- Reforged: The Twin Blade -
- Chapter 3 -
- Talking over Taiyaki -
Arturia took a breath of winter's air, letting the biting cold air fill her lungs. It was chilly outside even with the warmth of the sun's rays on her face. However, compared with being cooped up blasting dishes with steaming water or being ogled by customers at the front of the store, the outside air was a refreshing change of pace.
Due to the high amount of customers, she had been forced to skip her lunch in order to keep up with the orders. She couldn't prove it, but she had a hunch the rise in traffic wasn't simply due to Chef Matsu's curry rice special. Luckily, Yui had given her the rest of the day off when Chidori came in to relieve her. It was with a heavy sigh of relief that she had finally been able to remove the offending uniform.
It was still mid-afternoon when Arturia left from the back door of the cafe and headed west. She followed the path she normally took to get back home, her stomach rumbling along the way. She supposed she would simply have to persevere until she returned home. Yui had been kind enough to provide her employees with a discount at the cafe and normally she would take a quiet lunch in the cafe corner but with the amount of customers here, that was as likely as Taiga turning down Shirou's food.
Arturia gave off a sigh. Her steps entered a robotic routine as her thoughts reminisced about the past. As much as it pained her to admit it, she missed the school teacher's energetic, though juvenile, antics. She missed her fellow knights in Camelot, her old friend Merlin, Shirou, and Rin with her brash attitude which she used to cover her softer side. Although she'd have liked to think of herself invincible, the truth was...
...she felt alone.
Even Kiritsugu was distant. To be sure, he was warmer than his former Fourth War self but for the last two weeks he had mostly kept to himself; always silent when she ate with him. At every other time, he isolated himself to his study or into the shed in the yard. He was always busy, either with tying up loose-ends with the war or repairing every visible or imagined problem in the old dilapidated house. Maybe she wasn't the only one trying to hide their troubles.
Arturia found the pavement stop in front of her and she looked up to find herself off the usual path home. Shaking her head, she mentally cursed herself before checking the pocketwatch Kiritsugu had given her. She was going to miss her bus.
A spike of anger rose from her chest but was overridden by the sudden pangs of hunger from her stomach. Arturia supposed she could take this opportunity to eat her missed lunch… she did have an extra thirty minutes now, after all. On the wind was the faint smell of fresh baked pastry mixed with… was that custard or…? Her stomach urged her forth.
She followed her nose to the source; a simple wooden shack situated on the edge of a small city park. The small store sold numerous grilled or fried snack foods, such as Takoyaki, dumplings or Yakitori, along with chips and hot drinks.
She walked up to the counter, replacing the young couple that just finished buying their food.
"What can I get you, little miss?" said the owner, scratching the white bandana wrapped around his head. The aging man gave her a warm smile as she looked around.
Arturia resented the name although she couldn't exactly blame him for assuming she was a small child. She supposed she could look at it like a blessing, to have retained her youth for so long. Although, she wasn't sure how long her patience would last, especially in this different age. She stared at the menu at the top with the myriad of different choices before her nose made the choice for her.
"I'll have one small Taiyaki please," said Arturia. Her words came out at a higher pitch than she meant, making her almost sound like a child. She felt the blood rush to her cheeks.
Reaching into her pocket, she took out the pouch containing most of her daily cash. There wasn't much there, with most of her pay stored at home for the future, but she could afford a small treat for today. Counting the coins, she placed the right amount on the counter.
"Here you go, miss. Today's been slow so I made it a size larger. I hope you enjoy it," he said kindly. He handed the snack to her in a brown paper bag.
"Ah, thank you," she replied. Arturia looked inside the bag at the massive looking pastry, and she felt her mouth water. She supposed there were some benefits to acting her physical age.
Arturia headed down the park's dirt path looking for a place to sit. Poking the head of the fish-shaped pastry out of the bag, she wafted the sweet smell of red beans to her nose before taking a bite. It was a welcoming warmth in the cold weather and although the sugary red bean filling was more muted than she expected, it was still tasty.
