaches for the knob, turned it and the door opened without resistance. Uh. He couldn´t say he was surprised, but, still, it was a little disappointing. Back before all this happened, he had admired Tohsaka Rin from the bottom of his heart. No, to be more honest, he had wanted to have her, in every sense. So, he had expected better of her. Too bad.
Shirou takes off a simple, reinforced kitchen knife from his pocket. He knows it is not much. It will take some punishment, but not nearly enough. It doesn´t matter, though. Is not like he intends to face Rin head on. He enters the barely illuminated room. Rin is there, kneeling besides the bed where Sakura had be set down. The knife was deep in her flesh, stained with her blood. Her eyes were pure white, looking at the ceiling lifelessly. She is dead. He doesn´t know why but, despite his resolve, he felts a little stab of pain. She... she needed to die, yes, fair enough, but she didn´t deserve this. She didn´t deserve any of this.
He shakes his head, swiftly advances and swings his reinforced knife towards Rin´s exposed throat. At the last second, without looking behind her, she smoothly rolls to the side, narrowly avoiding having her throat gauged out. She turns, stands up and jumps back with her hand extended towards him.
"Vier Stil Erschießung!" The Aria echoes in the room, and waves and waves of blue energy shot up after him. He charges at her, and cuts down what shots he could and tried to avoid the rest, without dropping his pace. The structure of the knife is holding on, for now. Good. One shot hits him in the hand carrying the knife. It burns. It really burns, but he clenches the handle of the knife tighter and carries on.
Rin clucks her tongue, turns and jumps through the window, arms raised to protect her head. She lands, rolls on the grass and gets to her feet with the grace of a dancer.
"Come, Archer!" She screams. Space distorts right before his eyes, and then the knight in red is standing in front of Rin, his signature twin steel swords firmly clenched him his hands. For the first time since he had meet Archer, he expressed an emotion different that disdain or sardonic amusement: his expression was outright murderous. Damn, damn, damn it. He be killed here. He definitively will be killed here. Archer has those breathtaking twin steel swords, and all he has is a measly knife that is about to break down. He needs something more.
Without a word, Archer swings at him. Those swords of his... Shirou throws the knife aside, without thinking about Rin, who was already out of his sight, and charges at Archer unharmed. His magic circuits flare up. His mind goes white, then he hears the sound of clashing steel. When his vision recovers, he sees Archer in front of him, with a pensive look in his face. It takes him a moment to notice that he was grasping a copy of Kanshou and Bakuya in his empty hands. He gasps out, and the swords shatter right before his eyes.
Another. He has to get another pair. It doesn´t matter how he has managed to project them and repel Archer´s attacks; what matters is that he will die without them. He concentrates, somehow, and projects them again. Archer moves. Shirou meets him head on. The two pairs of swords clash, making sparks fly about the courtyard. His whole body trembles with each attack he blocks, but he somehow keeps up with him. Shirou tries to smash Kanshou into Archer´s unguarded chest, but he shatters the sword almost contentiously with his own, and his Bakuya lunges for his throat. He ducks. The steel cuts a few airs from his head, but it doesn´t wound him. Shirou kicks at Archer from his crouched position, but he simply steps to the side and swings his swords at him again. He rolls, stands up, nearly falls, but manages to straighten himself.
"Useless." Archer said. "Just give out already. To fight against me is to compete in projection, and I am your ideal. Do you really think you can beat me?"
No, that´s wrong. He has tried to take this chance to kill Rin precisely because he knew he couldn´t possibly beat Archer. Is not that he lacks confidence in his strength, far for it, but he is not a fool. There is just no way a mere human like him could match even the weakest Servant, but... He is keeping up with Archer. Even now, he is keeping up. So, as long as he can do that, there is a chance. He is fighting with borrowed knowledge and borrowed techniques from that red knight, so his enemy knows every move that he makes as much as himself. But... that doesn´t matter. Even if he can´t win this, he has to do it. Archer very existence is a threat to the world, so as a superhero he is obligated to make him disappear. Even if he has lost his chance to get to Rin, is fine as long as he kills Archer here. No matter what it takes.
Shirou charges at the unmoving Archer, and swings again when he gets close enough. Archer swords meet his own with great force, shattering them. They should be the same, but his Kanshou shatters because of the red knight´s attack like it was made of glass. Shit, shit. Shirou hastily slashes at Archer with Bakuya, but his destroyed as well. He backs away as fast he can, and hurriedly projects the twin steel swords once again. Archer doesn´t stop, and he is quickly forced into the defensive. Shit, shit. They have the same techniques, the same knowledge, the same weapons, but the gap between them is plainly visible.
"Do you think our swords are equal? Don´t be ridiculous." Archer lectures him, without dropping the pace of his attacks for even a second. "Even an image falters if it is illogical."
His Kanshou is destroyed once again, and he can only barely avoid having his throat gauged out because of the barrage of attacks. Illogical, he said. Find it, find it, find it. It has to be there. The way to make those two swords as strong as his, the way to surpass him. Meaning. He had to find the meaning of the swords. Their blades clash, once again. His swords don´t break.
"Uh. You are improving too fast." Archer mutters. "I see. I've heard of magic that lets you acquire skills from the past by possessing yourself with a previous self... Is only natural you improve the more you fight me, then."
Uh? The meaning of the red knight´s words is clear, but it takes him completely off guard. Archer takes advantage of his confusion, smash his attacks aside and knocks him down. Shirou hits the ground with bone breaking force, but he doesn´t scream. Is natural. His body is of a mere human. Even with all that he is stealing from Archer, that fact holds him down. He reinforces his body. He shouldn´t know that, but he does it without a problem.
"Yes, you have heard it right." Archer says, without even moving to attack him. "I am Emiya Shirou. I am the superhero you so wanted to be. I killed many, many people, and I have saved even more. But... that path only left me with regrets and death, even though all I really wanted was for people in my view to not cry. That ideal is wrong. No, more than that. There is nothing at the end of saving people. Is just a convenient fantasy."
Shirou rolls on the grass, and stands up quickly. Still, Archer doesn´t move. The anger on his face has already faded away, and has be replaced with... disappointment? Yes, that is it.
"Still, you won´t understand. You are to stubborn to listen to reason, even if the truth is spelled out in front of you. So... I show you. It. What awaits at the end of saving people." Archer´s intended to kill expands."I am the bone of my sword."
Shirou doesn´t know what that spell will do, but he at least knows this: he will die if he allows him to complete it. He rushes at him. Archer parries his attacks without difficulty. Its only natural. The gap between them was big enough before, but now that he is panicking like an idiot it may as well be insurmountable. Calm down. Calm down.
"Steel is my body, and fire is my blood." his wounds are burning up, and the constant projections are wearing him down, but those words are what leave him breathless. So... Something enters his head. Something scarier that the pain. He only sees it for a second, and, when it fades away, he can´t even remember it. "I have created over a thousand blades. Unknown to death, nor know to life."
No, no. Stop. He...
iamtheboneofmysword
Can´t stand this, the images flooding into his head. He knows. He knows those are the images of Archer´s life, Emiya Shirou´s life. Is scary. Scarier that dying here, scarier that the pain. Is hate, malice. There is not happiness there, no salvation. Just death. Death for the innocent, and for the sinner. Is like saying that nothing matters at all.
"So, as I pray..."
ithurtsithurts
protectthesensesagainstheheadwind!
"Unlimited Blade Works." There, it is said. Those words destroy the world, and remakes it. Fire runs across a desolate land filling with swords, making a circle. In the overcast sky, gears turn. In the middle of all of it stands Archer, his
holyshroud
coat swaying in the breeze. All about this scenery makes Shirou want to puke his own guts out. This... this is just grotesque, a twisting of life. And what makes him worse that the name of this magic, who he shouldn´t be able to know or understand at all, pops him to his head without effort. Reality Marble. The inner world of a Magus, given form. Ah...
thiswashisend
thiswillbemyend
"This is it, Emiya Shirou. I was betrayed by the very people I saved, and I die alone, on a hill of swords. This is the only thing that awaits you. You have saw it all. What I did, what it means to be a Counter Guardian. The hell I live in. Do you think your ideals can change anything? Don´t delude yourself. You and those ideals of yours shouldn´t even exist. As a human being, you are fundamentally broken."
"Shut up!" Shirou screams, clenching his swords so tight it hurts. "Shut up already! You don´t have the right to talk about anything, so just shut that mouth of yours! The hell you live in? Fuck that! You have the chance to kept helping people even after dying. So what if you killed people? You were saving the world! That´s an invaluable chance. If you wanted something more that the self satisfaction you got after seeing the faces of the people you saved, then you should have more that happy with being a Counter Guardian, even if they are just cleaners!"
"I see. This you is really beyond help, after all. You can´t live without holding on to those ideals, so drown in your ideals and die." Archer moves with blinding speed towards him. It is like he was just playing with him earlier.
It doesn´t matter. He reaches inside himself, and tries to read the swords even further. Archer favored these two swords, so there has to be something more, a certain killing technique. The red knight knows that technique, of course, but there is a chance it work on him. Even if Archer makes only one mistake, he win. As circumstances are now, he can only bet on that. His Magic Circuits flare up, and he felts momentary dizzy.
Ah, there.
There it is.
