Beep...beep...beep...beep...
There was a beeping noise. Some sort of machine. She sniffed the air. It was clean, with the faint smell of chemicals, tickling her nostrils. The sun was bright and warm against her face. Her arm-
No, don't think about that yet, she thought, focusing on other things. She wasn't fully dressed. Her legs, at least, were bare. She wasn't wearing shoes or socks. There was cloth around her. It was warm and clean. A blanket. There were voices nearby. She couldn't hear them clearly, so she took a risk and reinforced her ears.
"-calling it a miracle," one voice, a younger female said.
"Well it did happen at a temple. If there would be a miracle, wouldn't it happen there?" an older women replied.
A miracle? The Grail War is on. Was someone spotted? Do I need to clean this up?
"Still what are the odds that a meteorite would hit here?"
"About the same as anywhere else on the planet? We should just be thankful that it landed outside of town and that no one was hurt."
Okay that's it. I need more information and listening in is just confusing me, Bazett opened her eyes. She blinked, trying to clear the gunk out of her eyes. She went to raise her hand to wipe her eyes, her blood going cold when nothing responded. My arm-
. .beep. The heart monitor caught her growing panic. Her door opened and the nurses outside the door rushed in.
"Miss, you're awake!" the younger of the two exclaimed, seeing Bazett's open, teary eyes. "It's okay, you're safe here," she added.
"It's okay Miss. You're safe. We won't let anyone hurt you," the other nurse said. "It's okay to cry. It's normal, it's natural. No one will think less of you if you need a good cry right now." Bazett hated herself, but at the nurse's words tears began to drip from her eyes, and Bazett did her best to muffle her sobs with her remaining arm. After a few minutes she regained her composure, but before she could speak one of the nurses interrupted her.
"Oh no, Miss, don't try and speak yet. You've been unconscious for a couple days now. You need to drink some water before you try speaking," the younger nurse said, rushing to fill a cup with water, and gently bringing it up to Bazett's lips.
"And now that you're awake, let's remove that IV," the other nurse said, gently pulling the needle free, and quickly bandaging the vein it was inserted in. Bazett allowed their ministrations, closing her eyes and focusing on herself.
I'm alive. And in a hospital. How? I was unable to move, bleeding out, and in a barrier that should keep any random person from entering. Lancer, At the thought, Bazett's eyes began to water again, but she angrily blinked away the tears. My Servant would have been ordered to leave me to die. And there is no way the Inquisitor would have shown me mercy.
"-," Bazett tried to speak, and felt a momentary surge of panic when no noise came from her throat. She coughed, and took another sip of the offered soup. "H-how?" she asked, her voice still weak.
"A pair of young girls brought you here," the older nurse said, understanding the question. "They left their phone numbers if you want to contact them." Bazett smiled in thanks.
"My stuff?" she rasped.
"You shirt was ruined, so it was incinerated," the younger nurse said. "You shoes and pants were washed and will be waiting for you at the check out. We'll give you a new shirt, so don't worry about that."
"Anything else?" Bazett said, shaking her head.
"The girls didn't bring anything else with them. Ah, are you missing your wallet? Were you robbed?" the younger nurse asked, getting excited. Bazett shook her head. "Oh. Um, what is your name Miss? The girls didn't have a name to give us."
"I'm Bazett Fraga McRemitz," Bazett said. "Who were the girls who saved me?"
"Let me check," the younger nurse bustled off. The older nurse stayed behind, refilling Bazett's soup.
"It was quite strange. The two girls showed up out of nowhere, late at night, carrying you. And you were barely bleeding even though you had such a horrible wound. And the address they said they found you at! It was so far away! And yet they carried you all that way instead of calling an ambulance," the older nurse chatted as Bazett enjoyed her soup. Sighing, Bazett caught the nurse's eye, hypnotizing her with a glance.
"Such oddities and unimportant and not worth mentioning," she said, enforcing her order with the smallest bit of magic possible. The nurse nodded, blinked, and was free of the hypnosis.
"My, where had my mind gone? I've completely lost my train of thought," the older nurse said, and the younger nurse returned.