Truly, with all the changes in the modern age, the advances in cooking and baking were what Arturia loved best. The small kingdom of Camelot simply could not compare to the new foods, produce and spices delivered from across the world.
In the distance, Arturia spotted a nearby park bench with a beautiful view of the small park's scenery. Although the cherry blossoms weren't in bloom yet, she imagined the bench would give a beautiful view during spring when the trees were blossoming. There was another person sitting on the bench, her features wrapped up in a thick brown coat with the hood up against the park breeze as she munched on her meal.
Approaching closer Arturia asked the woman, " do you mind if I sit here?"
The woman turned to look at her, and Arturia froze.
She recognized the deep burgundy-red hair and lightly freckled cheeks from two weeks ago. The girl looked at her nonchalantly, while quietly munching on the taiyaki in her hand. Arturia stood there in silence, too nervous to break the stare. Should she run? Fight? She was too close to run away and in the open fields of the park she would have no cover while retreating.
The girl arched a brow upon recognizing Arturia. "mrmy rai moi…" she said, amidst a mouthful of custard and red bean.
"Uhhh…" Arturia replied. She could only look on in confusion at the redhaired girl's food-filled words. The girl swallowed her mouthful of taiyaki and cleared her throat before trying again.
"Sorry I pointed my gun at you. I thought you'd hurt Nate… uhh, well, you did but… umm… y'know what I mean." she said, with a shrug. The girl took another bite of her taiyaki and began to chew again, turning away to watch the park's scenery shift in the wind. Out of everything Arturia thought would happen, it certainly hadn't been that.
"The seat's free if you still want it," said the redhead, not even bothering to look back at her.
"I… thank you," she said. With seemingly no other choice, she sat down on the bench.
"Yup," the girl said.
With nothing else to do, she continued munching on the tasty snack in her hand. She glanced at the dark haired girl beside her, before giving a sigh and relaxing the stress from her shoulders. It was an awkward silence as they ate, with only the occasional light gust of wind to break the stillness. The grass here was different from the park Shirou had brought her to, a lively green with ferns and different colored flowers lining the flowerbeds at the side of the road, although the touch of winter had caused them to droop slightly. In the distance, she watched small birds hopping around on the pond bank and an elderly couple slowly making their way on the park trail.
She had almost gotten to the tail of the fish when the girl spoke again.
"So... what was your first name?" the girl asked suddenly.
"Huh?" said Arturia. The statement caught her by surprise.
"Your first name. Nate said your name was Sable, but he wasn't sure if you meant your first or last name. I mean there's always the assumption you'd go by your first name since you're from the US or Europe but then there's the fact we're in Japan so maybe you were using your last name? I mean, Sable sounds like a last name but it also works as a first name and…" rambled the girl. Arturia noticed that the girl's speech was odd, as if her words streamed together like a limerick or song.
"It's Arturia," she said, stopping the girl's stream of words. She supposed telling her name couldn't hurt, she'd already given it out to everyone at the Butterfly cafe.
"Oh. right. Arturia Sable then," the girl said with a nervous smile, "Heh. Sorry, I tend to ramble on sometimes when I meet new people."
Arturia returned a smile. She found her nervous traits slightly endearing, reminding her of another certain magus that became flustered when under pressure… or in proximity to electronics.
"What was your name?" Arturia asked in return.
"Huh? Oh," the girl said. She extended out her hand towards Arturia. "Lynn Linden at your service."
Arturia completed the handshake with her hand and then found her arm oscillating up and down from Lynn's energetic handshake. Arturia retracted her hand from Lynn's grip with slightly more relief than she should have felt.
"It's nice to me you again, Ar-tur-ia," Lynn said, mouthing the words. She stopped and thought for a moment, "you have a… peculiar name. Has anyone ever told you that?"
Arturia's head tilted as she thought about Lynn's words. She hadn't heard anyone comment on her name before but that may have been due to the fact she had not met many people after her summons. Even when she had been free to roam the Fuyuki with Irisviel, it had been under the name of Saber.
"A little, although I have not met that many people over here," Arturia said. She'd had to correct her name's pronunciation to Manager Yui and several of the girls at the Butterfly cafe, but she'd always thought that was simply due to the fact that her name was foreign.