"Crane wings, without opening." he says, clearly and firmly. He charges the swords with magical energy, at throws them towards Archer.
"Wh..." he gives out a surprised shout, but he reacts quickly. He deflects the swords coming towards him, redirecting them behind him and continues his advance. Shirou charges, and projects another pair of swords in his empty hands.
"Our strength moves the mountains." Shirou says. But Archer already knows the next move and blocks the swords flying at him from behind without even looking back. Their swords clash once more. Is hard. Is really hard to kept up with him, with his body eroding away from the inside, but it won´t take much longer. "Our swords splits the waters."
Bakuya returns. He blocks it with his own, and they both shatter, but that movement gives him the opening he needed. Shirou tries to smash his swords into Archer´s unguarded chest. Before he can even blink, there is another sword in Archer´s free hand, Caladbolg. The spiral sword churns, and Archer pierces him with it. He goes limp, then gasp out blood.
"Do you seen it now, Emiya Shirou?" Archer says, lifting Kanshou above his head. "Die."
The yang-sword goes down to end his life.
It doesn´t matter.
"Life approaches the Imperial Villa." His Kanshou returns and smashes into Archer´s own, making him fly off his grip. Shirou projects Kanshou and Bakuya a new, and, without a care for the gaping hole on his chest, slashes at Archer from both sides. "The two of us can´t hold the heaven´s together."
It´s over. Shirou´s sword pierces into the red knight´s body without resistance. The attack ruptures his organs. The pain drives him to his knees. Even so, its not fatal. After some time, he will easily stand up if he leaves him be, so he has to finish him off. He lifts Kanshou. The edge of the sword glitters in the light of Archer´s world.
"What are you going to do with Rin?" Archer says, simply.
The sword comes down, and ends the Servant´s existence without an answer. His severed head rolls on the ground, leaving a trail of blood. His corpse fell to the ground with a dull thud. Unlimited Blade Works faded and, in just a moment, he was standing outside the church again. His breathing is heavy. Kanshou and Bakuya vanish like mist in his hand, even though he didn´t do anything. He fells sick. No, more than that. He fells like he is going to die. The constant projections, and his numerous wounds are too much for him.
But still, he can´t fall here. If he did, he would surely die. As long as the Heaven´s Feel was in full swing, he can´t die. Later on would be fine, but until then... until then he must live. He takes a step forward. It hurts. Even that hurts. He can felt Avalon restoring him, with what power it had now that he wasn´t contracted with Saber, but it still hurt. He spats out blood. His knees give away, and he has to put his hands in front of him to not fall on his head.
Damn.
Damn it.
He stands up slowly, shakily. Its fine. Its not like he is going to die here, or anything like that. Avalon will save him; it has the power to do that, and more. He just... had to get home, behind his father´s boundary field, and then he could rest. Meters. There are a lot of meters between this place and home. Even thinking about it makes his head hurt. The distance is just too long.
His vision doubles, and he falls like a broken doll. He rolls down the hill through the steep slope, weakly moaning in pain and lands below, on his back. He to keep it together, but passes out.
Ringing. There is something ringing. At first, he wondered if he had died, before remembering that he had be dreaming. The Fifth Heaven´s Felt had be over for a long time. He threw the covers off of him, put a hand on his pocket and fumbled to grab the phone, trying to ignore his pulsing headache. Waver shouldn´t be calling him, but he is really the only one who could do it, so... He picks up the phone, and opens it. The number is not one it is familiar with, but the name is different. Hiroto Minaka, MBI´s CEO. Shit. Was he discovered already? Should have know. It had been too much to hope for that, since the creatures didn´t know about magi, then MBI didn´t either. He pressed and the screen showed Minaka staring at him with an irritating smile on his face.
"Wow, you look like shit." Minaka said, and coughs. "Ah, anyway...Rejoice! You were chosen to be the partner of a Sekirei."
Partner, uh? He didn´t like the sound of that at all. That word brings to his mind an image of Saber standing before his fallen form, framed by the moonlight, on the day they meet.
"The rules are simple. There are one hundred and eight Sekirei in this city. They will fight, fight, fight and fight! The Ashikabi of the last Sekirei will be given permission to ascend." Did this bastard really think he was explaining anything like that? Certainly, he looked self adsorbed enough for that to be true. "Such a Ashikabi will hold the fate of the world in their hands! Speaking about that... Were is number eighty eight?"
"Away." That creature had refereed to itself with that same number, which means they were trailing all those creatures. It didn't matter if it was magically or technologically. Not for now, at least. "I understandably freaked out when I saw it sprout wings of light from its back, so I send it on its way. I don´t have anything to do with this."
"Oh, well. That´s a shame. In any case, that´s not true." Of course it wasn´t. Is not like he believed that. He was just playing a role, even though it hadn't not meaning, since that creature had surely revealed everything about their fight to MBI right now. But well, there was always the chance that creature had died from its wounds, so there was no meaning in willingly showing all his cards. "Even thought your Sekirei is away, she is still alive so you are without a doubt a player in this game."
"I see." Shirou replies, drily.
"You are really a man of a few words. Would it kill you to show some enthusiasm? Most people are already giddy before I even call them."
"Well, I am not like most people."
"Ah, isn´t that right?" Minaka said. "Well, one last thing. You have the responsibility to kept this game secret. If you leak information, MBI will retaliate with all its forces."
"And how could I leak information? Is not like I can walk to the nearest police officer, and be all like: Oh, help me. A thing that looks like a girl kissed me, sprouted light from its back and now I am looked in a death game with more that a hundred of those things and other humans as unlucky as me. Ah, and is also apparently hosted by the CEO of MBI. They would send me straight to a mental asylum."
"Fair point but, you know, it´s the thought that counts. Bye!" And with that last, childish shout, Minaka hangs up. Shirou put down his phone, lays back down and stares at the floor, thinking over what he had just learned. It didn´t take him long to reach a conclusion. He would end this game by himself. That would require more preparation, perhaps close to a month. But first, Minaka had to die.
Night had fallen, but Shirou´s reinforced eyes saw everything with stark clarity. He went down, on his stomach, the sniper rifle clenched tightly around his hands. It reminds him of overlooking Fuyuki with a bow on his hands, some time after his fight with Archer, his eyes looked on the Matou household. He doesn´t know why he was thinking of this. There is some similarity, yes, but there is no reason to remember it now. Then again, it was sighnificant. He had be prepared to kill Rin, but she had managed to escape, so razing the Matou household with Caladbolg had be the first time he had killed a former friend.
Anyway, he had already saw the perfect place to do this on the way to find an apartment, so preparing didn´t take long. From this roof, he had a front view of the clock tower that was the MBI building. Minaka´s office window, shut and with the curtains drawn, was clearly visible for here but he didn´t fire yet. Not because the windows was assuredly bulletproof, that wouldn´t matter because all the ammunition loaded into the rifle was reinforced. It was because he had to die swiftly, in one shot. Shooting while he didn´t even knew if Minaka was inside would just fuck things up. He had to wait for the perfect chance. Maybe he couldn´t find the chance tonight because he was playing it careful, but he wasn´t in a hurry. Tomorrow would do, too.
In a few hours, he head the door of the balcony opening, and Minaka entered, with two human guards behind him. Perfect. Minaka walked to the edge, his white lab coat fluttering in the wind and raised his arms to the skies. His grin widens, to the point it looks almost maniac.
"I will tell you an old story now." Minaka says. Uh. Maybe it would be worth to listen to it, before he kills him. "A ship carrying the treasures of the gods descendent on to the earth. It was called the Amenoiwa. But no one saw it, and their treasures disappeared. All the stories, the myths that didn´t get recorded, ended there. But the new myth starts now. The hundred and eighty Sekirei will fight for the sake of the Ashikabi they choose for themselves, and lead them to the ascension. I am the game master, the person who will watch everything from here. The new myth that you will create..."
Shirou fires. His story is no more that a recap recorded to send it to all Ashikabi´s, anyway. Nothing of value was going to be loss by ending things earlier. The reinforced bullet hits Minaka on the chest, making him stagger back. He looks down at his wound, dazed, almost in wonder. Blood drips down his mouth, his chin. His guards run towards him, screaming in surprise and fear.
"Show it..." Minaka mutters, in a weak voice. Shirou fires again. It hits between the eyes, right before a guard was about to grab him. He dies instantly, and his corpse falls down from the clock tower. The guards could not do anything to stop it. Shirou stands up, and walks away.
With Minaka dead, the first stage of his plan was completed. He would have to see how MBI reacted to this, and change his plans accordingly, but, if everything went well, then this 'game' would be over soon.
It had took him as much time as he had expected, but he had finally amassed the necessary information to face MBI. It had be vexing to have to wait while the game raged on, but, in the end, it had be worth it. He had found that there were four Ashikabi´s with a large number of Sekirei´s. Each one of them resided in a different area, and they were all men. Sahashi Minato, Higa Izumi, Hayato Mikogami and Sanada Nishi. He had gotten their address as well, plus some basic information about their Sekirei. Now, he was driving to Izumi´s house. He got there, parked in the first empty place he found, got out and approached the house. There. Izumi was there, sitting on the seat of his office, with his back to the window.