"The two girls were Fate Testarossa Harlaown and Nanoha Takamachi," the younger nurse said.
"Thanks," Bazett said, with a smile as she tried to rise from the bed.
"Ah, Miss McRemitz, you mustn't do that!" the younger nurse said, rushing over to gently push Bazett back down. Bazett didn't resist. She didn't have the strength to. When she pushed herself up, she was terrified by how weak her ordeal had left her.
"You just stay here, and eat your soup. It'll be another couple of days before you can even think about walking," the older nurse said, sternly.
Looks like I'm stuck. Well this isn't the worst. That Inquisitor doesn't know I'm here, or else I'd already be dead. And if the girls meant me harm, they would've left me to die, or at least, kept me prisoner. Still, it's very strange. Those girls were definitely magi. And one of them is from Japan going by their names. Perhaps a Master and their Servant? But why would they save me? Bazett thought, as her eyes slowly drifted closed. I suppose it isn't truly important. They did save me and that is a debt to be repaid. But more critically my Servant was stolen and I was betrayed. That is something I must address as soon as I am well.
/*/
They watched the news while Shirou cleaned up from breakfast. The top story was all about the miraculous events of last night, how the priests of the temple were warned in their sleep that a meteorite would fall upon their home, allowing them to evacuate safely.
"You got quite lucky that the ordinary people of this town came up with such a convenient excuse," Caster's disembodied voice said from beside Souichirou.
"No more lucky then you were when I was able to form a contract with you before you entirely faded away," Fate snapped. "Though truthfully, we've never had to worry about hiding our magic. Just keep it out of sight and people will come up with their own reasons to explain what happened," she added in a nicer tone of voice.
"Like at the school," Shirou said, returning to the dining table. "Everyone just decided it was a gas leak even though there was no evidence of it."
"Exactly," Fate replied.
"Well then. Now that we have eaten and rested it's time we began this war meeting," Saber said. "Wake Lady Nanoha so that we may begin."
"I'd rather not," Fate said, frowning. "The fact that our voices haven't woken her up proves how exhausted she is," she gestured to the slumbering Nanoha, who was currently using Fate's lap as a pillow. "Also, I'd rather she isn't awake to argue about what I have to say."
"And what's that?" Saber asked.
"Nanoha can't fight right now. She pushed herself too far with that damn Blaster System of hers. That alone would be bad enough, but she then handled that Starlight breaker," Fate said. "It simply had too much mana for even Nanoha to handle safely. As a result, she suffering from mana poisoning. Before you ask, it's a condition where trace amounts of mana get stuck inside the cells of your body. With time the magic slowly pulls out of the body, and returns to the world. In small doses it's excruciating and tiring in the extreme. In major cases, it's lethal as the mana tears tiny holes in your organs as it escapes. Using any magic at all just exacerbates the condition as you end up pumping more mana into your body."
"And Nanoha is suffering from that?" Sakura asked, her hands held over her mouth in shock.
"Yes. Judging from her current condition it'll be a couple weeks until Nanoha can safely use magic again," Fate said.
"So what's wrong with Nanoha being awake when you tell us that?" Shirou asked, scratching his head.
"She'd deny it. She'd try and fight even if doing so would tear her apart," Fate said, flatly.
"That is not good," Saber said. "I must confess, I am not in the best condition myself."
"What's wrong?" Fate asked.
"Excalibur takes a lot of mana to operate, and Shirou is unable to recharge my depleted reserves at any speed. I estimate I can use Excalibur one more time before running out of mana entirely," Saber said.
"I'm sorry. If I wasn't such a useless Master, you wouldn't be in this position," Shirou apologized. Saber grimaced.
"It's alright Shirou. We will make due. Besides, we are almost to the end of the Holy Grail. With Caster's defeat, we need only defeat Archer and Lancer, before facing Berserker," Saber said.
"Easier said than done," Caster said, still dematerialized. "Are you sure you can afford to have me just sitting on the sidelines while you fight?"
"Yes. I will not give you any more mana than the bare minimum to keep you alive," Fate said, sternly.
"Are you sure? I can be quite the valuable ally," Caster said.
