Fuyuki City, Kazane estate, June 5, 2018, Morning
Kishinami Kazane idly paced up and down the hallway of Kazane family mansion, a western styled house located at the edge of Fuyuki city. The mansion wasn't your average home in any sense of the word, but compared to the Einsbern castle or the Matou estate it was nothing. Standing Two stories tall with an additional underground floor reserved for any Thaumaturgy related business, it was more than adequate for a Magus.
The Kazane family had settled in the city a few years after the third Holy Grail War, when the infamous Corrupted Grail had been disassembled, ending the Grail wars in Fuyuki. Now that any magi interested in settling near one of Japan's most potent Leylines didn't have to worry about about the chance that their family property was going to be blown up once every sixty years, the area had seen a decent rise in magi families.
A house that took pride in their wind elemental based magecraft, The Kazane clan was founded in the early 20th century shortly after the end of the first world war. It had always researched the soul itself as a way of finding the root. After all what better way to enter a bank is there than to use the front door?
The second owner had been a little difficult to convince at first, but after offering to supply some high quality jewelry to compensate the man for their stay he had quickly agreed.
That had been forty ears ago.
A door down the hallway creaked open, snapping him out of his musings. Out of the doorway came a bony, bald, old man dressed like a priest, though his beard looked more like one would find on a hobo. He coughed loudly and with is quivering hand he reached into the pocket of his coat, searching around for something for a few seconds before producing a metal flask. He quickly unscrewed the cap and took a rather large swig of whatever beverage it held.
Putting the flask away he took a breath of relieve. "Ah, that hits the spot." His voice was hoarse and unpleasant,
"Isn't it a little early to start drinking?" Kishinami complained while he walked towards the priest. "Not even mentioning that your visiting a patient." He frowned, but the priest just laughed in his face.
"Lad, be glad I got here as early as I did. For that alone I get to drink as much as I want." The priest replied.
"You could at least try to act professional you fake priest." Kishinami groaned in frustration.
"I've been professional for the last forty years I've done this job." The priest reasoned, his sly grin never leaving his face."Now I've decided to take things easy."
"Most people would just retire, ever thought about that?"
He scratched his bird nest of a beard. "It has crossed my mind lately." he admitted, gazing over Kishinami's shoulder, as if looking at something no one else could see. For a moment he didn't look like the pain in the ass priest that he had become know as, and just seemed to be a fired old man broken by the job.
Only for a moment though.
"But if I did that, all you magi would throw a party over me leaving and take a collective sigh relieve." Yep, still the same old annoying priest. "We can't have that now can we?"
"Remind me why we keep you around?"
"Lad, you insult me. Even if I make you want to rip your own nails out, something in which I take great pride in mind you. I'm still the best Spiritual doctor in town." The priest boldly declared.
Arguing with him was as pointless as ever, he knew that and under normal circumstances he would have gladly challenged that claim."Look, I've got a plane to catch this afternoon and while I would love to stand around here arguing the rest of the morning I have other things to do."
"Fair enough." The priest conceded. His mood switched so suddenly that it took Kishinami by surprise, instead of cracking jokes like he normally did he open a pack of cigarets "I have to admit it is not often that you see something like this." He lit the cigaret and inhaled the smoke before sending it back out through his nose. "The last time I saw something similar was during my final exorcism years ago." The old man admitted.
"So she's possessed?" A feeling of dread filled him. If she was, she'd need an exorcism, a ritual that asked a lot of mental and physical strength from the victim. If his sister had to go through that in her current state then her chances of survival were close to zero.
"No, she's not." The priest began, putting his mind somewhat at ease. "However..." He hesitated and fiddled with his cigaret for a few seconds. He seemed unsure whether or not to tell him.
"However what?" he pressed. "Don't dance around the point, just tell me what's wrong with her."