Shirou crouches, and jumps, cracking the ground beneath his feet. He soars through the air like a blur. The inhuman action was like a cannon firing. He reachs the window, and went through it, arms raised to protect his head. Glass flew about the room. Izumi makes a little surprised noise, and turns towards him. He lands, rolls, comes to his feet and throws down the smoke grenade.
"You...!" Izumi screams, and then the grenade explodes, engulfing everything in smoke. Still, Shirou moves without doubt, projects Kanshou and smashes his hilt on the back on that man´s head, knocking him out of cold. He grabs Izumi with his free hand, vanishes Kanshou, and drops the note he had prepared on the floor. Then, he jumps out of the window again, through the hole he had opened last time and lands on a nearby rooftop. His knees pop like gunshots.
He straightens, and looks back once. Izumi´s kidnapping was going to be immediately noticed, even though the sound of glass breaking and the popping of the smoke grenade had be the only sound, and then his Sekirei would find the note he had prepared in the middle of the room, telling them that he was the Ashikabi Of The North, and if they wanted to kept their Ashikabi alive they had to attack Hayato Mikogami, the Ashikabi Of The East. With such a class, they would destroy each other, and then he would kill Izumi. With two of the great Ashikabi´s having taking a fall, the east and the south would be swallowed in the struggle to fill the power gap. That would definitively get MBI´s attention, in one way or another, which would help his assault of MBI.
Shirou turns back, and jumps away, not caring about the car he was leaving behind. Even if Izumi´s men would get his fingerprints by investigating the car, it couldn´t help them at all.
Shirou takes a deep breath. He had rested for a while, more that he should have, until Avalon fully healed the wounds sustained in his battle by Archer. Then, after that, he had went to dealt with the Matou family by racing their house with Caladbolg. He had let Rin unchecked for far too long. She no longer had a Servant, but he doesn´t doubt that she still fully intends to fight. It was a pity. He was not a monster-Archer was dead, so Rin didn´t have to die. But, even though he couldn´t afford to let her interfere, he had prepared a magical binding contract-he knew how to make it thanks to the memories he got for Archer-that would make it so that attacking him would cost Rin her magic.
So, at dawn, he goes out and walks towards the Tohsaka household. He doesn´t hurry, so he takes him almost half an hour to reach her house. The curtains of the windows are shut, and all the lights are off. He crosses the boundary field without a care, opens the door and enters. His reinforced eyes let him see, even in this darkness, so he doesn´t brother to turn on the lights.
"Come out, Rin!" He screams. "I have no intention to kill you. I am here just to make sure you don´t interfere. I have a contract prepared. Sign it, and not only I will let you go, but I will guarantee your protection."
No answer. Damn her. She had too be stubborn even to the very end. He moves through the silent house, feeling oddly nostalgic, even though he has barely been there. But Archer had been, both as a Heroic Spirit and as Emiya Shirou. Where could Rin be? Either her own room or the basement, most likely. But she could be anywhere. She could even be watching him.
Shirou sets his mind on it, and goes down to the basement. The old wooden stairs creak lightly, even though he makes effort to walk silently. He touches the door, and uses Structural Analysis on it. There are no traps prepared. At least, none that he can sense. He opens it, and enters the basement. The blood has be cleaned out a long time ago, but traces of the ritual circle are still visible. He walks to it.
A crouching noise. He has not stepped over the tiles, but he still heard it. He clunked his tongue, grabbed a nearby desk, reinforced it.
"Anfang." The shoots fly fast. Not so fast he can´t even see them, but fast. He barely has time to put the reinforced desk between him and Rin. The impacts sound like glass breaking. The desk violently shakes in his hand, but, still, it holds on. Barely. Before he can think of setting it down, now that the flurry of attacks had passed, he feels another impact shake the desk. It breaks in half. A kick. Tohsaka Rin had advanced, and destroyed the worm down desk with a kick of one of her reinforced legs. The kick connects with his chest. He doesn´t receive the full power of the impact, but it is enough to take his breath away from an instant. He tries to recompose himself, but...
Rin goes down, and kicks his legs from under him, knocking him flat on his back. Shirou instantly projects Kanshou and Bakuya, and rises them when Rin goes to kick him again. Her right leg hits the twin steel swords and, even though it is reinforced, she gasps out in pain and quickly steps back. He stands up.
"Ri..." Shirou says, before he catches himself. No. Rin had prepared this ambush, so she surely had reinforced her hearing to heard him come, so she had heard what he had said upon entering perfectly. He had to beat her, and make her listen to reason. He has the advantage here. Reinforcing one´s eyes is too dangerous to even try to normal magi, so he is actually the only that can see in this darkness. And not only that. He also has the twin steel swords, and Archer´s battle experience. There is just not way for Tohsaka Rin to beat him.
She is retreating towards the door, probably thinking that she had the advantage since this was her house. Is only natural. She couldn´t possibly know that he had acquired Archer´s memories. Shirou charges at her, the twin steel swords held high. She hears him come, and turns towards him with her hand raised. The shoots fly towards him, lighting up the darkness. He steps to the side, digs his feet on the ground and jumps. He lands near Tohsaka Rin, grabs her shoulder and slams her against the wall, putting the edge of Kanshou near her throat.
"Listen to me. I have no intention to kill you, and you know that. Just sign the contract, and everything will be over. Don´t get over your head." Shirou says. He could end things here. Knowing her, she won´t back down. But... he doesn´t want to kill her. With Archer dead, there is no need for Rin to die.
"Shut up! How can I to something like that when you killed my Archer?" Then, she takes off a jewel from her pocket. He steps back, instead of finishing her off, because he knows. He knows he will be seriously hurt if he received the full impact of the attack head on. That mean leaving himself defenseless, and so Rin would finish him off. So, he must retreat.She throws the jewel at him. He jumps back. "Ein Körper ist ein Körper!"
The sound of the explosion, and then the world goes white. He felts himself behind launched through the air, and then come to a stop when he hits a wall with so much force that it caves, and he is nearly send through it.. His vision returns. He makes a single, broken gasp. Ah, shit. His clothes were tattered, and there were numerous, bleeding wounds all over his body. Is an ugly sight, but the inside of his body is even worse. He felt several of his organs had ruptured;even breathing hurts. The basement is even more of a mess. All the furniture was toppled over, and slightly charred.
Rin breaks into a run, takes another jewel from her hand and throws it towards him. He stands up shakily, sways and somehow manages to stay on his feet. The rage of the explosion is too great. There is no way he can avoid in in this tight space. Furthermore, if he takes that thing again he will surely die. So, he just can´t hold back anymore.
Shirou throws Kanshou and Bakuya towards her. The swords intersect in the air. Kanshou digs into her shoulder, tearing up her bright red shirt and opening a big wound before she can complete the incantation. She screams at the top of her lugs, so hard he fears somebody could have heard her. Then Bakuya, who had gone behind her, changes course and stabs her in the back. This time, she can´t even scream. She goes limp, and falls to the ground. She is still alive. Barely, but alive. Still, the attack was fatal. Her chest heaves with each breath, her face is pale like a corpse and there is an expanding pool of blood beneath her. There is no way he can´t save her, even if she was willing to surrender now. The only healing Noble Phantasm he had was Avalon, and he couldn´t use it on her now that Saber was gone.
He approaches her, tracing Kanshou and Bakuya again as he goes. When he reaches her, she looks up. Oh. She is crying. He cringes, and looks away for her.
"Shirou... You..." Rin mumbles, weakly. Shirou raises Kanshou above his head. He can´t let her say it. He doesn't know what she is about to say, but he has the feeling that if she does say it he will again lose something important, something that can´t be taken back. So, he drives the sword down and ends her life, telling herself he was just doing so she doesn't suffer.
He looks down at the edge of Kanshou, stained with Rin´s blood. Is the first time is blades are stained with a Tohsaka´s blood, but, really, he was the one that killed both of them. He vanishesboth swords in disgust and walks away. He knows is not his fault, his really not his fault, but... She didn´t have to die, and she had never done anything bad. So, he lefts with a bad taste in his mouth, even though he really shouldn´t. Ah, shit. No. Better to concentrate on things that actually matter, like his wounds.
If not, he couldn´t continue.
Shirou reaches the warehouse, and barges inside. Izumi starts to stir, but he pays him no mind. It doesn´t matter, anyway. That man is just a normal human, in every sense of the word. He descents the stairs in a single leap, walks to the center on the room, and drops Izumi at a chair. He carefully straps him to it. When he is finished, Izumi opens his eyes. Or at least, he only noticed it them.
"Who are you?" Izumi says. "What do you want with me? And why am not dead?"
He doesn´t answer. No matter what happened, Izumi was as good as dead already, and there was no pint in answering the questions of a corpse. The chair was strapped to high power explosives, that were ringed to explode in three hours. It was neither too much time, nor too little, considering the situation and the Sekirei´s programmed obsession with the one they bonded with. Still, even if somehow Izumi´s Sekirei defeated Mikogami and found Izumi´s localization in less that three hours, it wouldn´t change anything, since he had ringed the explosives to explode if somebody that had a magical signature different to his touched them. That could cause Izumi to die earlier, if the chair feel when he tried to struggle out of his bounds, but even so, it wouldn´t not be a big setback.
"Hey! Answer me, you disgusting creature!" So he didn´t know about magi, either. Well, he is not like he had expected anything different. "Answer me!"
