A Certain Second Magic
-Disclaimer- Fate/Stay Night is owned by Type Moon. The Indexverse was created by Kazuma Kamachi and published by ASCII Media Works. This work will be based mostly on FSN Heaven's Feel, Fate Zero, and A Certain Scientific Railgun. No infringement is intended.
Summary- Rin Tohsaka has always been an excellent student, to the point of impressing her current mentor, Zelretch himself. The time for book learning is over for her. Time to put her knowledge to use during field training. Too bad Zelretch's version of field training is bit more expansive than most magi….
Story start
Rin stared at her pendant. It was cross shaped to show her heritage, if not her true religious persuasion. For Rin Tohsaka was a Magus first and always. Her family did have unusually good ties with the Church, and Rin saw no need for that to change.
Besides it would let her wear the pendant at all times. Who would suspect the religious icon of being a magical foci?
For that is what she had made.
Three years of working here in the Clocktower. Of the clamoring apprentices that had jumped at the call of learning from the revered and feared Wizard Marshall Zelretch himself, only she and Luvia remained. They were no longer truly enemies, certainly not after a series of misadventures that all of the apprentices had faced.
That didn't make them friends. Luvia had completed her bracelet three days ago, beating Rin at the challenge. A movable point that was always connected to her room in the Clocktower, that would allow her to tap into one of the greatest flows of mana from around the world, even if the local area was dry.
Rin sighed and remembered the heady feeling of wielding a copy of the Jeweled Sword itself. Infinite power from infinite worlds. She looked at her pendant, such a small start.
But it was all hers.
Zelretch entered, "So my dear. Have you finally caught up to your rival?"
"Yes Master." Rin handed the pendant to Zelretch.
He examined it and nodded. "Good work. You and Luvia are farther along the path than I think either of you realize." He smiled. It wasn't a pleasant smile. It was an evil smile that usually preceded some sort of practical joke. "You are ready for field training. Which is good, I sent Luvia to her designated mission target this morning. You don't want to fall too far behind the girl, hmm?"
Rin shook her head. What was she in for? "Do I have time to pack? I mean it is winter and I am dressed for inside and…."
Zelretch patted her on the back, "No need. It is summer where you are going. And I will provide enough for you to assemble a reasonable wardrobe for your period in Academy City."
Rin looked up at him, trying to master her fears, "What about the language? Surely I need at least a little time for that?" She had worked on a translation spell, but it was still slow and awkward. It was amazing how broad a spectrum of spells you learned if you feared that tomorrow you might end up anywhere or anywhen.
"Oh, come now Rin. You faced off against the entire Clocktower. You survived Heaven's Feel. You faced and defeated Angra Mainyu. Surely such a small trip won't kill you!"
"Can I at least scrounge up some notes?"
Zelretch shook his head, "Flexibility and adaptability are one of the fundamental concepts if one is going to utilize the Second Magic." He sighed, "Really Rin, I assumed you would be at least a little more accepting that the Luvia girl. She had a privileged background, so I expected some whining. But you, I had high hopes you would simply show me the spark I saw the first day we met, that you would be ready to accept your fate and go down swinging."
Rin took a deep breath. There was no point fighting this. She quickly grabbed what she had around her and let her face achieve her typical mask. "Very well. Let's go."
The world twisted and they were on a balcony overlooking a city surrounded by a wall. Inside were numerous windmills and buildings. She saw a series of airships floating by, the weather broadcast on a massive marquee. The language of the surrounding signs was a mix of Japanese and English.
She felt a slight wash of hope wash into her. It wasn't some far distant world. Things were different, like those airships, but not too different.
Zelretch scanned the City, "This is Academy City. This world's premier city of science. Hah."
Rin looked around again. Lots of electronics. A different sinking feeling. She wasn't a technophobe like many of the Magi she knew, but she had only learned the basics back home while in High School. "What do you need me to do here?"
Zelretch didn't look at her, just scanned the horizon. "2.3 million People, most of them kids. All learning how to become psychic. With Science."
"Sir?"
"My contact will fill you with most of the details about this place. It will probably take a day or two to get your paperwork settled in the first place. But I have sensed something dark going on here. Something beyond this world, and possibly from ours or a world close to ours." He looked over at her, "The Magic signature is similar to ours. Oh, that reminds me. Magic works here. Mana is pretty easy to come by. But I would stick to the mana you get out of your pendant. That will be drawn from our world and will be limited by its constraints. Our conceptual magic will not work normally here. This world's magic is based on faith and religion. Emiya will tell you more."
"E,emiya?"
"Kiritsugu Emiya fled here with his daughter about seventeen years ago. Interesting if frightfully sad story, maybe he will tell you it. Maybe he won't. He doesn't have a deep love of Magi. I knew the moment he left his world and helped him out when he got here. We have been helping each other ever since. Useful man."
"Kiritsugu Emiya? As in…."
"His was a different world from ours." Zelretch paused, and for the first time she felt an emotion other than playfulness or boredom from him. He seemed sad, "I tried to save Iri. Not just for Kiritsugu, but for old Justeaze. It isn't really my place to get involved unless it seriously threatens the world order, even my power has limits." He forced a smile, "But that isn't important now. I need to go buy my God Daughter a bikini or two. A friend recommended Seventh Mist downtown. Tell, Ilya I said hi!" And he began walking off.
Rin stared at him for a moment. He was just going to leave her here? In the middle of a park? "But, Master!"
He turned around; walking backwards, "Don't worry. Someone should be here shortly to pick you up." He then kicked his heels and headed into what appeared to be a shopping district.
Rin frowned and then wiped her brow. Zelretch had been right about not needing a jacket. It was quite warm. She froze as a series of robots rushed past her muttering about property damage. Two middle school girls appeared out of nowhere, with one chastising the other about being more lady like.
Teleportation? They could teleport here? Her mind began to freeze at the possibilities. She unconsciously tried to cast a simple scanning spell. But her head began to spin as it failed.
He had abandoned her in a world where her magic didn't work? She was defenseless? And they could teleport?
She needed space, someplace to regain her calm and focus. But the botched spell was still causing her to be dizzy. Which likely explained what happened next.
"Hello. You seem lost. Are you by chance Rin Tohsaka?"
Rin just stared. The man was wearing a black uniform that covered most of his body. It looked similar though different to Archer's armor. It did lack the red shroud Archer had always been so proud of. He was tall, as tall as Archer, and with a similar build. But his hair and eyes were even more familiar.
She couldn't believe it, "Shirou? Shirou Emiya?" The world continued to spin. She felt familiar arms support her. How often in her dreams had he held her?
How many times had she wished for this? Secretly cursing her sister's luck, even as she was so very grateful for Sakura's salvation?
Shirou said something to her.
She only smiled up at him. Was he Archer? Or was he Emiya? Did it matter in the end? They were after all the same person. A person she trusted like she trusted few others.
A person in whose arms she was safe. Safe to let the world pass her by for a moment while her mind recovered.
He patted her cheek and looked closely at her eyes. He said something, but she didn't care. His eyes were beautiful. She cared more about that.
She was safe.
She was tired.
And so she slept.
End Part
A/N- Sigh. So little time. So many ideas. This was a plot bunny that refused to die. An Opportunity of Fate takes precedence on this story, if only because this one is shorter. But maybe an extra story will prompt me to actually write and not stare at the screen while listening to music. Let's hope.
As for timing, this story takes place during Sister's Arc for both Index and Railgun. Rin is from a world where the Heaven's Feel true occurred. So she is working with Zelretch and by stories start has for several years. Kiritsugu, Ilya, and Shirou are from differing but similar timelines. All part of the story.
Hope you enjoy.
