Chapter 2
Taken
A rustle of red cloth...
The feeling of movement once more and how her binds seem to have severed.
Exhausted, Saber tried gingerly to open her mind's eye.
"I am here, for you have called Me." came a voice.
Swimming in the cold dark pain came a wash of relief. The warmth that surrounded her seemed to grow hot, almost scorching tenderly against her... Arturia stared, gazing at the figure before her.
Archer...
Indeed, it was the red rogue standing before her, blades in each hand. His eyes stern and intent against the orb, daring it to come forward. The orb snarled as it withdrew its wounded tendrils, shaking, humming as it pulsated.
"Do you wish to defy me as well?" the orb echoed, bearing down against Archer.
"You shall not take her." he declared, brandishing his blades.
Archer... why do you do this?
Arturia's thoughts swam before her, incoherent and intangible, yet she could feel Archer smile.
"I am to return her." Archer sneered at the orb, taunting it.
The Light grew silent, no doubt probing Archer's thoughts as well.
"Who are you to return her?" It questioned, preparing to strike him down as more tendril sprouted behind it.
"I am... the victor of the Fifth!" Archer beckoned, his blades amidst, as though prepared to defend himself.
Arturia staggered nearer to Archer, her sides aching from the torture she just endured.
Archer... Archer... why do you do this...
His form flickered and grew hazy, as though his very being was being filtered. Cold eyes swiveled towards her and his stance before the orb stood unhindered. He breathed heavily and aligned himself before the orb once more...
This light... this stance... it was the same when he let them escape the Eiznberg Mansion...
"You ask me why I do this, Saber." He drew his swords once more as a tumultuous scream pitched from within the orb.
"For this is what... my being wants to do..." his voice trailed off as he stepped closer to the light.
Your being?
"My soul, Saber... who I really am..."
Archer stood before the orb, and threw his weapons unto its wake... it shuddered as though the orb could not tolerate his blades.
Who are you...? Archer?
"I am... the bone of my sword...
... Steel is my body...
... and fire is my blood..."
"HEAR ME! I EXCHANGE MY IMMORTAL SOUL FOR HERS! LET HER SPIRIT GO!" He uttered, brandishing his scimitars once more. With these words, a bright red aura begins to surround Archer, his whole body vibrating against the energies being released.
"Fool. I am that of the beginning and the end... why do I have need to bargain with you?" The orb seemed to chuckle as more gelatinous tendrils erupted from the orb, flitting around Arturia and Saber.
ARCHER!
A tendril dove in, ready to pierce Archer by the heart.
Heaving a giant swing with his scimitars, Archer sliced it down the middle as he shielded himself. The tendril recoiled and flung back inside the orb... It howled and roared in pain, though nursing its broken appendage. Taking this opportunity, Archer created a bow and quickly shot three arrows towards the orb.
The Light bellowed in pain, groaning.
"These hands have created... over a thousand blades...
... Have withstood pain to create many weapons...
Yet... these hands will never hold anything..."
"Do you understand now, demon... only my blades may harm you..." Archer whispered, lashing another arrow to his bow, prepared to fire another volley.
The orb rumbled, spinning wobbly as though unbalanced...afraid...
"So... you would give your soul... for hers..." it declared.
Archer... No...
Bitter silence.
"Very well..."
With these words, two distinct magic circles formed beneath Arturia and Archer.
No... no... NO! NO ARCHER!
Three tendrils, pronged and serrated stood near inches from Archer's chest.
"Save him, Saber... Save that foolish boy... Save us all..."
White spikes jutted from Archer's back...
The circle faded... along with the blur of red...
ARCHER!!!
Saber dropped to her knees and bowed her head... The fighting was done... why... why must torment come even after death... She could feel the heat pouring against her cheeks... she felt weak for letting her emotions take her like this...
... Monster...
Within her mind, she tried to form Caliburn... her sword... to break this monster... to finally end it once more...
It did not come... and a voice, her own this time, came across her mind...
... Take my sword, Bedivere...
She must fight... she must...
She ran headlong towards the orb, brandishing her blade of wind...
DIE DEMON!
--- The sickening sound of pierced flesh...
Dozens of tendrils pierced every part of her body and stayed there like tubes... still abreast in her charging stance, Saber faltered and dropped as her life force drained out of her...
"I will take... what is mine, knight. I have made this bargain with a... respectable... servant and I do not intend to mislead him." the orb whispered harshly at her crippled form.
She could feel it; she could feel all her energy being drained from her.
The dragon within her roared in agony as all her magical energy seemed to be siphoned away from her...
... Draining... draining... she felt the last sparks of her magical being fade...
Shi... rou...
Her mind stayed with him, as a source of comfort... an escape from this... she knew that this was her finality, being drained by this monster... drained dry and be left as a withering husk...
Shi... rou... for...give...me...
Then came a sudden heaviness... instead of being siphoned, she was being filled... filled with something hard, coagulant and heavy... she felt tired, weak and exhausted... but this was a different strength the orb was giving her...
It scoffed...
"That should be enough... I know not why I've given you this.. after all... all will die in due time... and they... will all be mine..."
Arturia could not move... she felt weighed down by what the Orb seemed to fill her.
The tentacles withdrew, and with a flash of light from the magic circle, she could feel her skin crawl and heal for her wounds.
"Now... go... and die."
The magic circle glowed again and she could feel the space under her soften, swallowing her whole... falling... falling into yet another vortex.