Shirou turned his back on him, walked up the stairs and opened the door. The breeze made his shroud billow behind him. He stepped outside, and closed the door, leaving Izumi screaming in the darkness.
He let Avalon heal the wounds sustained in his battle with Rin, while he stayed at home claiming to be sick. It didn´t take much to fool Fuji-nee. He also had to go to Shinji and Zouken´s funeral, which was irritating. He couldn´t never forget what the two of them had done to Sakura.. Still, to refuse to go to the funeral of who everybody though was his friends and his friends harmless grandfather would raise suspicion, so he had to go. And if that wasn´t bad enough, Kirei had performed the ceremony, all solemn and sad, when inside he surely was jumping in glee. At least, the fake priest had not approached him. Which was unusual, since the priest had surely felt his discomfort and such a twisted person couldn´t pass such a chance, but whatever. All the better for him.
On the third day after the battle, he steps outside and heads for the Einzbernforest. Ilya would surely be there. She didn´t have a reason to hide. Berserker is undeniably the strongest Servant, at least of those that had be summoned in this war, and even Ilya alone could kill him if he made a single mistake. Winning against them is as unthinkable as beating Saber. No, more than that. Berserker needs to be killed twelve times to die, and he is not even sure he can get do it once as there is no chance of attacking by surprise of her territory. Andif that wasn´t enough, his strongest weapon, the reality Marble called Unlimited Blade Works, was out of his reach. He knows it is suicide, but still, he will face Berserker. He has so many Noble Phantasm at his disposal... there had to be a way to beat that giant, so he didn´t have to take the easy way. Besides, he promised himself that he would make her happy, even if he couldn't take back all those years she suffered. What kind of hero could he be if he broke such a promise from his own sake?
It takes him a few hours. He enters the Einzbern forest, broadcasting his presence to Ilya. Ah, all right. He had to get to a place advantageous to it, and take it from there. He breathes in, and broke into a run at full speed. Is not the speed of humans, but Archer´s speed. Is a weight that strains is body, is just not possible for a human body to handle running at nearly a hundred meters each minute like it was nothing, but such a weight is necessary. His heart is beating rapidly. At first he fells like his body is on fire but, at just half of the way, it goes numb. He doesn´t drop his pace, even for asecond. Still, it takes him hours to reach the winter castle. The sky is already overcast. The door burst open when he approaches, and Berserker walks out outside, Ilya just behind him.
" " The mad giant´s scream shakes the winter castle. Despite himself, Shirou´s arms start to shake. That thing is on a whole different level. He will surely die if he fights it! Damn, damn it, he had to get a hold on himself. He trances a bow on his left hand, and Caladbolg on the right. He puts the fake spiral sword, tenses the bow and prepares himself to fire. And that moment...
"Stand down, Berserker." Ilya says. Shirou freezes, suddenly unsure. There is no reason for her to do that, at all.. Even if he fires Caladbolg at such a close rage, Berserker will protect her with his body. So why? Berserker stops moving.
"Ilya?"
"There is no trick, Onii-chan. Is just that I have no intention to fight with you." Shirou instantly relaxes. He knows that is foolish, but the though of Ilya lying to him over something like this doesn´t even enter his mind. He vanishes the bow, and walks up to her.
"Then order Berserker to kill himself." he says. "This fight will no end until all the Servants are dead."
"I can´t do that, Onii-chan. That would be betraying him. I like you, but not that much. You were nice to me, true, but Berserker protected me without a care for himself so long... Do you really think I could do something like that?"
"But... Ilya, even so, you can´t kept Berserker in this world."
"Thats..." she giggles. "That so wrong, and so right. Only you could say something like that, Onii-chan."
"What do you mean by than?"
"That I am the Holy Grail´svessel." The air freezes. No, is himself that has frozen. He moves is suddenly dry mouth, but no sound escapes it. What could be said to something like that? "Well, my heart, anyway. I can kept Berserker in this world with an ease, but, past this war, this body won´t last long. A year, at the most."
"Ilya..." he begins, but stops himself.
"You don´t have to say anything. If you want to end this, then is easy. Just write to the association, and tell them about Angra Manyu. They wouldn´t listen to third rate Magus like yourself, of course, but I will give you my backing if you so chose it. If the heiress of the Einzbern says something, they at least have to listen."
"Didn´t you say you were a vessel?" Shirou asks was on his mind, just to confirm it. If its true, then he had to do it. He had already sacrificed Sakura for something like that, so he couldn't hesitate now... if that was the case."If so, then wouldn´t you...?"
"Ah, no. Don´t misunderstand me. I won´t disappear even if they destroy the Grail, because I am my own existence, separate for that thing. I am just a vessel, like I said."
"I see. Then, what do I have to do?"
"Oh, nothing. I take care of everything myself, Onii-chan. My family will get mad, but I never liked them anyways, and Berserker and the Association´s backing will make it so that they can´t do anything about it. So don´t worry."
"Okay." Shirou says. He has be thinking about it for sometime, and this fells like the right time to say it. "Ilya... Do you want to live with me?"
"Eh, Shirou?" she mutters, honestly surprised.
"You can bring Berserker, too. I don´t mind."
"Can... Can I really go?" she looks like she is about to cry.
"Of course."
"T-thank you, Shirou... Disappear, Berserker." Ilya says. The mad giants goes to spirit form at Ilya´s command. She twirls about as she runs, smiling brightly. "Let´s go."
Shirou went after her, and picked up her small body. She gasped in surprise, and her hands went to his neck to support herself. Her face was bent red.
"W-what are you doing, Shirou?"
"What does it look like? We get there faster if I carry you, so hold on tight."
"Wa-wait a second..." she was cut off when he broke into a run. She yelped, clenched her hands tighter and closed her eyes. It was cute. Really, having such a little sister wasn´t bad at all.
Shirou stood on the telephone railings, overlooking the residence of Minato Sahashi, the Izumo Inn. Thankfully, only that Ashikabi, his Sekirei and the owner, who was also one, were there. If innocent persons had be residing there, then his plans would have suffered a big delay perhaps even big enough to disrupt them. But like this, he could act freely. He projected the bow, and Caladbolg. He readied the fake spiral sword to fire, tensed the bow and held his breath. Now.
"Caladbolg." Shirou says, and fired. It streaked across the air, leaving a spiraling trail behind it. It hits the inn, and explodes. Its completely wiped off in an instant. When the dust clears up, all he sees the scattered and charred bodies of the Sekirei. Minato Sahashi had completely disappear.. But that purple aired thing was still standing, even though its elegant, traditional clothing were now rags, it was bleeding all over and it looked dazed, like it could pass out in any second. No way. No fucking way. Even Berserker had died when hit by that thing. He had never seen that happening, but it had been in Archer´s memories. So how could this thing be still standing?
No, here was no reason to freak out. It couldn´t be stronger that Berserker. Only the White Princess of The True Ancestors could possibly face Servants on an even ground, and that monster was simply on a complete different level. That Sekirei had to have some sort of healing ability, or something like that. Shirou jumped down. The thing was looking distractedly and a broken down shed, and didn´t heard him come until they were close enough to touch. It turned towards him, its face absolutely murderous.
"What did you do?"
"Ah. Don´t be so surprised, number zero one." Shirou says, with his arms crossed. The Sekirei´s eyes narrowed. Perfect. "Do you really think MBI could let you go, just like that, now that you know the truth?"
"The truth?"
"Oh." he says, feigning surprise. "That Sahashi kid didn´t tell you? What a blunder. Well, now that we have come to this, is meaningless to kept it hidden. The dead of Asama Takehito wasn´t an accident. It was ordered by that kid´s father, and carried out by number zero four."
It swung at him with its bare fist, screaming. Shirou stepped aside, laughing, and jumped back. He landed perfectly on the top of the fence surrounding the inn, and projected Kanshou and Bakuya in his empty hands.
"Don´t be so hasty, zero one. Do you really think I was mean to face you one on one? Don´t be ridiculous. Well, I just go and tell the new boss that I failed." he calmly says, while the creature twitched in rage below. "Goodbye!"
And with that last taunt, he turns, and leaps once again. He lands on a nearby rooftop, and kept jumping for rooftop to rooftop, heading towards the MBI building. The creature jumps after him. His not the time for this at all, but he find himself thinking back about what happened after getting out of the Einzbern forest with Ilya.
By the time he crosses the forest, it is already night. He could have gone a bit faster but he didn´t want to risk it, since he had Ilya in his arms. He set her down after that, and together they walked towards his house. It was nearby, anyway, so there was no need to kept running. And also... well, Ilya looked red, and was out of breath, so he thought it would do her good to have a chance to relax. Maybe he was indulging her a little too much, but he didn´t care. Sakura was bearing the Shadow, All Evils Of This World, so she had to die, even though he wanted to make her happy to compensate for all the years she had suffered alone. If he couldn´t even make Ilya happy, when there was nothing holding him back, then that would be really be betraying himself.
They reached his house soon. He opened the door, and they entered together. Of course, she made Berserker stay in the yard and go to sleep. She was nervous, and first, but quickly warmed up to the idea. He gave her some milk tea, and some of the snacks he had lying around. After she finished eating, he showed her around the house. She complained a lot, but she was just teasing him a little and had the first genuine smile he had seen on her since they meet. It may have been her first genuine smile in years. All made him painfully aware of the life she had be leading, the burden that had been place in those small shoulders. It didn´t matter that she was his big sister, not his little sister. He will protect her no matter what, and make her smile.