"You had your chance to be our ally," Fate snapped. "Did you really think there would be no consequences for fighting us? We may not kill you, but you ruined any chance of being our friend and ally. Instead you'll remain our prisoner until you can properly face judgment."
"Well-"
"And furthermore, you have almost no mana left of your own. Souichirou can't provide you with any. So for you to be effective, I would have to power all of your spells anyways, since there is no chance that we would allow you to resume feeding off the people of the city," Fate added, cutting Caster off.
"Mmm," Nanoha stirred, reaching a hand up to pat Fate's head. "Don't be angry Fate," she mumbled. Fate froze for a second, before gently grabbing Nanoha's hand and giving it a gentle squeeze.
"Sorry," she said, smiling down at Nanoha, who smiled back and snuggled deeper into Fate's lap.
"I approve," Saber said. "Trusting a foe with your back is always risky, but even more so when they've made it clear that they are dishonourable and treacherous. As is, I am unclear why we have not more rigorously secured Souichirou."
"I will not take any action that will risk Caster's life," Souichirou said, speaking for the first time that day.
"Besides, without Caster's magic augmenting his blows he shouldn't be able to break through my shields or your armour," Fate said.
"He is still a threat. Perhaps not to the two of us, but he could strike at Nanoha, Sakura, or Shirou with ease. And with how skilled of a martial artist he is, I am not confident in our ability to prevent him from doing so," Saber argued. Fate paused, then nodded.
"True enough. Bardiche?" Fate said, raising her necklace. Bardiche flashed yellow, and yellow chains encircled Souichirou's wrists and ankles. "There, that should hobble his combat efficiency without crippling his day to day life."
"This is acceptable," Souichirou said. Sensing the magic, Nanoha yawned, blinking her eyes and sitting up. She still leaned against Fate, but was otherwise awake.
"Speaking of prisoners, what of Issei and Shinji?" Shirou asked.
"Issei has already left," Sakura said. "Fate released his bindings last night, and he woke up very early this morning. When I told him what happened, he rushed off to the temple."
"Well okay. That just leave Shinji. What should we do with him?" Shirou asked. An awkward silence fell on the table.
"I analyzed Shinji yesterday. He has no magical energy at all. And I mean none. Even a tree or blade of grass has some magical energy, but him? Nothing," Fate said. "Ah, sorry, I got distracted. The point is, that since he's not a mage, the TSAB's usual punishment for inhabitants of Unadministered worlds would be completely ineffective."
"What is the normal punishment for mages on Unadministered worlds?" Shirou asked.
"The mage's magic is sealed for a certain period of time, or even permanently if the crime is great enough," Nanoha said, sleepily.
"And since Shinji has no magic, that wouldn't do anything," Fate finished.
"Is that all? Does the TSAB not believe in imprisoning its criminals?" Saber asked, puzzled.
"No, they do. The problem is that Earth is an Unadministered world, which means the TSAB only intervenes here for two reasons, to prevent the activation of Lost Logia, and to prevent alien mages from abusing the native residents," Fate explained. "Shinji is technically guilty of the first, but even if he was a full mage, he would still not technically be under the TSAB's jurisdiction. They would seal his magic to prevent him from trying to repeat his crimes, but would otherwise turn him over to local authorities and allow them to punish him."
"And how would the local mages punish him?" Nanoha asked.
"Oh they almost certainly would kill him," Caster replied.
"Please no. My brother may have issues, but I don't want him to die," Sakura pleaded.
"I'm also not comfortable with giving Shinji to the Mage's Association, particularly if it means he'll be killed. That's no better than us killing him ourselves," Shirou said. Sakura shot him an appreciative smile.
"I understand your feelings, but Shinji is a monster," Saber said, leaning forward. "He has assaulted at least one girl, and tried to murder the entire school. He may have also killed who knows how many other girls in the city. He must be punished."
"Well it's not like the Mage's Association will actually be punishing him for that," Sakura said, bitterly. "They'll only kill him because he almost revealed magic. In their eyes, Shinji's only sin is failure."
"So the Mage's Association is out. And so is the TSAB. Who does that leave?" Shirou asked.
"Why the rest of humanity of course," Caster said, amused.