"Oooh, yah? Where you from?" Lynn asked, her face perking up.
"Britain…" Arturia said. Lynn began to say something but she interrupted her. "Is your friend, Nathaniel, doing well then?" she asked, hoping to change the subject.
"Nath… oh… y'mean Nate? Oh, he's just hunky dory," she said. Arturia raised an eyebrow at the unusual expression.
"It means he's alright," explained Lynn. "Don't worry. Nate's made of sterner stuff than that."
"I see..." she replied. "I was worried his wounds were more severe than I had originally anticipated." From what she remembered of the wound she'd given him, she was amazed he was even still alive.
"Don't be silly," Lynn said with a snort. "You did great. From Nate's description, you're a better healer than even Doc Fujinawa, and he's a damn good spirit healer. I'm sure you'd do quite well in the Association with that skill."
Arturia almost slammed her taiyaki into her face at Lynn's words. Once again, she felt her stomach freefall in her chest. "Mmm," she muttered incoherently. Stuffing her mouth full of red bean, she hoped to buy enough time to figure out a deflecting question.
"Lynn," Arturia said after she finished chewing, "I never did ask you, but when I woke up you had all this information and pictures on those whiteboards. What do you and Nate do exactly?"
"Eh?" said Lynn. Wiping the custard from her mouth, she said, "Nate never told you?"
"No…" muttered Arturia. She didn't mention she almost killed Nathaniel before he could even talk.
"Ah, I see," she replied, "well… Nate and I work for an organization called Shin'i partially under the Japanese government, You've probably never heard of us less you were an Association enforcer. Our job, along with the dozens of other national agencies worldwide, is to protect people."
"What do you mean? Like bodyguards?" she said, biting into her taiyaki.
"No, more like national law enforcement. Police," Lynn replied.
"I thought that's what the Church and Magus Association were there for? To protect people?" Arturia said.
Lynn scoffed, suppressing a laugh. "The Church and Association protect interests. They protect their secrecy. The one thing they don't protect is people. Most people can't afford to wait while bodies pile up high enough until the Association or Church can be bothered to get off their fucking arses."
Her cheeks flushed red for a moment. "Ekk. I get caught up sometimes. Sorry for the language, Arturia," Lynn gave a nervous laugh before continuing, "however, when it comes down to it, the truth is that it's up to the small organizations like us to work together to protect people when the 'Big Two' can't be bothered that day."
"I see…" Arturia said. "I have simply never heard of any of this before. This is all new to me."
"Hah, I hope so. Nate always said if we were well known it meant we failed somewhere," replied Lynn, the side of her mouth in a grin.
"So then those pictures…" Arturia said.
"Were from before the fire. You probably haven't heard of it, but magi from the Association fight a battle in Japan once every fifty years or so. Some sort of tournament to the death for some ultimate magic prize. We're here to investigate what happened in that tournament and who started the fire," Lynn said.
Lynn gave a cat-like yawned, stretching her arms in the air. Beside her, Arturia sat silently chewing her food looking at the birds hopping around across the pond. The fact Lynn was treading
"Seems kind of dumb to me," Lynn continued. "I have my friends, Nate, and a great job that also lets me travel. Kinda silly to risk all that for a one-in-six chance at victory don't you think? I mean, that's like playing five bullet russian roulette."
Arturia raised a brow at the term. "What was that? Was it a kid's game?" she thought.
She paused, noticing Arturia was simply watching her talk. "Bah, I'm just shooting my mouth. Anyways, Nate initially thought you might have been a part of it but now he says he thinks you're clear. Don't worry 'bout it."
"I don't suppose…" Lynn began.
However, before she could finish her question, her pocket began to ring with a cheerful jingle. She reached into her pocket and opened her cellphone. "Hello-lo? Nate? Funny story, I was talking… what? But there… hold on… where are…? Do..."
From the way Nathaniel was continuously cutting Lynn off, it was clear to Arturia he was obviously in a hurry.
"Nate? Naaaate… Damn it all..." Lynn down at the phone, her brow creasing in irritation.
