Chapter 10: Last Rays of Sunlight

"I've learned long ago that people are only flesh and bones, a rotting meat powered by chemistry and electricity. And heart is just a pump, there's nothing more inside."

"I have a face of the criminal, they will arrest me just for walking down the street, you know?"

"Nope, I won't let anyone arrest you. So please enjoy the weather."

Small silver-haired girl and a tall man with strange tattoos on his face were walking by the river. Weather was indeed perfect for this kind of activity, clear sky and no single cloud to break the perfect blue.

"Sunlight is burning my eyes, I'm not used to it."

"Stop complaining, you're ruining the moment." Caren was getting more irritated with his every word.

"I can't see anything... I think my eyes are bleeding right now."

"Just shut up already or I'll bind you with Shroud of Magdalene."

He chuckled, trying to protect his eyes from the sunlight. It was not that he didn't enjoy the walk, he found it pleasant and even joyful.

But his eyes, which were watching only starless sky for ages, had a different opinion about this escapade.

"You're cruel, Caren."

"No." She sounded decisively and uncompromisingly, a distant echo of Kotomine in her voice. "I'm not going to let anyone spoil my fun, that's all. By the way, remember to behave yourself. I don't know how long ago you've been around people for the last time, so try to not piss everyone off ."

"What? You've restrained me already so much that I would have to be in really suicidal mood to tease anyone. I'm not a complete idiot, Caren."

"You are."

He smiled, forcing himself to look at the sky. He could barely see rays of sunlight through the curtain of tears, and it was agonizing. Yet he accepted them, entirely, along with the pain.

They were the last ones here, after all.

Warm touch of the sunlight woke him up. He needed few seconds to recognize this room, the smell of old wood, books and magic. Then sounds came: familiar and monotonous ticking of the antique clock and birds singing in the garden. Rin was here too, smell of her hair and warm breath made Archer feel extremely happy.

I'm home.

"How do you feel now?" She asked with a sleepy voice. "You've been resting for about six hours."

"Oh." He stood up, embarrassed. There were no more scratches on his skin, Tohsaka healed him completely while he was asleep. "Six hours, really? I'm sorry for keeping you here for so long."

"It's all right, don't worry." She stretched herself out and yawned. "Thanks to you I had an excuse to take a nap after the journey." Another yawn, stronger than before. "Oh, and mother will bring Sakura today. She's almost totally healed. They speeded up the process, because she insisted to see you immediately, you troublesome fool."

Archer smiled, his expression was warm and kind.

"So, dinner for two more persons. I'll be quick with that."

"Good. I really missed your cooking."

"Hmmm."

It was good to see Archer content, Rin thought, watching him on the way to kitchen. She knew well that future was uncertain and a difficult battle awaited them all, but still she let herself enjoy the moment. She was keeping her promise from four years ago, to take pleasure in every second of peace and joy. Now they were together and nothing else mattered.

Archer quickly reclaimed his culinary kingdom and was giving his best to celebrate their reunion. He was enjoying his job, trying to not overthink their current problems. It was not the right time to do so, they all decided to take a break from troubles at least till dinner.

"What's wrong?" He glanced at Cú Chulainn, who slipped in the kitchen like a blue panther. "You came to help?"

"Sure, if you want to have total chaos here." Lancer winked and smiled widely. "I just wanted to say, that we invited someone. Two persons who may help us. We will discuss everything at the dinner."

Something in his voice, strange hesitation, alarmed Archer.

"It's unusual for you to have guests. What's happened?"

"Well, let's say we want to erase the first impression."

"Oh?" Archer frowned, even more suspicious than before. Something was wrong with these enigmatic 'guests' and he felt that he would not like them. "So you intent to use Rin's hospitality and my cooking to make them forgive you?"

"Something like that." Cú Chulainn shrugged, evacuating. "You don't have to be so mean, jerk."

Archer only shook his head and measured more rice, hoping that this was the last update and he would not run out of ingredients.

"I wonder if this house remembers any big dinner like this. So…" He looked around. Most things were ready and waited for their turn, rice was warming up slowly. "Right, our precious Instructor."