"What do you mean?" Nanoha asked.
"It's as my lovely Saber said, that trash of a human being is guilty of many crimes. So frame him for those crimes," Caster said, smugly.
"What? But framing someone is against the law," Fate said, frowning.
"Perhaps. But don't think of it s framing him. After all, he did do those horrible things. We are just presenting his crimes to the police in a manner they will understand," Caster said.
"I suppose so. But how would we go about actually framing him?" Nanoha asked.
"Just hypnotize a teacher and a couple of cops," Caster suggested.
"No, that wouldn't work," Fate said. "Without actual evidence present, it's unlikely that Shinji would be convicted. The Matous are rich, and he is a minor. It's certainly be a problem for them, but in all likelihood, Shinji would go free."
"Grampa wouldn't allow Shinji to go to prison, not if freeing him was as easy as just undoing some hypnosis, or hypnotizing a few people himself," Sakura added. "If we want Shinji to actually stay in prison the proof needs to be ironclad, and hard to remove."
"A video then," Nanoha said. "Raising Heart can create a fake video of Shinji sabotaging the gas pipes in the school. Or of attacking one of his victims."
"Won't the police be able to tell it's fake?" Shirou asked.
"No. Our Devices can already simulate full combat scenarios for training purposes. A simple video would be relatively easy," Fate said. "On that note, Bardiche will be creating the video. Raising Heart was also damaged in the fight with Caster and is undergoing autorepairs."
"Mm," Nanoha hummed, nodding.
"I'll leave that to you then," Saber said. "In the meantime, what should our next course of action be?" The others exchanged glances, before Fate shrugged.
"Rest I suppose," she said. "Nanoha is out of commission, you're tired, and I haven't fully healed from my fight with Souichirou either. Supporting Caster isn't easy either. I'm not going to be able to fight at full effectiveness in our next battle. Thankfully my fighting style isn't as mana hungry as Nanoha's is."
"I can still fight in an emergency," Nanoha protested. Everyone else ignored her, and she pouted.
"Tch, I suppose you are correct, though it is galling to sit back and do nothing," Saber said, clicking her tongue. "However we must be on guard. Right now, we are very vulnerable and can't afford to fight. So we need to think of ways we can defend this place if we are attacked, or other ways to prepare." The group was silent.
"I can step up my training," Shirou offered. "Saber, you've been great. But perhaps Nanoha or Fate could try teaching me some of their magic?"
"Sure!" Nanoha said, smiling. "I can help with that. Raising Heart has some really nice training programs."
"Umm, I'm not very good at magic," Sakura said, shrinking down in her seat. "But, in an emergency, I could have Rider fight?"
"I'm not comfortable with that. Your condition is fragile enough and the strain of running a Servant at full power could do some serious damage," Fate said frowning.
"Regardless, it may come to that," Saber said. She held up a hand to stop Fate from speaking. "I agree that Sakura is in no condition to fight, and I don't like the idea of trusting Rider in a fight, but we might not have a choice. If we are attacked by Servants, they would likely kill Sakura, so she really has nothing to lose."
"It won't be necessary. We can protect her without her having to fight," Nanoha said, confidently. Saber looked at Nanoha doubtfully and before arching an eyebrow at Fate. Fate sighed and nodded.
"I'll teach Sakura how to remove the bindings on Rider. I don't like it, but being helpless while your family is fighting around you is an awful experience," Fate said. "That being said, if we are attacked, our first move should be to retreat. There's nothing absolutely critical here that we cannot abandon. In fact, I could teleport us off planet and we could spend a week camping to rest."
"That's amazing," Caster sighed, longingly. "Functional Second Magic, and you treat it as mundanely as taking a bus across town." She paused. "Ahem. It's not a good idea though. The Grail is helping support our existence. Leaving the planet, even leaving the town, would make it much more difficult to sustain our bodies. You might be able to handle it Fate, but I'm not so confident that our sickly little flower over there could, or the boy."
"It's a fine idea though. We should look into setting up a secondary base we can fall back to if we are attacked," Saber said.
"One final thing. I might have a way to refill your mana faster Saber," Fate said. "I'll look into it, make sure it actually works first."