Lynn sighed before pocketing her cellphone. "Sorry to take off so soon, it seems like Nate needs my expertise once again." She rose from the bench and waved goodbye to her. "It was nice to meet you again under better circumstances, Ria… Umm, is it okay if I call you that?"
"Ria… Ria…" muttered Arturia, pondering the name. She supposed it would be more convenient than having to explain her name or spell it out to everyone she met like she did now. She made a mental note to to test it on Manager Yui tomorrow.
"I suppose that would be fine, Lynn," she said.
"Alright. Well, until next time, Ria," Lynn said with a grin. Pivoting on her boots, she headed down the park path towards the nearby road.
"Oh, I know it's not really my business, but you might want to take care of that prana leak problem of yours. It'll attract the wrong attention sooner or later," Lynn said over her shoulder.
"Prana leak?" Arturia said in confusion, watching Lynn disappear into the distance. She would have to ask Kiritsugu about that when he came back.
Turning her attention back down at her taiyaki, its delicious and hot contents quickly cooling in the cold temperatures, she focused on finishing it before it lost any more heat. She looked down to see a brown bag Lynn had left behind with another one of the golden pastry-shaped fishes left untouched inside. Feeling the bag, Arturia could feel it was still mildly warm inside. She looked around but Lynn was already long gone. Had anyone else been around, they might have noticed Arturia's eyes lighting up in joy.
"Well, it sure would be wasteful to simply throw it away…" she thought to herself.
Emiya Kiritsugu slid the front gate closed behind him and picked up the bags of groceries from the floor before continuing down the wooden hall. There was good news at the hospital, the doctors had said they'd finally be able to release Shirou once the paperwork had gone through. It had been a long wait filled with piles of paper bureaucracy but it looked like Shirou would finally be able to go back to a home.
He wondered how Saber would take it. Compared to her commanding demeanor in the war, she had been oddly subdued whenever he saw her. In fact, they had barely talked since that day after the war. It didn't help he was always busy dealing with Shirou at the hospital, fixing up this rickety old house, or calling in favors from old contacts to cover his tracks. As an assassin, his work had left him with no shortage of enemies. It would take more than just words to bury his sordid past.
If he was going to hide the presence of someone as powerful as a Servant, he couldn't do it by himself. His crest and magecraft were too specialized to effectively hide Saber's magical aura; it would be like digging a trench with a sword. She would need a better magus than himself to teach her.
The lights were on in the living room and he could dishes or pots being washed in the sink.
"That was odd…" he thought to himself.
Suddenly, two things clued into Kiritsugu's head. One, Saber was in the living room instead of her usual place practicing with a shinai in dojo or meditating in her room. Two, from the smell of baked good in the air, Saber was cooking. Suddenly, the image of Irisviel accidently setting bread on fire came to mind.
Hurrying to the living room, he gripped the door handle and pulled the rice paper frame open and looked inside.
"Saber," he said, a little louder than he intended.
"Kiritsugu!" Arturia said in surprise.
The former Servant turned away from the sink towards him, her hand holding a brush and littered with suds. The front of her jeans and black shirt were stained white with flour and her hair frazzled with a hint of white from dough; perhaps a result of scratching her head in frustration. The kitchen itself was a mess, by his own standards at least, with unwashed metal bowls and utensils on the counter, flour staining the tables and a pile of dishes piled in the sink. Not what he'd consider clean but at least the kitchen wasn't aflame as he imagined.
"I am terribly sorry, Kiritsugu. I failed to anticipate just how much time and effort it would take to simply bake a simple recipe as this. Chef Matsu truly made it appear quicker and easier than it appeared. I am sorry for the mess, Kiritsugu," said Saber. The small blonde girl bowed her head in shame at the mess around her.
Kiritsugu approached the baking tray where twelve dainty croissants lay, each one filled with cheese and ham. He took a bite, enjoying the crunchy yet soft texture.
"Apology accepted," he casually replied, focusing more on the food at hand than Saber. Taking another two bites, he easily finished off the small snack before rubbing Saber's head. He hadn't thought about it but without her blade or plate armour, Saber really looked like a kid. A smile tickling the edges of his mouth at the thought and he ruffled her hair some more.