The priest seemed to have resolved his internal conflict, took another drag of his cigaret and answered."I assume you know about the three elements that make up the existence off a being. The body, the soul and the brain." He listed the three while counting them on his hand. "The body allows a someone to interact with the material world around them. The Soul is a record, it holds your memories, your magical circuits, and above all your conscious. Last is the brain, which acts as an anchor that keeps your soul in your body." He pressed out his cigaret and threw the stump in the trashcan in the hallway. His face hardened, not a trace remained of the easygoing, annoying priest from a few minutes ago. "Your sister's soul has been damaged."
"What!?" He was shocked, and with good reason. If the universe was a computer and a being a file on that computer then having your body and brain destroyed would be the equivalent of being thrown into the recycle bin. In theory you are deleted, but you still exist in a way. Your soul being destroyed would result in something very different, since your soul holds your memories and your conscience, it's destruction would be equal to to erase a file and all its backups from the hard drive.
In reality, peoples deaths are almost entirely due to the death of the brain and the body. In which case the soul returns to the Root, where it continues to exist. However in the odd case that the soul ends up being annihilated, there'll be nothing left of you. Everything that made you, you, is gone. It is a fate that no one should have to suffer. "Is there anything you can do to help her?"
"That's the odd part. I could not find the source of the wound, My best guess is that she simply overloaded her circuit." The the priest mused, he then gave a reassuring smile. "The soul is a sturdy thing, it should be able to fix the damage on its own."
"That's good news." Kishinami replied, he felt like the weight of the world just fell of his shoulders.
"Indeed it is, however in the odd case that there are complications please do not hesitate to call me."
"Thank you, Father Walsh. You put my mind at ease. If there is anything I can do for you in return, please tell me." He gratefully admitted.
A glint appeared in Father Walsh's eyes "If you're truly grateful, you wouldn't mind helping me clean up the church every now and then would you?" He asked.
"As much I'd love to." Kishinami said sarcastically. "I'm not going to do your job for you. If you need help, hire someone." He took a look at his watch. "My ride to the airport will get here in in twenty minutes, if I'm not on time she'll be pissed and I'll have to deal with it on the flight."
"Ah, yes the young heir of Tohsaka, quite the temper she has."
"Yeah she does, I prefer not to keep her waiting." Kishinami turned towards the maid standing beside his sisters door. "Azumi, please show Father Walsh the way out." He took another look at the priest before returning his attention to the maid. "And make you he doesn't get back in."
"Yes, young master." The maid bowed "Please, follow me mister Walsh."
Ignoring the protests coming from the priest, he knocked on his sister's room.
"Come in."
When he walked into the room his sister, who was lying on her bed dressed in her nightgown cheered up immediately.
"Nii-san!" She said with a beaming smile. "You came to visit."
"Of course I came to visit you, dummy." He grabbed a chair and sat down. "I'll be in London for the better part of the year. Did you really think I was going to leave without saying goodbye?"
"Well, Rin can be pretty scary sometimes."
He scratched the back of his head and gave her a sheepish smile. "Not going to argue with that." he admitted. "But she's kind when you get her to warm up to you, still has one hell of a temper though. Kinda like a Tsundere in those novels you always read."
"Looks like Nii-san has a thing for Tsunderes, who would have thought." she teased.
"Wha..wh. ? " He stammered, his brain needed a few seconds to catch up. "No, I don't! We're just friends."
"No need to be ashamed Nii-san. It could be worse, you could have been a lolicon."
"I don't have a thing for Tsunderes!"
"Then, could it be that Nii-san has a sister-complex? Is he undressing me with those lewd eyes right now?" She blushed and looked away ashamed.
"Where do you read this stuff?!"
"So you admit it!" she gasped. "You're looking for more sources to satisfy your perverted impulses."
"That's it!" he jumped up from his chair. "If you're healthy enough to insult you brother like that, then you're healthy enough to face the consequences for it."
"Eep!" She jumped out of her bed and made a mad dash for the door. "Help me! Nii-san is going to use me to play out his sick fantasies!" He quickly bolted after her.
"Will you stop it already Hakunon!" They continued their chase down the hall, dodging several of the family's housekeepers as they did.