He sighed and went upstairs. Some strange noises were coming from the Lord's room. The door was open but Archer knocked anyway.

"Oh, it's you?" El-Melloi II was sitting on the bed, playing video game. And he was losing. Archer did not remember to have TV in this room. The guy had to be addicted to take one with him to Japan. "You came to keep an eye on me or something?"

"No, I came to ask about your food preferences. You're not a vegetarian or something?"

"No, everything edible is fine." He muttered angrily, when his character in fighting game got knocked out twice. "Damn it, I must level him up again."

"Not necessarily," Archer said unexpectedly. "Bent knees should do the job."

"What?"

"Look, his legs are not protected and this spinning maneuver should be enough to close the distance."

Lord El-Melloi II stared at Archer over his shoulder. After a short while, he threw second pad to him.

"Come, try to beat me, if it's so easy."

Archer measured the controller in his hands, visibly hesitating. He would not have any doubts, if not the dinner left unattended in the kitchen.

"I have no more than five minutes for this," he said, fighting temptation to accept the challenge.

Long-haired magus smiled mockingly.

"If you're really good, it will be enough to prove it."

Sakura came with Aoi soon, and she almost started to cry, seeing both Rin and Archer safe. Sakura's and Archer's hug was very warm, but there was something more... The two must have been talking mentally and Rin tried very hard to not be jealous, that they still hid some secrets.

Lancer's and Bazett's guests came soon after, making everyone inside the mansion feel uneasy. Archer tensed a little, facing his future and broken self, but soon the two started to ignore each other with some kind of calm resignation. Nobody was trying to pick up a fight, they gathered here for a common purpose. And meal was delicious enough to keep them all in good moods, especially Aoi, who always dreamed about home full of people and finally got what she wanted.

"So…" Rin started, like the head of the family should. "We have some zombies in town to destroy. What do we know about them?

Archer was first to answer her question.

"A vampire creates them. Necromancer was also bitten and wants her creator dead. It seems that this guy is somewhere around."

"He's not." It was Lord's El-Melloi II voice. He only pretended to not listen and was more involved than he seemed to be. "I checked the blood of this witch. I found an interesting theory in Lord Kayneth's notes on Necromancy, but I could not prove it till now. Her blood cells are dead from the outside and it means that her 'parent' vampire is no more. But she's not dead or changed completely, so…"

"So the Dead Apostle, who started the chain, still exists somewhere," Archer finished automatically. "This is bad, I was hoping we have a minion here."

"So we need to find the lair." Bazett reached out for another portion. She explained once that only Archer's food could make her THIS hungry. "There's no other choice."

"We have no time for it." Archer was stroking his chin, remembering something. "Dead Apostles have powerful territorial protection, kind of Bounded Fields, full of shadows and darkness. No one is able to cross them uninvited, even very skilled magi may seek the entrance for years…"

Nameless 'Servant' chuckled quietly, breaking the silence after Archer's explanation. All eyes focused on him.

"I've seen this field. It's huge, it covers entire Mount Enzou."

"I see." Sakura smiled gently to him. "You truly are the Master of Shadows."

"And maybe you can break through this barrier?" – Lancer asked, playing with a shrimp, teasing Bazett, who did not manage to grab it first from the plate.

"I don't know. I've never tried it."

"So we will try," Caren decided. "But how we will kill this thing?"

Again Archer took the explaining part on himself.

"It depends what kind of creature it is. Vampires are hard to kill, because they're messing with the flow of time."

"Like Gáe Bolg does." Cú Chulainn smiled, sharing this last shrimp with desperate Bazett at last. "Or Fragarach. We've used it many times against them and it worked."

"It may, unless it's a shapeshifter."

"Or something worse."

Rin sighed heavily.

"Ok, so we discussed this Dead Apostle, but what about the shapeless darkness? What is it anyway?"

Lancer and his Master exchanged meaningful glances. Bazett took a deep breath and said:

"I'm afraid these are the remnants of the Grail. Or rather incorporeal parts of the Servant who was imprisoned within it."