"Kiritsugu…" said Saber, trying to fix her now messy hair.
"So what caused this sudden rush of cooking. I don't believe cooking was one of your skills when you… were with me before," he said. Even with the new alarm and counter-surveillance boundary field around the home, he wanted to be careful with his words.
"They are not. Chef Matsu taught me how to bake at work and I simply wished to test my culinary skills at home,"
"Well, consider the test a success," he said before taking another of the mini-croissants. Saber panicked as she saw him bite it.
"Kiritsugu! Try not to ruin your appetite and… and I… I am having those for lunch tomorrow and… momph..." Saber's worries were stifled by the sudden pastry that had entered her open mouth.
"Fine, this'll be the last one," he said. Arms crossed and eyes narrowed, it was evident Saber was angry at him yet not mad enough to quit chewing her croissant.
He responded to her irritated expression with a grin, before walking past her into the kitchen. "Help me clean up the counter and I'll make dinner. Maybe you can be le sous-chef tonight, Saber."
Saber stood there for another moment with a confused look on her face, munching on her food, before nodding toward him. While he stored the new groceries into the fridge, Saber wiped down the counters and washed the dishes in the sink. By the time he finished storing the last daikon in the fridge, she had cleaned, washed and arranged the stack of bowls and plates by size and type.
"My… that was really fast," he remarked.
"I had to learn to be quick at the Butterfly. Matsu and Manager Yui count on me so I can't be slow," said Saber, beaming with scarcely contained pride.
He brought out a pair of carrots, potatoes, tomatoes and chicken from the refrigerator before placing them on separate cutting boards, the chicken for him and vegetables for her. Taking the vegetable peeler from the drawer, he handed it handle first to Saber.
"I don't suppose you know how to peel and dice the the tomatoes and carrots?" he asked. She had been a king, not a cook, after all.
"Actually, yes. Those were the first tasks I helped Chef Matsu with," she said. Taking the peeler, she quickly set to work washing then skinning the carrots.
"Then, I guess you've had some experience cooking while you've been working at the Butterfly then?" asked Kiritsugu, as he set to work cutting the chicken.
"Not initially," she replied, focused on the task of peeling.."When I began my duties there, Yui simply had me washing dishes and cleaning the tables but I suppose Chef Matsu noticed me watching him on my spare time and decided to make me his apprentice."
"You could have just asked me. If I'd known you were interested I could have had you help me here," he said. Placing the beef on the cutting board, he looked for his knife.
"Well, I knew you were busy, Kiritsugu. The last thing I wanted to do was burden you knowing you were busy at the hospital and fixing your home. After all, I've already burdened you enough by living here," she said.
Kiritsugu flinched at what Saber had said: "your home." Opening the nearby drawer, he looked through the utensils for his knife all the while thinking about her words. Perhaps he'd been more distant that he realized.
"Saber, it's your home too," he said turning towards her. "You're always welcome here if you want to stay."
Saber turned towards him, her olive green eyes staring towards him in surprise. She opened her mouth but failed to find words.
"Thank you, Kiritsugu," she finally said.
"There's no need. I think, given how I treated you during the war, it's the least I can do," he said.
"Things were different then," she said. She finished peeling the carrots and started on the potatoes. He nodded. A different life and a different world, but that was all over now. While Saber finished peeling the rest of the vegetables, he quickly finished chopping up the chicken and placing it aside before working on the cilantro.
"It was a difficult time, for the both of us," he replied.
"So how has your work been?" Kiritsugu said, hoping to change the dour subject. "I know you've been working there for over a week now, but I never really asked…"
The truth of the matter was that he'd investigated the Butterfly Cafe before Saber has even begun to work there, looking for . However, he'd never actually asked her if she'd enjoyed working there. That had been, in truth, tertiary concern of his.
She raised her hand to silence him. "I understand. My work has been busy but that helps at least keep me focused. While it may not be the most glorious of work, it at least provides me with something to do than simply train all day. Chef Matsu, as I said before, teaches me how to cook when there's spare time and Manager Yui is nice although rather painfully unorganized. Most of the girls I am working with are really friendly, although Izumi could really improve her tardiness. I… like working with everyone there."