"That's wonderful!" Saber said, smiling. "If that's all, then let us begin the day's tasks. Shirou, I await you in the dojo."
/*/
Fate and Nanoha remained behind at the table when everyone else had left. "So umm," Nanoha began.
"Yes, Nanoha?" Fate asked.
"Umm, Nyhaha, could you um, give me a hand up? My feet seem to have fallen asleep," Nanoha asked. Rather than help her up, Fate picked her up in a bridal carry.
"You shouldn't lie to me, Nanoha," Fate said, kissing Nanoha on the nose.
"Nyhahaha," Nanoha giggled, wiggling a little bit. "I don't know what you're talking about."
"Yes, you do," Fate said. "Silly girl, you can relax and heal okay? I'll protect everyone for a little while." She carried Nanoha to their room, and had just gotten her settled in bed when there was a knock of the door.
"Umm, hi Fate," Sakura said, nervously. She fidgeted, gazing anxiously at Fate.
"Hi Sakura, how can I help you?" Fate asked, a bemused smile on her face.
"Oh, I don't need help with anything. I just, um," Sakura said, fidgeting some more, "I thought of something I might be able to do to help Nanoha heal."
"Really? What's that?" Fate asked.
"My magic, that is to say, the Matou magic, is based around taking," Sakura said. "So, I thought, I might be able to take the magic out of Nanoha's body."
"That's great news," Fate said, smiling. Sakura looked away, "what's wrong Sakura?" she asked. Sakura flinched a little before meeting Fate's gaze.
"I don't know if it'll work. I've never done something like that before," Sakura said. "Also..." she trailed off.
"Also what?" Fate asked patiently. Sakura blushed, stepped forward and whispered something in Fate's ear.
"Ah. Well, um, that's a bit of a problem," Fate said, blushing herself. "Well. Ahem. I'll stay with Nanoha the whole time, and make sure you don't, um, lose control." Sakura just nodded, blushing too fiercely to speak. They entered the room together, and Sakura explained to Nanoha why she was there.
"It's probably going to hurt a bunch, and I don't know if it'll work," Sakura said, finishing her explanation.
"Nyhaha, well, let's give it a shot," Nanoha said cheerfully, from where she was lying in bed. "If it'll get me back in the sky sooner, then I can handle a little pain."
"O-okay then. Here goes," Sakura said, taking a deep breath. She began to murmur a chant under her breath, before leaning forward and lightly kissing Nanoha on the forehead. Nanoha stiffened, her face paling, as Sakura pushed her lips more firmly against Nanoha. When she pulled away, her cheeks were lightly flushed, and there was a lip shaped bruise on Nanoha's forehead.
"Did it work?" Nanoha asked, her voice faint.
"Oh yes," Sakura breathed, as Fate double checked Nanoha's condition with Bardiche.
"It is working," Fate said reluctantly. "She'll have to kiss you all over your body, but she's pulling the mana out quickly. But I don't like it. Forcing the mana out is damaging your body, and we won't be able to heal it until you've fully recovered."
"But I'll be better in a matter of days instead of weeks right?" Nanoha asked. "Then it's worth it. I can handle it." Contrary to her words her hand shot out and grabbed Fate's. Fate felt her squeeze her hand tightly as Sakura bent down for another kiss.
/*/
Shirou was walking down the hallway to the bath. He stretched his sore muscles and rubbed at the bruises on his head.
"Geeze, Saber doesn't know how to hold back. Still, I can feel myself getting better. I can actually last a couple of passes before she hits me with her sword," Shirou said to himself. "Now I'll just take a quick shower and then go buy some groceries for lunch and dinner."
"Senpai?" a warm, dazed voice asked.
"Huh? Sakura? What's wrong?" Shirou asked, seeing Sakura slumped on the floor in front of the bathroom. Her hair was wet, she had clearly just finished using the bath herself. Oddly, her clothes were soaked, as if she hadn't bothered getting changed before entering the bath. Shirou quickly moved to help Sakura up, but was tackled by her instead.