"Help me!"
They turned the corner.
"Hakunon you-" He was cut of when he collided with something hard.
"Ught." His head was ringing and all he could see was black. He tried to push himself up, only to feel something soft and squishy combined with a whimper. He tried again with the same result.
Wait.
Soft and squishy combined with a whimper?
How cliche.
*Ka-Pow*
When he woke up everything was a blur, he could make out the odd shapes of two people. One was his sister, the other had blond hair and was wearing a red top, long black boots covering the majority of her legs and a black miniskirt
Crap it's Tohsaka. And she doesn't look too happy either.
"Kazane-kun, would you like to explain me why you're chasing a young girl wearing only her nightgown?"
Yeah she's pissed.
One shitty explanation and a few bruises later. The two siblings were standing at the Kazane Estate's driveway. A few meters away a black SUV was parked, inside was a still angry Rin Tohsaka.
"See what you've done now? It's a long flight from Fuyuki to London you know." Kishinami signed and shook his head in resignation. "First. Father Walsh will come over every week to check up on you, I want you to be on your best behavior."
"But-" Hakunon started to complain.
"Yes. I know he's annoying and an affront to pretty much anything priesthood stands for. But he's also the only spiritual doctor in town, so listen to him."
She looked unsure but still nodded.
"Second. As soon as you've recovered I want you to return to your studies. I've also told the servants. So no slacking." He ordered.
"Nii-san is so mean sometimes." she whimpered.
"If you improve enough, I might consider teaching you Wind Cutter."
Wind cutter. One of the signature spells of the Kazane Clan, it involved maintaining and controlling multiple razor sharp blades of compressed wind. A deadly close quarters combat spell for unprepared people.
After mentioning the spell she immediately cheered up. "Really?"
"Yes, but only if you study hard enough." he replied. The car honked, reminding them that they were running out of time. "I'd better go. The flight is already going to be interesting in the Chinese sense, lets not make It worse."
"Have fun in London Nii-san. And bring back a souvenir for me will you?"
"I'll see what I can do."
He got into the backseat of the car, right next to Rin. He noticed the driver glance through the rearview mirror, after seeing a nod from Rin he started driving.
Looking out of the window he saw Hakunon waving goodbye, he waved back until she was out of view.
"Got your mystic code?" She asked, still not looking at him. Instead opting to glare a hole through the driver seat in front of her, something that caused their driver to sweat bullets.
"Yes, its in my bag." This was bad, he needed a distraction otherwise this trip was going to be a painful one.
"Good. At least you can do something right." She scolded as she grabbed her laptop. After it she booted it up, he dared to look at her desktop and noticed the Elder Tales shortcut. Years ago, when both of them were still in middle school, they started playing the MMO. Both of them had been pretty good at the game, but as heirs of their respective families they had to quit playing when their training intensified.
About a month ago he found time to start playing again, two days ago he had completed the most recent quest chains, but today a new expansion pack was going to be released. He knew for a fact that Rin hadn't played again. He could use the new expansion to distract her, and hopefully make her forget about his earlier mishap.
"Already know what classes you're going to attend?" He questioned while he grabbed his own laptop.
That caught her off guard, she seemed to calm down for a moment and pressed her finger against her chin and thought thoroughly. "I'm not sure yet. I'll most certainly attend the mineralogy classes, maybe the summoning classes." She eventuality answered. "What about you?"
"My family has always had a position in the evocation department, so it's only natural that I continue the tradition."
He sighed. "We'll have to work hard as soon as we arrive. We do represent our families after all."
"I guess so." She gave him a sweet smile. "That means no more slacking Kazane-kun."
He shivered, everyone that could tell apart Rin's true persona from her public one knew about the evils that lay behind that smile.
"That means that we should make the most of these free hours that we have until we arrive." Inward he smiled.
"And what do you suggest we do?" She was suspicious, not that he blamed her, his schemes had gotten them into trouble in the past.
"Well, I see that you still have Elder Tales installed. How about that?"