"There was, however, something different today. Not at work though," she said, her eyes looking away in thought.
"Oh?" he replied, glancing at her.
"I met that lady again at the park today. The one from two weeks ago I told you about? Her name is Lynn and she was actually quite pleasant now that I got to meet her on better terms," she said.
"What!?" he cried out in alarm. "Why didn't you tell me sooner? Did she harm you? Are you alright?"
Saber raised a brow in confusion. "No, I am fine. She did not harm me. Mostly, we just talked."
"Was she following you?" he asked.
"Following me?" said Saber, dumbfounded at his words. "Of course not. In fact, it was I who met her by sheer chance. If anything, it seemed she was the one that seemed scared," she said.
"You should have told me sooner, Saber," he said, pushing the point.
She put down the peeler and potato.
"Kiritsugu, I am not some child that needs to be pampered or protected," Saber replied, arms crossed in irritation. "If I truly believed there was a threat to my safety, I would have informed you sooner, not that it would have mattered as you always away and come home very late. In fact, I believe this is the first time you've returned this early. In any case, I'm unsure how I would even contact you if I required your assistance so that point is entirely moot."
The anger from her voice stung him like a whip and he looked at her, dumbfounded.
She turned towards him, her piercing eyes staring at him now. "I am still an excellent warrior and swordsman, Kiritsugu, despite what you may have thought during the war. Do not treat me as some mewling babe to be coddled, it belittles both of us. Simply… trust me. That is all I ask."
There was a resounding silence as she finished speaking, Saber's knuckles almost white gripping the counter. He suddenly felt tired, as if the world were upon his shoulders again.
"You're right, Saber, " he said. "You're right. I'm sorry. It's just that without your Noble Phantasm or your strength now, I feel that I'm responsible for protecting you now that you live here and that means I have to be suspicious of everything. I guess old habits die hard."
He turned his attention back to chopping the herbs, letting the tension recede with the silence. As much as he hated to admit it, he didn't know how to trust people.
During the war, he'd kept everything to himself. Even Maiya and Irisviel had been merely tools to draw out and eliminate the other Masters. One had been the perfect soldier while the other had been an important tool. He hadn't trusted either of them to inform them of his plans in the war; it had been safer and more expedient that way. And yet, even with the people closest to him around him, it had felt as if he'd fought the entire war by himself.
"So what was she like? Was she… nice…?" he finally asked. Kiritsugu couldn't even remember the last time he'd even used that word, as if it were a foreign notion. Nice...
His question caught Saber off guard, causing her to almost nick her hand with the knife.
"Who? Lynn?" she asked and Kiritsugu nodded in confirmation. "I would say so. She's really friendly, yet shy at times and from what I can tell seems nice. I cannot foresee her being the dangerous homicidal killer you suspect everyone of being," she replied.
Kiritsugu's mouth twitched, annoyed at the verbal jab.
"Saber…" he began to say.
"It might be naive, given how little I've talked with her, but I like her. That is my view of her," Saber said. Her tone indicated a sort of finality on the matter.
"Very well, Saber. Then I will respect your opinion on this matter," he said.
"Thank you," she replied.
It wasn't surrender on her part. It wasn't a victory on his but, for the moment, it was enough for him. An unspoken truce by two very different soldiers. He could live with that.
He placed the herbs aside and began to boil a pot of water before he noticed Saber looking at him once more.
"Another question, Kiritsugu?" Saber said. Her tone seemed softer now.
"Of course," he replied.
"What is a sous?" she asked.
Kiritsugu failed to suppress a chuckle. "It's French," he said, before beginning his explanation.
Step. Parry. Step. Swing.
Arturia swung forward towards her imaginary opponent before relaxing her stance and lowering her shinai to the ground. She looked at the clock on the wall: 8:45 pm.
