Dears, thank You for all Your comments and advices! I would like to hear from You more. I'm really curious, which characters and plots do You like the most and who should appear more frequently, in Your opinion.
Thank You for reading this far! I hope You'll like the next chapter.
Chapter 7: The Dead Have No Rights
"What a witch…" He sighed heavily, oddly resigned to his fate.
These words brought a wide smile on Necromancer's face.
"Sure I am."
Memories came back to her in waves; it was like breaking through the wall of darkness. Reminiscences of the attack appeared in her head as a series of flashes. They were somehow incomplete. No, wrong. Something within her was incomplete.
This emptiness. This overwhelming silence. Did it mean…?
When Sakura finally opened her eyes, she was terrified.
"Shirou? Shirou!"
Alarmed by the noise, Aoi came to the room and carefully held her daughter in her arms.
"Shush, dear, you're shouldn't scream or move, you're weakened."
"Where's Shirou? What's happened to him?"
"Sakura, calm down…" Aoi was really surprised, seeing her daughter so disturbed and had no idea what was the cause of her panic. "He stayed in Fuyuki, I spoke with him. Don't worry, he's fine."
"No, he's not." Tears appeared in girl's eyes. "I can't feel him anymore."
"Maybe it's because he's too far away from you? He said he'll be fine and will come after his job is finished."
Job? Don't tell me that he's planning to…
Sakura shook her head in protest.
"Stupid Shirou! Playing the hero, again… But he will vanish like that. Rin must come back immediately…"
"She's on her way, but have some problems. There were no tickets and she had to go with transfers. Now she's waiting for typhoon to end, another flight was cancelled."
This was bad. Their familiar was able to stay some time without support, but even he would not last this long.
I don't want to lose my Shirou third time. I will not stand it.
Sakura swallowed her tears, trying to be strong and cause no more troubles. It was her fault. She failed, completely. Everything Rin had taught her was in vain. She could have been at least able to protect herself. Yet she ended here, useless.
And how would I face Rin after letting him die like this?
"Shirou…" She murmured, desperately clenching her fists. I'm sorry. Please, don't let yourself be killed. Please, survive.
It is almost a creepy dungeon, Archer thought, looking around. Like a very old basement or abandoned tunnel. So wet here, traces of some slime on the walls, not to mention the smell of corpses, which the woman used to cast her spells. And rats. Lots of rats, running around on the borders of their little camp.
He was sitting in Japanese way on the cold, stone floor, with his hands tied behind his back. His arm was already healed, but bullet which stuck in his chest was a completely different matter.
They were both resting here, gathering mana through woman's familiars for about two days, if he counted correctly. He could be mistaken, though, tormented by feverish dreams. Being totally exhausted and hungry is not fun at all, but he was enduring it bravely, with his usual stoicism and composure.
"What, you don't like this place, princess?" Red-haired leaned over him, checking the bandage on his chest. Archer noticed that her eyes had unusual color, a very bright shade of blue, like the winter sky of far north. Blood flowed again under her touch and he suspected, that she kept him in bad condition on purpose. She was waiting for her control spells to start working, but it was not as easy as she thought.
"I was in much worse places, if you really want to know. Many times. It's not so bad at all"
Woman chuckled.
"You're really funny. I'm starting to understand why they're keeping you as their pet." She caressed his cheeks in the same manner she would do to the favourite dog. "But you're mine now."
"Magic alone is not enough to make someone yours."
"True, but only in case of human beings. The dead have no rights, you know?"
She stared at him, amazed by expression on his face. He felt offended, deeply, with no doubt. It made her burst out with laughter.
"This is pathetic! The undead pretending to be alive. A mere ghost with fake body acts as if he's human."
"Are we not the same, then?"
He must have hit the spot, because she slapped him hard in response.
"Don't speak of things you have no idea about!" Finally some true emotions on her face, pure anger and determination.
"I have eyes." Archer said calmly. "I can see how you trying to remain human as long as possible. That makes us the same, don't you think?"
Somehow these cold eyes of the woman became even colder.
"There's no way we're the same. I'm in charge here and I'm sure you can feel it right now."