She considered it for a moment, she had always enjoyed the game and only her family obligations had made her stop playing, on the other hand if she started playing now there was a chance that she'd get hooked again and would start playing during her studies in London, and that wasn't allowed to happen under any circumstances.
See his friends hesitation Kishinami moved in for the kill. "Did I mention that a new expansion will be released today?"
He watched her for another moment as she contemplated the pros and cons. Until, with an imaginary click, she made her decision.
"I guess there it wouldn't hurt to play a little." She whispered to herself. "Alright, we'll play until we get to London."
Kishinami had already started the game and was in the progress of logging in. "Great." He tried to remember any details he knew about Rin's account. "You set your hometown to Susukino right?"
"Yes, why do you ask?"
"I set mine to Akiba after the last patch, so you'll need to use the Transport gate."
Neither of them noticed the small bar in the bottom of the screen filling up. Why would they? Games are only games, part of what makes them fun is being able to do thing you can't do in real live. In order to keep games interesting changes need to be made, new quests, new characters, new equipment, every one of those thing were needed in order to keep an MMO ahead of its competitors. Who would suspect that a single one of those updates could effect their lives so drastically.
*Update Complete*
Everything was black. No sound, no smell, nothing. Then as sudden as everything turned black he was bombarded with all kinds of colors, smells and sounds. He closed his eyes to protect himself from the sudden invasion of information and only after a few second he reopened his eyes.
What he saw wasn't what he expected. He expected to be shaken awake by their driver after Rin had taken her delayed revenge. Instead he was standing in a ruined city.
Whatever had happened, it happened a while ago, the buildings that once were well maintained looked like they were at the verge of collapse, plants and animals alike inhabited them like their original owners before them.
"What..."
He raised his arms and noticed that they felt heavier than normal. He immediately found out why, instead of his regular clothes he found himself staring at at red and white armor.
"... is going on here?"
His forearms were covered by two red, leather bracers with numerous gold markings and patterns dotted their surface, his shoes had changed into knee-high boots, while the rest of his clothes had changed into an eerily familiar outfit made out of high-quality red and white cloth. Combined with the red cloak, musketeer hat and the now familiar looking environment there was no doubt about it.
He had been changed into his Elder Tales character.
The wheels in his mind were turning. How did this happened? Another one of Zelrecht's experiments? Rin's Revenge? No. Judging from ruckus caused a few streets away, near the marketplace, he wasn't the only one stuck here.
He looked over the rest of his things. His Phantasmal-class Schiavona sword: Zyphyrus, an elemental sword with a blade made out of air, was in its sheath on his belt and when he opened Dazaneg's magic bag he found his character's entire inventory inside.
While we was looking through the contents of his bag a pop-up window appeared, combined with the sound of a phone ringing.
"Eh?"
-Shiroe wants to voice chat. Do you accept?-
He pressed the accept button.
"Hello?"
"Ah, Zabio. I'm glad you picked up." The voice on the other end of 'line' sounded relieved.
Yes. That's right. If everyone was stuck inside this game then he wasn't Kishinami Kazane. Here he was Zabio, a level 90 Assassin and Red Mage. That was something he had to remember for the future.
"Shiroe, what's going on?" He asked. "How are you talking to me?"
"I'm not sure, it seems like we're in Akiba. But how or why, I don't know." Shiroe confessed. "As to how I'm talking to you, it looks like the menus still work. To open them, just think about them and tap in front of you."
He did as Shiroe instructed. Sure enough, as soon as he did a whole mess of windows popped up. Items, skills, party, character info, friends, settings and a whole lot more. He briefly looked over them when he noticed the log out button. He pressed the log out button only to be met with a rejecting tone and a red x. Looks like things weren't going to be that easy.
After fooling around with the menu for a few seconds he returned his attention to the voice chat.
"Alright, what's the plan, strategist?"
"I'm meeting up with Naotsugu near the Silverleaf tree."
"Naotsugu? Didn't he quit two years ago?"
"He had some things to sort out in real life but got back into the game today."