Normally, she'd retire for a bath by now but she had tomorrow off. Manager Yui had said something about Izumi needing the hours for the upcoming "anime-con thing." Arturia could have protested, but she didn't really want to cause a big commotion, especially due to her working status here. She remembered Kiritsugu saying she was essentially an illegal immigrant, a dour if accurate truth for her condition. Arturia didn't want to admit it, but she had been extremely lucky to even find work in Fuyuki. There were no open positions looking for able swordsmen, especially none in her decrepit condition.
Arturia sighed, thinking about her current situation once more. Without her prana burst, she was no better than a simple fifteen-year old girl. Her eyes closed and she felt her brow knit in frustration. If only she could fix it...
She swung the shinai forward once more, hearing the bamboo sword whistle in the air, testing its weight before holding it ready. She took several deep breathes and she could feel the chill air of the dojo against the sweat on her skin as she prepared herself for what came next.
Arturia decided to start small, less she have a complete repeat of last time. She concentrated, focusing the prana in her body into her arms. Gripping the wooden handle with renewed strength, she swung downward against an imaginary foe.
Searing pain, like scalding water, burned her arms and she collapsed to the floor; a scream of pain roaring from her throat. If felt as if her arms were covered in molten steel. Arturia rolled against the wooden floor, gasping in pain as she forced herself to simply breathe; her throat hoarse. The burning seemed to grow in intensity, like a spreading fire, and Arturia screamed once more. She rolled against the floor, hopelessly trying to extinguish this unending fire.
Long moments passed before she finally lay still. Slowly, she came to as the pain eventually subsided leaving her fatigued and breathless. It felt as if every bone in her arms had been broken by Berserker and incorrectly mended back together. She felt wetness and, for a brief moment, her mind feared it was blood before looking to find her white shirt drenched in water. Blurry in the distance was the scattered tray she'd brought with her for practice. She vaguely recalled colliding with something while she had been thrashing about on the dojo floor. It must have been the cup and jug of water she'd spilled.
Still too tired to move, Arturia lay there on the wooden floor simply staring at the mess she'd made and waiting for her body to recover. She closed her eyes, feeling droplets of water roll down the sides of her face.
Useless...
She lay there silently for long minutes, her head lolled against the floor, before weakly rising to her feet. She sighed at the mess before her. She had to clean up this mess before Kiritsugu found out, if he hadn't heard her cries already. However, one thing at a time, clean clothes and then grab the mop from the house's closet.
Tired, hurt, and defeated, Arturia left the dojo.
She crossed the house's yard, the chilly winter air and wet grass causing her to slightly shiver before re-entering the main house. Arturia slipped into her room quietly, feeling her muscles ache in protest as she took long moments pulling the wet shirt off and replacing it with a clean one from the drawer. Her throat parched, she headed towards the kitchen.
"Kiritsugu?" she said, opening the main room's ricepaper door. It was empty. On the refrigerator was a sticky note.
"Forgot to buy something for tomorrow. Will be back soon."
- Kiritsugu
She raised a brow at the note. It was unusual for Kiritsugu to forget something on the grocery list, especially considering his habit of over planning for everything. She grabbed a clean glass from the cupboard before opening the fridge and filling the glass with bottled water. Several of the pipes in the house were too old and rusty to safely run drinking water through the house's sinks, so for the meantime they had been forced to buy bottled drinking water until Kiritsugu could affect repairs to all the plumbing.
Arturia had just finished her glass of water when the doorbell rang, which was odd given the late time. She slowly made her way to the front gate, her arms still aching from her attempt at using her prana in the dojo. She opened the gate to see Lynn, her green coat zipped up to her neck against the night cold. The girl was looking away from her, staring down the street at something in the distance.
"Lynn?" said Arturia, breaking the girl's concentration.
"Ria?" Lynn said, her eyes were wide in surprise. "My lord, you look absolutely horrid, lass. Are you alright?"
Arturia's felt heat rise to her cheeks before shaking her head. "I am fine, Lynn. How may I help you?"
"Well, if you say so..." said Lynn. However, the redhead still looked worriedly towards her. "Anyways, Nate said it wouldn't really matter since he'd return everything after the end of the investigation, but since I bumped into you today I figured it'd be rude to let you think it'd perished in the fire.