These, who were the most affected by the blackening, were now visibly worried, except the nameless guy. His face remained emotionless and he was looking through the window, interested only in owl's hooting coming from the garden.

"So it probably cannot be wounded normally," Sakura concluded, a little nervous. "But powerful magic should be enough."

"We may ask Executors for help," Aoi suggested, looking at Caren. Tohsakas always had friends in the Church and she did not doubt their loyalty.

"We don't need them." The priestess said with full conviction. "We have a power of many Executors here, we will use it if necessary."

Rin noticed that Caren's 'Servant' glanced at the girl with a strange emotion, similar to sadness.

He is worried? Afraid of unleashing his powers?

Tohsaka, already tired and almost with a headache from information overload, clapped her hands and stood up.

"Right. We can barely call it a plan, but it's still something. I suggest everyone to take some rest while we still can."

They agreed and went to their rooms, only Archer was still with Rin, cleaning and just keeping her company. She drank some wine, sat on her favourite chair and stretched out her legs.

"Archer… You're not curious about him?"

"You mean this almost Counter Guardian?" He glanced at Tohsaka and she nodded. "No. Why should I?"

"To know what exactly happened in that timeline? You don't want to talk with him?"

He was thinking for a while, then closed his eyes and said calmly:

"I don't think we have anything to talk about. Or rather I don't think we should talk in the first place."

Rin understood. Other timelines had no meaning for him now, he had suffered enough already because of them. It was insatiable curiosity of Tohsaka that made her ask such questions and disturb his peace.

"I see. But I have some questions for him, if you don't mind."

"I don't." Archer smiled; Rin knew that he was not lying and appreciated how much he trusted her. "I'll go feed the cats with leftovers, so take your time."

"And if it takes much longer?"

His smile widened, like he was expecting some fun.

"Then I'll kick our Lord's ass once more." He chuckled, seeing her surprise. "In a video game, don't worry."

"You're both childish… " She rolled her eyes, but also smirked. "I have bad luck for guys, definitely."

"It could be worse, Rin, so don't complain."

"True." She finished her wine and stood up, to find some grumpy Servant and question him mercilessly.

Cats were nowhere to be found and Archer could tell easily, what terrified them enough to abandon the meal. Even he felt a sudden shiver, when undead owl flew down from the tree, leading him to the street. The fact that bullet in his chest started to resonate painfully was even worse.

"What do you want, Taika?"

Red-haired approached him with a thin smile.

"What a rude welcome from my pet. Tell me you missed me."

"We had a deal, I'm not your 'pet' anymore." Archer's voice was colder than ice.

"Oh, really? But you're still have my bullet in your chest, right? Do you want it to explode?"

If gaze could kill, Taika would be already dead. She laughed.

"Relax, I'm on your side now." Woman tried to reach his neck, but Archer stepped back, not letting her touch him. "I've heard your little council, I know what you are planning to do. I want this bastard dead, so I'll help you."

He did not believe her, already aware of her treacherous nature.

"And you came here just to inform me about it?"

"Yes. So you won't let your possessive sisters kill me if we meet on the battlefield. That's all I ask."

Archer gave her a strange look, full of doubts and hidden anger.

"Why are you like this, Taika?" – he asked, sorrow in his voice. "You have no human emotions?"

"I suppose I don't." She looked him in the eyes, piercing him with this northern blue cold. "I've learned long ago that people are only flesh and bones, a rotting meat powered by chemistry and electricity. And heart is just a pump, there's nothing more inside."

Suddenly Archer realized that he cannot hate her anymore. He just felt sorry for her.

"No one has ever loved you?"

"No, it would not make any sense, right?" She smiled. "I find this so-called 'bond' of the three of you very interesting. I think I will be observing it longer."

"Don't you…"

Archer could not finish the sentence, when shadows came from beneath the Mount Enzou in a sudden explosion. It looked like an eruption of volcano, but its cone was filling the sky with darkness.

Taika reached out her arm to let her owl sit on it. She caressed rotten head of the bird.

"So it's started."