"Talk about bad luck."
"Yes. To get back just to get sucked into the game."
Wait. If he was stuck here and so were the other players, that meant...
Crap, he was a dead man walking.
"Is everything alright? You've gone awfully quiet all the sudden."
"I just realized I might have arranged my own funeral, but we'll cross that bridge when we get there." He dismissed with a nervous chuckle.
"Right..." Shiroe seemed to think about pressing further into it, but decided against it. "Are you in Akiba?"
He took another look at the mini-map on the status screen. "Eh... I'm near the Cathedral. Give me fifteen minutes to get to the Tree."
"I'll see you there."
-Call ended-
He dismissed the pop-up and started walking into the direction of the Silverleaf Tree. Looking around him he saw other players. No, adventurers he mentally corrected, in various states. Most were sulking and depressed, he couldn't blame them really. Considering that they might be stuck here, it was only human to despair in a situation like this. But for some reason he couldn't bring himself to be like them. Sitting around and sulking all day long would get him nothing, and even if the developers were in the progress of fixing this it would just be a waste of time. The sooner people started to realize this the better. He wondered what had happened to his body in the real world. Was he lying in a hospital bed right now or had his body been sucked into his computer?
He approached the intersection leading to the marketplace, beyond that was was the large clearing where the Silverleaf tree stood. The people at the marketplace weren't faring much better in terms of coping, adventures of all kinds of races, humans, dwarfs, elfs, half alvs, werecats, he was pretty sure he even spotted some adventurers from the race of rituals. Unlike in the streets he just passed through things were more chaotic here. People screaming at each other, adventurers threatening people of the land and open fights that had to be broken up by the royal guard.
He hadn't received a call from Rin yet, something that he had mixed feeling about. On one hand he was worried, at the moment he had no idea how things were going in Susukino. On the other hand, considering the fact that he had somehow caused them to get trapped inside a video game, if she did find him then chances were that he'd be the next test subject in her experiment to transfer magical energy between objects, something that he wasn't exactly trilled about.
As he pushed his way through the masses of adventurers in the marketplace he could see the top of the Silverleave Tree sticking out above some of the tops of the smaller buildings. The tree was one of the major landmarks in the city besides then the cathedral and the guild building. It grew in one of the largest clearings in the city and when Elder Tales had still been a game it had been the site of many of the city related events and festivals. Now the area around the tree was deserted.
Well. Almost deserted.
"Zabio! Over here!"
Between the edge of one ponds dotting the clearing and the roots of the tree he could see Shiroe, a slender enchanter with dark blue hair and glasses, and Naotsugu, a tall and well build guardian with brown hair waiting for him.
Browsing through his skill list he selected Blink, a short range teleport skill. After casting the spell three times in a row and teleported three times in quick succession afterward. He landed a few meters away from them and struck a pose similar to a magician completing a trick.
"You're still doing those flashy tricks Zabio?" Naotsugu asked with a grin while the Red Mage walked over to them.
"Somebody has to and it's sure as hell not going to be you." He joked back and patted the large guardian on the back. "You chose on hell of a day to come back."
The larger adventurer sheepishly scratched the back of his head "I can't help but wonder what I've done wrong to get this kind of luck."
Zabio raised an eyebrow. "Maybe it has something to do with your obsession for panties." He deadpanned.
"What do you mean? I don't have an obsession for panties."
"Please. You've even renamed your notebook of proof to notebook of panties."
"So? All men are perverts." He started dramatically. "It's just the question whether they open perverts or closet perverts. I am the former! And I love panties!" He proclaimed so loud that he scared some of birds that had made the Silverleaf tree their home.
He then turned to both Shiroe and Zabio and looked a little judgmental. "And you two are the latter."
"Things like that are the reason why girls slap you on your first date."
Their bickering went on for a while until Shiroe had to step in to stop things from escalating. After things calmed down they started walking around the city
"So the log out buttons aren't working."
"Do you think its got something to do with the new expansion?" Zabio asked, he has examining his sword, using his finger to probe the wind that hid the blade.