About hallway through the tour, she starts to lose her energy. Is not that she is tiring, that´s clear to him, but he doesn´t understand the reason. Still, even if he doesn´t know, he makes more effort to kept her attention, to make her smile like at the beginning. When they see everything, they go back to the living room. He is about to ask where she would like to sleep, when he fells her small hand tugging at his shirt. He looks down at her.
"Il..." Shirou stops himself. Her eyes are misty with tears, and she is trembling. He hugs her. "Was wrong?"
"I though... I though I stopped caring a long time ago." she says, her voice somewhat muffled by his shirt. Ah, shit. So that´s what it was. He should have know. He had not even though how Ilya could react upon seeing the house where her father lived his last years."I though I could only hate him, but... I..."
Ilya breaks down. He draws her closer to him, and doesn´t say anything. What could he say, really? To apologize for everything Kiritsugu gave him would have been insincere and, in any case, she wasn´t looking for an apology. She didn´t blame him. Not now, anyway. She had just rediscovered how much she missed her father, despite of everything that happened. But... There is still something that needs to be said. Not just for his sisters peace of mind, but for Kiritsugu, who had been the hero he had always be to him until the very end, no matter what could happen to him.
"Eh, Ilya. You don´t have to say anything, just listen to me for a second. Kiritsugu... The Kiritsugu I remembered was not an impressive Magus, certainly not good enough for the Einzbern to make a contract with him. Towards the end... he couldn´t even cast a sleep. I didn´t knew this at that time, of course, but is obvious to me now. So... he didn´t abandon you. I sure he loved both of you very much. Is just that he didn´t have the power to get you back. He went on business trips a lot back them, leaving me alone for a long time, so... Is just speculation, bear that in mind, but... I think he was trying to get you back. And..." he hesitated, for a second. What he was about to say had been in one of the memories of Archer, and he had seen that memories only because of Ilya´s words back at the Einzbern forest."He couldn´t only died content because he though he had destroyed the Grail for good, and you wouldn´t be used as a sacrifice."
"T-t-that´s true?" Ilya asks, between sobs. "Or are you just s-saying that to comfort me?"
"Well, I already told you that the whole business trip thing is just my speculation, but yes, everything else is indubitably true." he answers, sincerely.
She cries harder at that, but this time they mostly are tears of happiness. He holds her until she calms down, and more. After maybe half an hour, she withdraws from him and wipes her eyes with the back of her hands.
"Sorry, Shirou."
"Don´t say you are sorry. This is the kind of thing brothers are for, right?"
"Heh." she giggles, softly. "Don´t say things like that. You may make me cry again."
Shirou looks aside, kind of embarrassed, and looks at the clock. It is half past eleven, rather late for most normal people. Well, even if it wasn´t, Ilya needed her rest.
"Ilya, is getting late, so... in which room would you prefer to sleep?"
"Uh?" she crosses her arms behind her back, and pouts. "Can´t I just stay in your room, Shirou?"
"Yeah, is fine. I was just asking." Shirou says. He really is not surprised. Asking that with such a natural expression really suits her. Even if even if he hadn´t know all he knew now about her , he couldn´t have brought himself to turn away a child who didn´t want to be alone at night just because it would make him a bit uncomfortable. But the truth was that she is his sister, and a few years older that him, so there is no harm in it. He stands up, and presents his hand to her. "Let´s go, Ilya."
She grasps it, with a bright smile and together they go to his room. The bed is just enough for one person, but since Ilya is so small the two fit in without a problem. Holding each other, they peacefully go to sleep.
Asama Miya, the creature who was pursuing him, is fast. For Sekirei standards, anyway. Cu Cuchulain, even restricted, had been much faster that it. So, it didn´t take him much effort to keep ahead of the creature while making sure it didn´t lose track of him. The MBI building was close to where Izumi Inn had been, so the chase didn´t last long. He jumped over a railing, landed on the door and burst inside. The creature was just a few seconds late.
Some of the people turned, but most paid the sudden entrance no mind. Thats it, until those who had looked at them saw his swords. Even they knew that they were definitively, so they screamed, starting a panic. Red lights flash. The windows are all automatically shut, and a warning message echoes from the PDA system, telling the employers about the escape routes they should have already memorized and where they had to go in case of an emergency, and that a team was on the way. It didn´t matter. Normal, armed humans couldn´t do anything against him and even the Disciplinary Squad-if they weren´t focused on dealing with the fight between Izumi and Mikogami´s Sekirei- couldn´t only slow him down. He just had to get there, assassinate Sahashi Takami, the new CEO, and send off the bombs he had prepared in advance, ending this Sekirei plan and all the mayor threats in a single move. And without their support, the rest of the Sekirei would be easy picking. Hell, the chaos that would follow MBI´s disappearance may do all the work for him. Which was part of the problem. Still, if wiping Shin Tokyo from the maps was the only price for humanity´s survival, then it was a cheap one.
The next morning, Taiga came barging in when Ilya and he were having breakfast. To his surprise, though, the first thing that came out of her mouth wasn´t 'Shirou, what is that girl doing here?' or something like that, but 'Cute!'. It took a few moments of hugging Ilya tightly and hauling her around with the poor girl looking confused and truly overwhelmed, before Fuji-nee remembered to ask. Shirou was planning to tell her, but Ilya went ahead of him, and calmly told Fuji-nee the truth. Fuji-nee burst into tears, and accepted. He had be willing to let Ilya influence her with magic, if he was necessary, but it would have been unpleasant, so he was glad. Not as glad as he would have been if he hadn´t not know the real reason she had been so easily swayed, that Fuji-nee had been in love with Kiritsugu, but still glad.
The letter, written all by Ilya, was send to the Association on that afternoon. A few days after that, a representative was send to investigate and validate the information. He did so. Less that moth later, the Holy Grail was shut down, and the War ended for good, this time, with the backing of Lord El-Melloi and the wielder of the Second Magic, the Kaleidoscope, Kischur Zelretch Schweinorg. The little resistance that was put after the Association learned of Agra Manyu was completely squashed thanks to those two. On that same year, he had started to work for the Association as the Second Magus Killer. It had cause some complications at the beginning, for his fathers enemies and those that simply held a distaste for him because a Magus shouldn´t lower himself to use technology, but they were resolved quickly when he acquired Waver´s backing.
He wanted to spend what little time Ilya had with her, but he couldn´t put her ahead on the world, no matter what. No when he had even put down Sakura for that; it be like saying that sacrifice had been meaningless. So, he often went away and left her alone with Taiga, even though he knew that she didn´t really like it. It just couldn´t be helped. Still, he tried to make her happy while he was at home, no matter how brief of a time it was. He couldn't push her aside, either. And now, here they were, just the two of them. Her hand was over his own, because she didn´t even have the strength to grasp it. She is not in pain. No anymore, anyway. Is just that her human functionality was eroding. She hadn´t never be built to last. He sees...
Whose it is, whose it is, whose it is, whose outer shell is it? He can see her veins on her slender waist, and her hair, light and white like the snow, blends with the pale white of her face, making her look like a corpse. It can´t be Ilya.
An image, painfully similar to what was happening now. It was Archer´s memories, his thoughts. It makes all of this situation more uncomfortable for him. Is the ultimate confirmation that, no matter what, Ilya can´t be saved. It left a bad taste in his throat. Despite that he tried to conceal his discomfort, Ilya took notice of it. He couldn´t hide anything for her.
"Shirou?" she says, her voice as weak as her body.
"No." He says, and shakes his head. "Is nothing."
Then, he grasps her hand tighter, waiting to assure her of it, before he remembered that, by now, she couldn´t even felt it.
"It has to do with Archer, right?" she calmly said. Shirou stiffened.
"How do you know that?"
"Stupid Shirou. Of course I know. After all, Archer was adsorbed into me when you killed him. I know everything."
"I see." And he did see, that wasn´t a lie. It made sense. "So, why didn´t you say so sooner?"
"You wouldn´t have liked it, and you know that. You don´t even like it now, Onii-chan. "
"Thats... that's true. Sorry."
"Is nothing. Just tell me the details, Shirou."
"I..." he mumbled, hesitating if it was worth telling the truth. But what worth was lying now? "I..."
It can´t be her, but it was, because he had failed. Because, even though he had tossed aside his ideals for her, even though he had always told her that she should smile, that nothing was lost until the end, he couldn´t save her. By the time he had learned of Touko Aozaki, the only way to save Ilya, she had been slapped with a Sealing Designation and forever out of his reach. If he had managed to save Rin, it could have been different. But he hadn´t. So, all that remains is this. Death.
"I am... seeing it, Archer´s memories. And... And it looks... it looks like this." Ilya frowned lightly, but didn´t say anything more. "Just that you... you look... even worse. Is... is hard. Sorry. You must think I don´t deserve to say something like that, since you are... you..."
"Dying." Ilya finishes for him. Despite himself, Shirou cringed. "Come on, Shirou. I have know that years ago, and I have since made peace with it, so don´t´beat yourself up over it. Still, you are the kind of idiot who takes responsibility for everything, so telling you that is useless."
"Ilya'..."