Archer shrugged and pain from the wound reminded him, that it was not a good idea. He had to admit, that he felt her magic flowing within his body and it was somehow similar to the bond he shared with Tohsaka. But it was not complete. Hollow. Like an imitation of connection. No wonder she could not control him through such thin thread.
"All I have to do is to force you to eat some souls" - she continued with a vicious smile, like she was awaiting something enjoyable and funny. "And we will be both well fed and healthy."
"It will lead you nowhere." He responded with complete conviction. It was undeniable fact or he was just this good with bluffing. "This kind of command contradicts my basic nature, it won't work."
She gave him another cruel smile.
"I'm a Necromancer, not Mind Manipulator, I can suck out your consciousness and make you an obedient, empty shell."
"You may try." No change in his behavior. "But it will take some time. And probably we both will be dead long before that."
True, again. She intended to take energy from him, not spending it on him, this never ending fight was too exhausting. Dispose of the troublemaker would be wiser right now. But killing him would also be like admitting the defeat, and she was not yet ready for that. Not after such difficult fight.
Red-haired was observing the man with attention, trying to read his thoughts. Something in his gaze told Necromancer, that he already had a plan. It may be worth listening to.
"So… Will you tell me, what's in your mind, or not?"
The night was so calm, that he decided to loosen his shawl and catch some fresh air. It was almost the same like years ago, when he was patrolling the city with her. Some cars were crossing lazily the red bridge, distant lights were shining, creating a flickering composition of yellow, red and blue. The town - his town - watched from above, was stunningly beautiful, just as he remembered it.
He sighed, resigned.
This world, this timeline, will die too. There's no point in admiring the view.
But maybe it will not? Everything was different now. Another Master called him for the first time. The girl was a pain, indeed. She was tormenting him even more than Kirei once did. Curse her for touching the most fragile parts of his soul, which he was trying to hide for so long, burrow them deep enough to not be wounded ever again.
He laughed at himself, for being so naïve and stupid.
You'll never change, Emiya, won't you? It's a childish dream – to be a hero – so you decided to never grow up. And now you must suffer eternally because of it.
Well, I'm talking to myself. Cú would laugh at me and call me 'a jerk'. Damn, it was a good fight!
He tried to focus on searching this 'darkness' Bazett was talking about. It was not difficult at all, at least for him. Sakura called him 'Master of Shadows' and it was not far away from the truth. One glance at the whirling Bounded Field was enough for him to know what was happening.
He laughed, again, and it was an insane laugh of someone, who's just lost all hope.
There's no way of rescue anyone in this timeline. I will witness another end of the world soon.
But something was really different. This time, surprisingly even for himself, he cared.
"You need help, I need mana. We can cooperate. Temporarily. And under specific conditions."
"Oh?" She was rolling a strand of her red hair, considering his words. "It's so easy for you to betray Tohsakas?"
His eyes narrowed, but he did not lost his composure. At least not yet.
"I said: 'under specific conditions', didn't I?"
"So, what are they?" She came closer, to look at him from above. She was visibly enjoying the fact of having her prey on his knees, totally defeated and dependent.
"No aggression towards Tohsaka family. And I'll leave you if sisters come back. I can still support you even after that, but only when there will be no conflict of interest."
Woman chuckled again.
"What a bold offer to hear from someone on the verge of death… What you will give me in return?"
"I will obey you, freely. Within reason, of course."
She had to admit, that it was not that bad and he's already proven himself useful, both in fighting and advising. But she would not agree so easily, without some mocking.
"What if they will not want you back?"
Archer tensed when she started to tease him with her sharp-pointed fingernail. She left some painful scratches on his neck.
"Then I'll stay with you, I suppose."
"So you don't want to die, that's all?" She scratched his cheek in purpose, then wipe away the blood which appeared on his tan skin. "So shameless of you…"
Surprisingly, he smiled in response.
"There's always a time for such… final… solution. It's not wise to not try everything before giving up, right?"
"Someone was fighting these undead," Bazett said, inspecting the place. "Two persons, at least. I can feel some magic in these bullets, charms and Necromancy."
"And I can feel that our Jerk was here." Lancer was leaning against the wall, apparently bored. "He has indisputable talent to get into trouble."
"Well, well, you admit that he's better than you in something?"