"Novasphere Pioneers right? I wondered what they planned on adding. There wasn't any information about it before it launched."
"Considering that we woke up here after the update was complete it is very likely." Shiroe answered. He pushed up his glasses. "But the technology needed to incorporate a conscious into a game would be highly advanced. The chance that a gaming company could develop something like that or even get their hands on it is very slim."
"So we have no leads. Great."
"Not necessary, no crime is perfect after all."
They arrived at one of the city gates.
"Want to take a look outside the city?" Naotsugu noted cautiously. He wasn't the only one nervous, people sitting around the square in front of the gate were in differing opinions about being the first ones to go outside.
"I'm sure monsters are out there!"
"No way."
"You go check it out."
"Hell no... you go."
"What's going to happen to us?"
"Shut up!"
"Help me! Someone, help me!"
It was a mess, much like the rest of the city. No one could agree on a course of action and in the end they would do nothing, only argue more.
"No, not yet. There are some things we need to do first." Shiroe answered. "Zabio since you're back it means that you sorted out your family situation?" He turned to look at the assassin, only to find him gone. "Eh? Where did he go?"
On the highest floor of one of the ruined buildings that dotted the city a purple clothed ninja watched the streets. He just needed a moment a moment alone with Shiroe, but so far the opportunity hadn't shown itself. He had been tailing them for awhile now and found that they had never left the crowded areas of the city. However now looked like a good moment to strike, the two of them were walking on an empty road, he just needed their attention.
Wait. Two of them? Where did the third one go?
"For a ninja you're pretty easy to spot." A voice said behind him.
He turned around and saw Shiroe's friend dressed in red leaning against the concrete wall.
How did he find him? His Shadowwalker ability should have prevented people from seeing him as long as he stayed in the shadows.
Seeing his confusion the man in red answered. "Shadowwalker hides the casters body in shadows, but it doesn't stop the light from reflecting of the surface of objects. Your forehead protector gave you away." The man explained.
He unconsciously touched his forehead protector.
"Now that we've got that out of the way, I believe introductions are in order." The man continued. "I'm Zabio a level 90 Assassin and Red Mage." He took of his hat and gave a little bow. "Now it's your turn."
He hesitated for a moment, he really didn't want more people then necessary to find out about his predicament, but if this man could help him get Shiroe to a deserted place this would all be over much sooner.
With that in mind he pulled down the cloth covering his mouth. "Akatsuki. that's my name."
His voice was distinctively feminine, so much in fact that... "You're a girl?" He assumed it was possible, there were plenty off people that created characters of the opposite sex and he hadn't really given the idea any thought after they became stuck here.
He/She didn't respond and merely hung his/her head down in embarrassment.
"Your character was a guy and now you're stuck like that. Am I correct?"
Still no response, but he/she did look like he/she wanted to disappear.
"So... How complete was the change?" Zabio asked.
He/she looked up to him in confusion.
This wasn't a subject that he wanted to talk about but his curiosity got the best of him.
"I mean... did things change down-"
"Ask that again and I'll punch you in the face." She interrupted him with a blush his/her face.
"Fine, I won't." He conceded. "But can you at least tell me why you were following us?"
"I know Shiroe has an appearance change potion and I and want to buy it from him." She admitted.
"Then why not simply ask him or use voice chat?"
"Voice chat still works?"
"Yes, just think of the menu and tap in front of you and it should open."
Judging from her movements he amused she gave it a try.
While she was busy examining the menu, he walked over to the windows and looked at the street below them, Naotsugu and Shiroe were still walking down the road. He opened his menu, scrolled down his friend list and called Shiroe.
"Zabio, where did you suddenly run of to?"
"I found someone who wants to talk to you. Look to the building on your right."
Down below Shiroe started looking around and noticed Zabio waving on the top floor of the mentioned building.
"Meet me on the ground floor." He told them before ending the call.
He turned his attention back to the ninja. "We should get down, Shiroe is coming to meet us on the ground floor." She nodded and both of them walked down the stairs.