Fishing into her pockets, Lynn pulled out a beautiful ruby heart-shaped necklace; Rin's heirloom. She handed it towards Arturia, the red gem shining against the exterior house lights. Arturia took the necklace, examining the jewel in her hand. Arturia had thought she'd lost it when she'd arrived at city hall. Rin's jewel was precious to her, not because of its monetary price but because it was the only link she had to the past.
Pressing the jewel to her chest, she looked back toward Lynn. Arturia stood there, trying to think of kind enough words to express her gratitude, before failing. In the end, she gave a simple said "thank you."
"Oh, don't worry about it," she said bashfully. "I figured you might miss an heirloom as important as this. Like I said, we were supposed to return all of it after our investigation anyways."
"Oh! Also, I brought your pant… the clothes you were wearing that day," Lynn said in embarrassment. She handing her the brown paper bag and it took Arturia a moment to decipher Lynn's meaning before she felt the heat rise to her face.
"I… thanks," she said. Arturia was sure her face was now a tinge of scarlet that complemented the crimson necklace in her hand. At the very least, it looked like Lynn's cheek color matched her own. Wordlessly, she gingerly took the brown paper bag.
"Anyways, night then, Ria," she said, beginning to turn away. However Arturia raised her hand to stop her.
"Wait. Before you left at the park, you said something about a mana problem?" she asked.
"Wha? You're kiddin, right?" replied Lynn with a wry smile. However, it turned down as she looked at Arturia's confused expression.
"Oye… you're not kidding," said Lynn. There was an odd expression on her face, a mixture of bemusement and interest. She rubbed the bottom of her chin with her hand, contemplating her next words.
"It's… umm… actually really basic, kinda like sheathing a sword or holstering your pistol in public," she said.
"I see…" stated Arturia, nodding her head. She tried to focus on her words while ignoring the way Lynn's hands seem to form an intricate dance as she spoke. It was oddly mesmerizing.
"Basically, magi naturally leak a minute amount of prana from their body, which forces your body to work harder to replace it. Kids are normally taught how to control and conceal their prana circulation, which is why I didn't really want to bring it up. It's also very threatening in magi society. The only time you'll see a magus fully released like that is in combat, when you need to gather prana quick to cast spells and the restrictions would interfere with optimal prana usage. Really, I wouldn't have even mentioned it, but you're radiating a scarily strong aura. I could feel it when you were still walking down the park trail today," she said.
"Truly, at such a distance?" Arturia said with surprise.
Lynn nodded.
Arturia felt a shiver down her spine. She'd never encountered anything such as that in her era nor had Merlin ever mentioned such an issue. However, if what Lynn was saying was true, then simply living with Kiritsugu and Shirou could put them in serious danger not to mention attracting the attention of other magi. She had to fix this problem quickly before it attracted too much unwanted attention. She began to speak before stopping in hesitation. Should she really ask Lynn for help? She recalled Kiritsugu's words and his fear of dangers. She didn't even know the magus that well, and there was countless risks with entrusting Lynn to help her and yet… her instincts told her she could trust the small magus. Arturia made her decision.
"Lynn, you said there was a solution for this problem. Could you help me fix i?" asked Arturia.
"Eh!? I… uh… well..." sputtered Lynn, hesitant. Arturia thought Lynn had blanched several shades from the request, but that may have been a trick of the door lights.
"I don't mean to force the issue, Lynn. It is fine if you do not wish…" she said.
"No, no, it's fine. Nate just gets antsy when I stick my nose in other people's business… Eh, don't worry about it. I guess I could help you now if that's good for you. Shouldn't take longer than a few minutes I suppose." Lynn replied slightly nervously.
"Excellent," said Arturia. "Please, come in." With no pockets to hold the gem, she placed the crimson necklace around her neck before heading back in; wincing slightly from the pain.
Lynn looked back outside, searching for anything amiss in the darkness of the night. Her hand stayed at her waist pistol holster for a moment, before she redid the strap holding the hammer.
"Odd, I thought I saw something there..." Lynn muttered, before heading inside.