"Shush. You know I am right. You are still carrying the burden of letting Rin kill Sakura, even after all this time, even while you think with all your heart that it was necessary, so you can´t tell me otherwise. But is fine, you know? Is fine. I still like you because of it, even though I wish you had chosen differently... Please, accept it, Shirou. Is over, and is not your fault."
"I didn´t do anything to help, either."
"See?" she smiles. "You are a real idiot. You did a lot, more that I ever expected. When you entered the Einzbern Forest, you prepared to fight Berserker, instead of killing me, even though that would have been easier for you. You gave me a home, told me you loved me and held me. Really, that´s more that I ever had since father left and Mother died, so is more that enough, Shirou. Don´t be so hard on yourself."
"Don´t cry." Ilya says, as she softly strokes his cheek. "Please, Shirou. Don´t cry."
Shirou leans down and gives her a kiss on the lips, holding her small, frail body between his arms. He remembers their nights together, remembers having the same sense that being too forceful could break her. It makes him cry harder.
"I... I try."
"Well, I didn´t expect anything more." she said. It didn´t sound reproving, though. Far from it. "You know... We are not related by blood, but I was glad we were siblings."
"I too. I wish I could have met you sooner." Shirou replies, with a dry tongue. He doesn´t feel alive at all. Ilya smile grows wider, and she closes her eyes. The white aired girl peacefully goes to sleep. He bits back a scream.
Shirou turns the corner. As the building blueprints he had gotten said, there was an elevator there. There were some scientists inside. The doors closed, and the elevator went up. No matter. He never had the intention of wasting that much time, anyway. He jumped inside, and used the wall as support to jump again and land over the still advancing elevator. The elevator rattled beneath his feet. He heard a few startled yelps from inside of it. Someone even started crying. He jumped to one of the platforms below, stuck his swords in the middle and pulled, opening the door by force. They closed behind him, forcing the pursuing Miya to slow down a bit.
Near here was the office of Takami, if the blueprints were correct. He hadn´t be capable of getting information about the Jinki, and he couldn´t get out of that woman before killing her with that creature being hot on his heels, but it didn´t matter. If MBI was wipped off, then it won´t matter what those Jinki were or what they could do. There was the chance that they were powerful enough that they should be kept out of the Association´s hands but, to be honest, he doesn´t even want to think about it. Without any information about them, that some mad man could get their hands on them in the future was an uncomfortable possibility. He slammed the door opened, and entered Takami´s office.
"Freeze!" A line of soldiers drew their guns at him. Shirou stopped. Behind that protective wall was Takami, with an unconcerned look on her face. Then, she expression became terrified. Probably saw Miya behind him. Not like it mattered, anyway. She was as good as dead already. He charged the swords with magical energy, and threw them towards the CEO. The soldiers tried to shot down them down, but the sword moved to fast for the bullets to hit them. They intersected in the air, making a beautiful cross. Takami swore beneath her breath, and stepped back, but it was to late. Kanshou dug into her shoulder, and Bakuya hit her through the heart. She fell back to the ground, knocking down the luxurious chair on her way.
Shirou moves, and traces the twin steel blades a new. He cuts down all the soldiers before they can even react, and then Miya barges into the room. He turns towards it, himself and his blades covered in blood. It stops, looks at Tamaki´s body, grimaces and then turns its head towards him. Ah, looks like the thing had figured it out already.
"What are you?" The creature snarls. He didn´t answer, of course. There was no meaning in doing something like that. He just moves. He knows about this creature. Not enough to guess its true strength, but enough to know that he held every possible in this situation. It didn´t have any elemental powers- its only weapon had always been a sword- and it always faced opponents so far below it that it didn´t know the first thing about hand to hand combat. If he was fast enough, this fight could be over in instant.
Miya grimaces, and goes into the defensive. Collarbone, head, lung, stomach. He quickly delivers four attacks, aiming each at those vital spots. It blocks the first attack, narrowly avoids the second and jumps back to avoid the last two. He runs after her. When he gets close enough, the creature plants its feet on the ground, and kicks at his head with its sandal covered feet. He steps aside, and swings Kanshou towards the thing´s throat. It punches the yang sword with enough force to push it back. An opening. He screams, and drives the yin sword into its unguarded chest.
It gasps out in pain, but doesn´t give any other reaction. Shirou pulls Bakuya out. It doesn´t fall, just staggers in place. He raises both swords, and swings them to end its life. There is a blaring sound.
"Oh, this is rich, zero one." A familiar voice comes from the intercom. Surprise makes the swing of his blades slow down. The creature grinds its teeth, and hauls itself to the side, avoiding the slash that would have killed it. "You are being defeated by a human. How pathetic."
"Shut up!" Miya screams, holding a hand over its gaping, bleeding wound. "Shut up."
"Such hostility... you haven´t changed at all. But whatever. Shirou Emiya... you are here for the Jinki, aren´t you?" It says. Shirou stiffens, despite himself. It couldn´t be about to say anything good... for him, anyway. "Well, they are not there. They are with me. Surprise! So, lets make a dealt. We have a good fight, and if you win, you take them. If I win, I kill you. Slowly. Very slowly. Your answer?"
"Fine." he says, and moves to finish Miya off. Fighting that other creature was fine, but fighting those two at the same time would be pushing in a bit. He swung his swords at it. It raised its hands, and gripped his swords in mid swing. The steel dug into the flesh of its hands, but it didn´t let go. It didn´t even seem to notice it. He let go of the swords, traced a new pair and slashed once again. The swings hit its temple and its side, driving it back and causing even worse wounds. Is only natural. The battle was his since the beginning
"Emiya!" A voice screams. Shirou turns towards it. A gray and black blur, and then something hits him on the chest, so hard his body goes flying. He hits the office desk. It breaks in two beneath his weight. The splintered remains dig into his sides, and he tastes blood on his mouth. He shallows the blood, and stands up. Karasuba is there, holding two long swords and grinning like a maniac. "How disappointing, I though you could be able to avoid it."
"Really? You are attacking when zero one is still alive. Isn´t that because you are afraid of facing me alone?"
"Heh." it smiles. "I really like you. I will enjoy tearing you apart when this is over."
Shirou doesn´t answer, he just raises Kanshou and Bakuya. The situation has become dire, but is by no means impossible. A chance to win existed as long as he still could stand. Even if he had to destroy himself in the process, he had to dealt with the Sekirei threat, and the Jinki. He would let the Association worry about the consequences... what mattered was preserving humanity. He lets go of Kanshou and Bakuya. They disappear in the middle of their fall.
"Oh?" Karasuba mutters. "Are you giving out?"
"No." Is Miya who answers, not him. "He is preparing something."
Shirou concentrates, even though he doesn´t need to, and carefully puts together the eight steps, concentrating on a single image. Ascalon, the Noble Phantasm of Saint George, forms in his right hand. Is an invincible sword that protects the user from all attacks. It is not necessary, but he doesn´t want to take any chances. Ascalon should be able to give him an opening to finish off the wounded Miya, and then killing Karasuba wouldn't be an issue. Karasuba throws the sword on its right hand at Miya, and the thing accepts begrudgingly, without saying anything. So its laughable sense of honor couldn´t hold against its desire for revenge, after all. Well, its not like it mattered.
He charges. Ascalon´s protective power can be reversed, giving it the strength to break any kind of armor, so attacking was as advantageous as defending. They rush at him, and unleash a barrage of attacks. Ascalon blocks each one of them, and even exceeds them. It pushes Karusaba back with ease. He projects Clarent-the sword of Mordred- in his free hand and slashes Miya´s defenseless body. The creature screams, and the pains sends it to its knees. It swings the sword, and hits in his side before he can drive Clarent down to cut off its troath. The impact almost makes him drop the sword. The creature rolls back.
Shirou tries to go after it. He hears the crouch of the gravel. His body is turned by Ascalon, and the sword parries Karasuba´s attack. It tries to get through his defense, but the sword effortlessly parries all of the creature´s attacks. The protection of the sword is not perfect, but it is holding on for now. Good.
"Uh. How annoying. Your speed clearly increased when you pulled out that sword. Were you just holding back, or it is something more?" it laughs. "No matter."
Its attack renew, faster and heavier that they were before, but Ascalon still keeps up with them. Karusaba´s sword slips through its guard, and pierces the shirt beneath the holy shroud. He gasps, more out of surprise that pain. This creature shouldn´t have been able to get past Ascalon´s guard. He had really underestimated it. He feels energy building up behind him. Ascalon moves him back, turns him and raises itself. Shirou raises Clarent at the same level of the Saint´s sword. He doesn´t have the time to project Rho Aius, so this had to do.
Miya swings the unremarkable steel blade down, still several meters away from him. He has a moment to wonder what it was doing, then the shock wave of its attack rips its away across the ground and hits him with full force. His arms trembled. He tries to kept standing, but it blows him away. He hits the wall with bone breaking force, caving it. Ascalon and Clarent disappear. Not because the attack had been strong enough to break them, but because it had made him weak enough to not being capable of holding on to their image. He slips down the wall. His vision is tinged in red, because of all the blood.
"Ah, ah..." he breathes out, trying to kept himself together. Even breathing hurts. He had probably punctured a lug. Damn. He should have at least tried to project Rho Aius. Even an incomplete projected could have protected him better. He clenched his teeth, and tried to stand up. He got to his knees, and fell down again. His vision briefly doubled. Damn it. Karasuba was approaching. He had to get up.