Well he walked, she more or less stumbled.
"Is everything alright?" he asked.
"My character is taller than I am, so moving is a little difficult."
They arrived on the ground floor before Shiroe and Naotsugu arrived. She leaned against the an old desk that stood in the center of the room, while he just leaned against the wall. For a moment he wondered what she'd do if Shiroe didn't have the potion anymore.
"Zabio at least tell us when you're going to chase after people." Naotsugu said as they walked into the room.
"Sure, maybe next time someone is following us I'll do that." He dismissed the guardians complaint.
"Akatsuki?" Shiroe exclaimed, he seemed surprised at ninja's sudden appearance.
"You know him?" Naotsugu asked his friend.
"We've been in a party before, he's a quiet guy but a good assassin." Shiroe explained.
"Well. Any friend of Shiroe is a friend of mine. Doesn't matter if they are open or closet perverts." Naotsugu gave the tracker a thumps up and a big smile, but she ignored him.
"Do you say that to everyone you meet?" The scribe asked.
"Yup."
Akatsuki glanced at all three of them before she spoke up. "Shiroe, I've been looking for you. I want you to sell me an appearance change potion."
"That voice..." Naotsugu noticed.
"Akatsuki, you're a girl? No wonder you never spoke much." Shiroe sounded just as surprised as Zabio had been a few minutes ago. Nevertheless he searched around in his bag looking for the potion. When he found it he passed it on to Akatsuki, who eagerly grabbed it before she stumbled back to the cover of an old fashioned wooded board were people used to change themselves behind.
"Appearance changing potions. Those are quite rare. They only distribute them once." Naotsugu mused.
"I remembered Shiroe had one." She confessed. They could hear her gulp down the strange looking liquid. Naotsugu took this chance to try and take a peak. Only to be stopped by both Shiroe and Zabio grabbing both his arms and dragging him back rather forcefully.
"Oh no you don't. No peeking"
"Let me go!"
"I thought you wouldn't use voice chat because you were playing as an assassin." Shiroe said as both of them were struggling to hold back the larger guardian.
He never got an answer. As soon as he finished his sentence a blinding light came from behind the wooden cover followed by the sound of bones reshaping.
"Are you okay? The worried enchanter asked.
He received his answer a when she started screaming in pain. All three of the men cringed at the sounds and stopped their struggle.
A few seconds later the light receded, and with it did the snapping sounds and screaming.
"It's alright now." Akatsuki called out while she walked out in front of them. The changes had been quite extensive. What had a few moments ago been a tall, well build, purple haired ninja, had changed into a petite, slender girl wearing oversized cloths. The only things that had stayed the same was her purple hair, although it had grown longer, and her eyes.
"Wow she's hot. The real deal." He heard Naotsugu mumble at his side.
Akatsuki didn't seem to hear him, or if she did, chose to ignore him. She instead directed her attention to Shiroe. "You saved me. I really appreciate it."
"It's fine..." Shiroe stuttered. Something that was shortly followed by a chuckle from Naotsugu.
By the time they had found some fitting clothing for Akatsuki it had become night. The four of them had gathered on the rooftop of one of the old buildings. Akatsuki was stretching her new boy, Zabio was lying on the ground staring at the stars, Shiroe was fiddling around with the menu and Naotsugu was sitting on some rubble.
"I retract my earlier statement." The guardian began. "You can't be an open or closet pervert, because..." He paused for dramatic effect. "You aren't a man!" Again he pointed extravagant.
However, none of them reacted to to it.
"Shiroe, is there something wrong with him?" Akatsuki asked. She wasn't even bothering to stop her stretching.
"There are many things wrong with him." He replied with a bland and even voice. He might as well have been talking about the weather.
"Why is that!?" Naotsugu cried.
"Want me to list the reasons?" Zabio offered.
"No one asked you anything, red hat." Naotsugu countered.
"In any case, he's messed up." Akatsuki noted.