"Indeed." He was thinking for a moment. "Getting into trouble and cooking are two things in which he's better than me. By the way, Bazett… Dinner yesterday was awful."
She stared at him with obviously murderous intention.
"Ok, you will be making next one."
Cú Chulainn laughed at loud and said honestly:
"No way! You want us both dead, Master?"
Bazett snorted, amused, but her mood deteriorated quickly. One glance at the corpses around made her feel sick.
"What a mess… People already started to gossip about zombies… We will have a horde of Executors here soon." She sighed. "But why did Necromancer fight the undead? We have two magi here, fighting over territory?"
"Or Necromancer fighting a vampire."
"Hmmm. I don't know, what is worse, indeed."
"Well, you always have to be ready for zombie apocalypse, Master." Wide smile on Lancer's face, his one red eye open and shining with amusement. "I feel we soon will be having zombies fighting shadows or some other fun like this." He moved slowly and grasped his spear. "Speaking of fun, they're here."
Bazett's runes flickered, when she prepared for defense. It was the first time they managed to actually meet these shadows. Seemingly formless at first glance, they were more or less humanoid in shape. What made them really scary was not their size or power, but overwhelming numbers.
"Let's see what are they made of." Lancer was the first to attack, curious to check effectiveness of his usual fighting style against them. After a few thrust of spear, he clenched his teeth, annoyed. He could kill them with ease, but they were just reshaping into two new creatures with his every blow.
Bazett experienced the same thing soon. She could kill one shadow easily, but two or three appeared immediately in its place.
"We're retreating, Master." It sounded more like an order than anything else. "We need some spiritual magic here, not only fighting spells."
Bazett agreed, already thinking of the way to create an opening to escape.
"I'll use the power of Gáe Bolg, Master, we'll just break through them."
"Wait, not yet. We don't want to destroy everything on the way."
"Soon there will be no one to live in these houses anyway."
"True, but…"
Someone interrupted their discussion and attacked the shadows from behind. Black daggers, lots and lots of them, were falling on the creatures like rain, killing them without mercy. It was surprisingly effective, no monster was able to reshape and split into two new ones after receiving a blow. They were just disappearing.
"I see." Bazett stroked her chin, satisfaction in her voice. "These daggers are Executor's Black keys, after all."
Lancer was looking around, trying to localize the one who helped them, but it was impossible to achieve. This guy is undetectable, when he does not want to be found.
"So, what do you think, Master?"
"That we should meet with this Caren girl again. And I suggest you bring her some flowers for being extraordinarily rude last time."
"How should I call you? Don't look at me like that, it's necessary for contracting spell."
Archer hesitated. Formally, he was now Shirou Tohsaka, but Sakura was the only person he wanted to use this name. 'Archer', on the other hand, was private to Rin and her mother and he had no intention to change this either.
"You may call me Emiya."
"Emiya? Like Kiritsugu Emiya?"
"You know him?"
"Every freelancer knows about Kiritsugu Emiya." She chuckled, remembering something. "Although it's hard to find the old man now. I was stubborn enough to track the guy and ask him to teach me. But he refused. He hates undead and Necromancy, I wonder why…"
"Hmmm…" Archer was wondering too, but he was already so tired, that concentrating was a hard task. "And what's your name?"
"Taika," she replied shortly, writing terms of their contract on a piece of skin of unknown creature.
"A rare name. From the North, right? And it means 'magic', if I remember correctly…"
"Shut up." She blushed, visibly disturbed and angry for letting him know it. It looked like she exposed her weak point. "Almost finished. I need your blood to sign it."
"You've already got a lot of my blood. I wonder if anything left in my veins."
"What a crybaby…" But Taika stopped teasing and wounding him for fun; she just took some blood from the bandage and mixed it with her own. Archer could feel a sudden flow of energy around them, it seemed that magic was working. "So, we have a deal now. Are you happy?"
"I will be if you untie me."
"You will have to wait." Woman was playing with Archer's hair, visibly enjoying his confusion. "You're adorable in this powerless state."
"What a witch…" He sighed heavily, oddly resigned to his fate.
These words brought a wide smile on Necromancer's face.
"Sure I am."