"I though you could handle that. Disappointing." Karasuba muttered, a hand on its hips. "Hey, want me to tell you something good? The Jinki are really special. Minaka could have told people only that it servers to remove the limiter´s from the Sekirei, but that´s not true. You see, we Sekirei came a long time ago here, and mixed with humans. So, with all the Jinki reunited, they can be used to affect their descendants. And by affect, I meant kill."
So that was how it was. It didn´t matter if this Sekirei was lying, or not. He couldn´t afford to take such a chance. He had been planing to open a hole in the MBI building with a Noble Phantasm, jump out of it and active the bombs, but such a thing could destroy the Jinki. Avalon couldn´t heal his wounds in time, so there was just one way out of this. It can´t be helped. He closes his eyes, and breathes in.
"Let me make a contract, Alaya. I shall serve you after my death. I would like the compensation now."
"What did you say?" Karasuba asks. He pays it no mind. He felts it soon, the pain of his body healing at an inhuman rate despite that he had a human body. He grits his teeth, and endures it. Is over in an instant. He has not only healed, but he is in better physical condition that he has ever been before. Oh. So this was the power of a Counter Guardian. Amazing. He stands up, with violent winds raging around him. "What..."
"I am the bone of my sword." Shirou´s voice shakes the air. His magical energy flares up in response. He can do it. He can surely do it now, with the world backing him. "Steel is my body, and fire is my blood."
Miya runs towards him, against the violent wind, but Karasuba raises its sword to the other creature´s throat and stops it in its tracks.
"What are you doing?" Miya screams. "We have to stop him!"
"Why should I, zero one?" Karasuba answers, and lets out a high-pitched laugh. "I want to see what he is trying to do."
"I have created over a thousand blades." The words that will connect him are coming naturally to his lips. He is reaching the Reality Marble, really reaching it. Miya screams, bashes Karasuba aside and unleashes its fatal attack. Shirou lifts his empty right hand. "Rho Aius!"
Its true name shakes the very air as it is spoken. Seven large layers like flower petals form a shield in front of him. Miya´s attack clashes against the shield, and disappears without even doing any damage. Is only natural, for is the only shield that blocked the javelin of the great hero Hector. It is invincible against any projectile weapons. Even the shock wave of an attack could be classified as such.
"Unaware of loss, not aware of gain. Withstood pain to create many weapons, waiting for one´s arrival. Thus, this life needs no meaning. My whole life was..." he vanishes Rho Aius. "Unlimited Blade Works!"
Those words destroy everything and reform everything. Fire runs across a desolated land filled with swords, creating a bounded field. He stood in the middle of it all, hands at his sides. Miya was looking around wildly, in panic. Karasuba´s smile simply grew wider. It advanced through the graveyard of swords, without a care. Shirou didn´t care, either. His victory had been decided the moment he had brought his world into existence.
"I don´t care what this is, or how are you doing it. I am so excited, Emiya. Here I come!" Karasuba kicks the ground, and rushes towards him. Noble Phantasm rose towards the sky, in lines. Shirou clicked his fingers, and the swords shot up towards Karasuba. He reached to the side, and pulled out Berserker´s axe-sword from the ground. It shouldn´t be possible for any human to handle this sword, but his arm reproduced the strength of its wielder, so he didn´t even feel the weight of the massive axe-sword. A strange, animal like roar escapes his mouth. For a moment, he sees Ilya looking down at them, besides Berserker. Just for a moment. Then, he charges.
Karasuba doesn´t drop its pace. It bats aside the swords with its own, and simply bears the stabs of the swords she can´t manage to redirect or dodge like it was nothing. Crazy. That thing was really crazy, But it didn´t matter. He meet the Sekirei in the middle of the Reality Marble, and clashed swords with it. The force of the impact was strong enough to send temblors all over its body. After a few hits, a crack ran through its´s sword. Ah, how annoying. He raised the axe sword with one hand.
"Set." Upper arm, collarbone, windpipe, temple, diaphragm, rib, nether region, and thigh. He takes aim at the eight targets. "Nine Lives Blade Works."
He swings the axe sword, unleashing a swirl of attacks with the speed of the devil´s wind. Each attack is strong enough to destroy a mountain. The attacks tear up number zero eight´s body, before it could even notice. It fell down, dead. Its body was missing from the waist down, and what was left barely resembled a body. There were numerous bleeding, gaping wounds all over it. Its left arm had been grounded into paste, and the right arm was twisted in a completely unnatural way.
Shirou´s body was unnaturaly hot, and he was out of breath, but otherwise felt no cost upon using Heracles´s strongest Noble Phantasm. Good. This was great. He felt unstoppable, like he could take all the remaining Sekirei at the same time by himself. Miya was on a completely different level from Karasuba, but even that creature couldn´t be any trouble. He advances, vanishes the axe-sword, and pulls out Kanshou and Bakuya. Miya readied itself.
"Why did you drop such a strong weapon?" It asked. Shirou though for a moment, and decided to not answer. The true nature of the axe sword-that it was just an ordinary hump rock in the shape of a sword- would shake its confidence, but it could reveal the true nature of his abilities. That just wasn´t worth it. Its eyes narrowed. "Fine."
It extends its free hand, and grasped the hilt of a sword near it. That Noble Phantasm was Durandal, the Peerless Sword. It is indestructible, and it possesses three miracles that allow it to maintain its sharpness even after its possessor's prana is depleted. Uh, what luck, picking such a strong sword at random. That that thing didn´t know how to use Noble Phantasm´s didn´t even apply in this case, since there was no need to call out its true name to use that sword. A pity that it was really foolish, too. This was his world, and that was his sword, after all. Miya broke into a run. Even so, Shirou didn´t move. He waited for it to reach him, utterly calm. When it got close enough, he kicked the ground and swung his swords at it. Its blades meet his, and he was pushed back.
Damn. He had put all his streght behind the attack, yet the creature had managed to overwhelm him. He clucks his tongue, and unleashes four attacks, aiming for the creature´s four sides. It parried them. Miya was clearly unused to fighting using two swords, yet it parried the attacks. No, more than that. It exceeded his four attacks, and Durandal lunged to pierce his throat. He stepped back, crouching, and barely managed to avoid it. He didn´t even had time to breath when Miya came upon him again.
Their blade´s clashed, and sparks flew about the desolate hill of swords. He was soon pushed to the defensive. He parried the next attack with Kanshou, and the yang sword was shattered under the weight of Durandal. Taking its chance, Miya tried to kill him with the Noble Phantasm. He couldn´t evade the attack. He knew that well. Damn, no choice then. He vanished Durandal, leaving the creature with an empty right hand.
It made gasp of surprise, and halted. That was its mistake. It hadn´t realized the extended of his powers, even though it had seen him vanish Kanshou, Bakuya and Berserker´s axe sword right before its eyes. He drove Bakuya through its unguarded chest, into its heart. The wound was fatal. Its species didn`t have any special recovery capabilities, so it was fatal. Still, better to finish it off. He raised his left hand, projected Bakuya, and swung it down on its throat, almost tearing up its head and killing it instantly.
So, this was it. All that´s left is the Jinki. With an effort of will, he made Unlimited Blade works vanish. In an instant, he was standing again in Takami´s ruined office. The only thing remaining to show something had happened was the corpse of the two Sekirei at his feet. He approached the door, and kicked it open. What greeted were two Sekirei. According to his information, they were what was left of the Disciplinary Squad, now that Karasuba was dead.
"Stop right there!" Benitsubasa said, as it approached.
"What an annoyance." he mutters under his breath. "I don´t have time for this."
"What did you say?" Haihane says.
Shirou turns dismissively, and jumps. He ignores their surprised gasps, uses the wall he lands on as a support and jumps again. He lands in the end of the corridor, turns again and breaks into a run. Karasuba had said it had the Jinki with it. If that was true, then the Jinki must be either on the broadcast room or in Karasuba´s private room. The broadcast room was nearby, so he was going to check it first.
He reaches the door of that room in less that a minute. He tries the door, but finds it locked, so he breaks it striking it a few times with Bakuya. Right in front of him, on the top of a chair, was an open briefcase. Inside of it were, undoubtedly, the Jinki... No, wait a second. There were eight of them in the briefcase, and there were supposed to be nine. Of course, it was possible is information was wrong, but he couldn´t count on it. It was possible the last one was hidden in Karasuba´s room. Getting there could be troublesome, but he really had not choice. He closes the briefcase, picks it up and jumps through the window of the roof, arms raised to protect his head. He lands among the pieces of glass, rolls, gets to his feet, almost falls but manages to steady himself, and runs for it.
Its quite a long way off, this time, in the other side of the building, but he covers ground fast. He could have gone there much faster, but avoiding the armed soldiers slowed him down a bit. He hesitates for a moment, in front of the door. Karasuba had expected him coming so, maybe, the door was booby-trapped. It was far for unlikely. Still, he had the world backing him. He would survive a measly explosion, surely. He broke down the door with the twin steel blades.
The mechanism clicks, the door swings open. And nothing happens. Shirou lets out a breath he didn´t even know he was holding, and steps into the room. He exhaustively checks and double checks every possible hiding place, but he doesn´t find anything. Damn. He has not time to check the entire MBI building, even though he wanted to. No choice, them. Karasuba had said that the nine Jinki were needed together to cause the genocide, so it shouldn´t be a problem. He just had to hope that the destruction of the last Jinki didn´t cause anything drastic.