"So, Akatsuki did you adjust your character to be closer to your real size?" Shiroe asked her.
"Yes."
Naotsugu seemed to have calmed down a little. "You should have done that in the first place." He said.
"Games are fun because you can do thing you can't do in real life, right?" She explained. "But once I we got stuck here it was very inconvenient."
"Inconvenient?" The guardian wondered. "Ah! you mean like-"
Zabio shot up from his place on the floor. "Naotsugu, don't!" But he was too late.
"-going to the bathroom."
The results were instantiations. Akatsuki moved with the speed befitting to the assassin class and kneed the older man right in his face. Who fell down from the pile of rocks he had been sitting on, screaming.
"Shiroe, is it all right if I knee this strange man in the face?" She asked afterward.
Naotsugu, who recovered surprisingly fast, walked up behind her. "Ask before you do it, shrimp!"
"Don't call me a shrimp!" She raised her chest in an attempt to look taller.
It wasn't working.
Shiroe released a sigh of hopelessness and Zabio watched in amusement.
Before long Akatsuki turned her attention to Shiroe.
"Anyway, how much do I owe you?"
"Oh, don't worry about it." He dismissed her question.
"I can't do that." She declared. "I wouldn't want anyone saying I wouldn't repay a favor."
"But..."
Naotsugu interrupted them. "If it's that big a deal you can..."
And he was immediately kicked in his face.
"Shiroe, is it alright if I kick this strange man in the face?"
"I said to ask before you do it!" The guardian yelled. "And I didn't even finish!"
"You were about to say something bad." She said.
"I was but..." He sheepishly admitted.
"You could just simply stay with us for awhile." Zabio interrupted. "With the current situation we should stay together. Right strategist?"
"It's true that we can't leave her by herself." Shiroe admitted. "Akatsuki. Didn't you say that you refused an offer to join a guild?"
"Assassins are lone wolfs." she answered.
"Can't really tell her wrong." Zabio spoke up. In all his years of playing Elder Tales he hadn't once joined a guild. Sure, he had done some mercenary work for guilds, but never really joined them.
"We aren't in one either." Shiroe told her. "But as Zabio said, walking around alone right now is a bad idea."
"Are you alright with that?" She asked.
"We'd be happy to have you." He replied.
She looked hopeful for a moment. "I see..." She paused and thought something over. Then she kneeled and hung her head low "Then as a ninja, I shall revere you as my lord."
"What just happened?"A surprised Naotsugu whispered to the red Mage.
"I think she just pledged herself to Shiroe." He replied equally surprised.
Shiroe wasn't faring much better then the two of them. "Ninja? Lord?" repeated, confused.
"You have saved me from the dire fate of being transformed into a man." She continued. "Thus, I must work to repay you." She raised her head again. "That is what requiting a debt means. From now on, as your ninja, I shall protect you."
Zabio was pretty sure he could see her eyes sparkle when she finished her declaration.
"Well, um... Thanks." Shiroe responded lamely.
"Then we're a team!"
That night, under the stars of a world that had been a fantasy to everyone the day before, the wheels of fate were set into motion. Who knows what they were going to face in the future, but for now, everyone was at peace.
A/N
Well, here it is. This idea has been stuck inside my head for awhile, but I only recently found the time to write it down. Questions, criticism, advice, suggestions, whatever. Leave a review and tell me. Please note that English isn't my first language and that I am bound to make mistakes somewhere.
Yes, I split the male and female MCs from Fate/Extra. Don't ask me why. I've got something planned for it.
I am currently looking for a Beta for this story, if you're interested and know enough of both the Nasuverse and Log Horizon, PM me.
Now for some info
Red Mage.
A subclass that allows fighter classes to use magic and caster class to wear heavier armor. It comes at the price of losing points in the users most prominent stats. For fighters this usually means a decrease in their endurance, strength and dexterity. Casters often take hits to their wisdom and intelligence. This often makes the red Mage a generalist capable of suiting any number of roles during a battle but none in particular.
Until the next time.
~Dutch~