Shirou pulls the remote control, and presses the button. The resulting explosions nearly send him flying, but he manages to kept himself on his feet. He steps out of the room, drops Kanshou and projects Caladbolg, the fake spiral sword. He lifts it above his head.
"Caladbolg." he says, and throws it towards the nearest wall. The explosion rips a huge hole in it. The air pressure is strong, but not nearly strong enough. He runs towards it, picking up speed on his way and jumps through it. He lands on a wall, and starts sliding down. He projects Kanshou in his once again empty left hand, and uses both steel swords to slow down his fall. He would survive the drop, but it would still damage in severely and leave him defenseless while he was being healed, so it wasn´t a choice. When he got on level with other buildings, he kicked the wall, jumped and landed on the roof of one of them, crouching.
He slowly stands up. The stun he had just pulled could have killed him before, yet he was no worse for wear. It was humbling. And amazing, really amazing. He looks back at the MBI building. It was completely covered in flames, lighting up the night sky like the wrath of god. From this distance, the tower almost looks like a burning effigy. The clock of the toward had been apparently blow off. He looks around a little, and saw that it had fell on one of the nearby buildings.
Shirou turns again, and walks away. With MBI destroyed, and eight of the Jinki in his possession, his plan was nearly completed. Of course, he understood that not every employer had been inside with the bombs blew it all down, but they couldn´t get pay for their work anymore, so they hadn´t no reason to interferer. Nor the means, either.
He had the address and information of every Ashikabi, so all that was left was to cut them down. Without the Sekirei Plan in place, some of them would try to flee the city, so he would inform Waver and ask for the assistance of the Association as soon as he was got inside his apartment.
There was that Sekirei who had bonded with him, too. He had already dealt with the creature weeks before, by stabbing himself with a projected Rule Breaker, but it would be nice to find it. Waver had had told him the idiots sat the Clock Tower wanted one of Sekirei alive so they could experiment, and that creature´s sudden complete change was worth investigating.
He stops in his tracks. In the other side, there was that creature, Musubi, still garbed in those tattered clothes. What the hell? It couldn´t be alive. He cut off the contract with Rule Breaker, and the Sekirei die once their contract was broken, so why...? It perks up, and turns to stare directly at him. His reinforced eyes clearly see its smile widening. It crouches, and jumps. Shirou quickly steps back, and prepares himself.
"Ah, I am so gland." it says. He looks at its shoulder, but the crest is not there. Rule Breaker had definitively worked."I spend so much time trying to find you with nothing but a description to go on, and then our contract was cut off. It nearly killed Musubi, but I managed to help her. I... I though you died, but here you are. May I get your name?"
"You..." Shirou mutters, teeth clenched. "You really don´t get it, don´t you?"
"Uh? Get what?"
"I stabbed that other creature, Musubi, when it tried to form a contract with me. I fought you, almost killed you. And you are talking to me like everything is normal."
"Ah, that." it put a finger to its lips, like child. Did it think that kind of attitude would turn him on or something? "It doesn´t matter to me. You were reasonably overwhelmed, and acted rashly. The bond between a Sekirei and a Ashikabi, and the Sekirei plan is not something just anyone can accept... even somebody as strong as you. So, I forgive you."
"You..." he is truly speechless. This creature couldn´t possible be that stupid.
"Well." It beams up at him. "Well, that´s not true. Is what I am thinking, yes, but I forgive you because I love you."
Love you, love you, love you. How could that thing spit out such bullshit without a care? I was getting on his nerves. Love wasn´t such a cheap thing as to be chosen in instant, like in some shitty, corny movie. It was more than that. It was... he sees a flash of Sakura´s corpse, Rin´s knife sticking out of her chest. He sees Archer looking down at Ilya, and kissing her on the lips before her death. And a hill of swords, with a lone red knight, weapons impaled through his body, dying quietly, with a smile on his face and nobody to mourn him. He clenches his fists.
"Shut up." he says, before he can even think about it.
"Uh?"
"I said shut up, goddammit!" he screams, far too loudly. The people below could easily have heard him. He doesn´t care. "Love? Don´t make me laugh. Whatever affection you have for me is programmed. I mean, just think about it. You were for another planet, and you are telling me your species naturally bond with other species? No fucking way. Minaka and his scientits did that to you. And, if that wasn´t enough, your affection is poor."
"What? No, I..."
"Shut up. You kept on selfishly ignoring my wishes, even though I made clear that I don´t want to see you, I never did, that I hated you and all your people. You are just... a tool. A thing. Is that clear enough for you? You don´t understand what love means. You can´t understand."
"So, what is love?" It asks, a hit on bitterness in its voice.
"I just told you. Is not a cheap thing. I..." the fire, he remembers the fire. His eyes lost hatred there. His hands lost anger there. His legs lost hope there. His self lost itself there. And then, Kiritsugu came and save him, him, even though he continued to walk through the burning town without a care for anything or anybody. That smile Kiritsugu gave him, and his tears... is something he will remember forever. If only I could be that happy, he had though. But that hadn´t not been the beginning. That was just pure selfiness. It took him some time to realize that there was no way helping people could be a mistake, and it was an ideal worth pursuing simply because it was beautiful. That was what love was, certainly. "To love is to be ready to make any sacrifice for the sake of it."
Yes, that was it. He loved this world, and its people. As long as humanity could continue to smile, he was content. It didn´t matter how much he had to stain his hands, what he had to throw away or the things he would be forced to do. Who could value their life over something like that?
"I..." the Sekirei says. "I don´t understand that. I don´t want to. I am know what you said is right, but I cant leave you alone. Is clear you are broken, so I have to help you."
"Listen, you beast. I was the one who broke the contract between us, willingly. I have something that breaks all contracts, and I use it on myself, fully knowing that Sekirei can´t never wake up if the contract is broken." Shirou says. It flinches, and takes a step back. "I hate you. I hate all you people. You are blight upon humanity. So many innocent people died because you bastards fought without a care... so many people I couldn´t save..."
"I don´t believe you. You couldn´t have done that to me." it says, but there was doubt in its voice. "You can´t have the means to do that, or the coldness necessary. I... I know you are a good person. You destroyed MBI, so..."
"Shut up. I didn´t do it to free the Sekirei, I did it because my mission here is to kill all of you. But whatever, believe what you want, you stupid bitch." he had already gotten tired of this meaningless discussion. He turns without a care. "You are all going to die soon, anyway."
He jumps away, before the thing could catch him. He still though the change of that Sekirei was worth investigating, but the might of the Association was going to fall upon Shin Tokyo soon. This creature didn´t have a chance of escape. So, leaving it alone now didn´t matter. All the Sekirei were as good as dead already.
Shirou enters his apartment, and locks the door behind him. Nobody had seen him. Neither Sekirei, nor normal phone. He grabs his phone from the table, and calls Waver. It doesn´t take him long to pick it up.
"Emiya, what´s new?" Waver says.
"It probably been on the news soon, but here it is, anyway: I have killed the CEO, the two strongest Sekirei and MBI is going down in flames as we speak."
"Good work."
"In a sense, but I can´t do this alone anymore. There are seventy Sekirei left. Without the Sekirei Plan to hold them in Shin Tokyo, they will try to escape. And since MBI has been destroyed, they can do it easily. So, I would like to request help from the Association, just in case. I do my best to contain the Sekirei threat, meanwhile."
"Got it, Emiya. I see what I can do." Waver says, and hangs up. Shirou puts down the phone, takes a deep breath, and projects Kanshou and Bakuya again. He can do this. There is no way he fail here. No, more like, he can´t fail here.
By the time The Enforcers arrived, night had fallen. It was not a problem, though. Only recently, an hour or two earlier, had the Ashikabi´s began trying to escape and someone of them, the ones who lived in Shin Tokyo, hadn´t even tried. He had simply shot those who tried with a projected sniper rifle and projected bullets.
Said group were not the best of the best, just the ones who had been nearest to him, but every little bit helped. Over half of the Ashikabi´s headed up heading for the airport. If he had been alone, it would have been a nightmare, but with the Enforcers backing him up, it became easy. When the sun rose, they were done with it. He told them about that strange Sekirei, Musubi, and together they tracked it down. It didn´t take long. They fought it together, and Shirou managed to knock it down. One of the others engraved in its body a 'Sleep' rune, so it couldn´t wake up.
They went back to the Clock Tower together, too. From there on, they went on their separate ways. Shirou called Waver, and they meet long enough for El-Melloi to pay him is due. The researcher´s wanted to pay him for bringing Musubi here, but he declined. He didn´t do this for the money. Waver´s payment would ensure he could sustain himself for a while, and kept up his armory. That was enough for him.
But... it was also because he didn´t think he deserved to be paid for that. It had been nothing special. This whole mess had been nothing special, to be honest, just one more day in the life of a Magus Killer. The discovering of a new aliens species wasn´t something that happened every day, of course, but, when it came down to it, the Sekirei hadn´t been much of a threat, especially compared to the other alien species the magi knew about. And he had been born for this, to save people. The only thing that still worried him was the Jinki, but they were safe with him.
He make sure of it, no matter what happens.