"Hehehe, Senpai," Sakura giggled, squeezing her still wet body against Shirou. The water dripping from here clothes was cold, but Sakura's skin was feverish. "I caaaught youuu," she sang, nuzzling into Shirou's chest.
"Sakura! You're burning up! And, you're, all, um," Shirou stuttered, his arms flailing comically as he tried to figure out a way to push Sakura off him without actually touching her.
"Wet?" Sakura said, suggestively.
"No!" Shirou yelped. "I mean, your breasts are,-" Shirou bit his tongue, trying to restore his rapidly fading sanity. Sakura didn't seem to notice.
"Hey Senpai," Sakura said, her eyes lidded. "I was good Senpai, do I get a reward?"
"Good?" Shirou asked.
"Emhm," Sakura hummed. "I pulled the mana out of Nanoha's body so she can heal faster. And it felt amazing," Sakura breathed. "Does it always feel so good to help people, Senpai? Is that why you're such a good person?"
"Huh? I'm not that good of a person, and-" Shirou said, his mind freezing as Sakura shifted her body, inching up towards his face.
"You are," Sakura said, her breath tickling Shirou's neck. "You're going to save me. You and Nanoha. But Nanoha has Fate, and Fate has Nanoha. They won't steal you from me. Once they cure me, I'll be able to stay with you." Her words sent ice down Shirou spine, allowing him to finally think clearly again.
"Cure you? Save you? Sakura, how sick are you?" Shirou asked, grabbing Sakura by the shoulders and pulling her away from him.
"Senpai," she said, gazing into his eyes. She tried to push closer, but Shirou held her still. "Senpai, don't you love me?" she asked, pouting.
"What's going on here?" Saber asked, suddenly showing up. "I thought you would be preparing lunch, Shirou." Shirou breathed a quick sigh of relief.
"Saber, thank goodness you're here. Sakura's not in her right mind right now," Shirou said, silently begging Saber for help.
"I understand," Saber said, coming over and pulling Sakura off of Shirou.
"No, stop it! You can't have Senpai, don't steal him away from me," Sakura hissed, batting ineffectually at Saber with her hands.
"I'll take her to her room. Rider can watch over her until she snaps out of it," Saber said, carrying Sakura away who was flailing the entire time. Shirou just watched them go.
"What on Earth do I do about that?" Shirou asked himself.
/*/
So what can I do? Sakura is really sick, but she's not telling me how sick she is. But apparently Nanoha can cure her? So are they just waiting for Nanoha to recover first? Or perhaps they meant that Nanoha knows someone who can heal her? Which is good news I guess. But how long has Sakura been sick? From how she was talking it seems like it's been a long time. And her sickness sounds serious, like she isn't expecting to survive serious. And that she's, she's been in love with me? I think? I mean she did do, umm, all of that. I'm pretty sure that means she's in love with me. But on the other hand she clearly wasn't in her right mind. Maybe Sakura just gets like that when she's drunk. I think Taiga said something about affectionate drunks, so if I give Sakura some alcohol she'd... Shirou shook his head, focusing on his shopping and trying to push what happened out of his thoughts. For all of of a minute before he started thinking about what happened once again as he did his shopping.
"Hey, Onii-chan!" a voice yelled at him, sounding cross.
"Wha?" Shirou started, looking around wildly.
"Down here, Onii-chan," Illya said, glaring at him. "Don't you know it's rude to ignore a lady?"
"Ah, sorry Illya! I mean, Illyasviel! Sorry," Shirou said, bowing in apology.
"Mmmmm," Illya growled.
"I didn't mean to make you mad, I just blurted it out without thinking, sorry," Shirou apologized again.
"What's your name?" Illya asked.
"Huh?"
"It's not fair that you haven't told me your name. I introduced myself in our first meeting, but you still haven't told me yours," Illya said.
"Ah, that's true. I'm Shirou Emiya. It's nice to meet you," Shirou said, politely.
"Shirou huh? Shirou. Yeah! I like that name Shirou, it's pretty and it suits you," Illya said, cheerfully. "Just for that, I'll forgive you for what you just did," she added, hugging Shirou's arm.
"Huh? Illyasviel!" Shirou gasped, swinging his arm about. Illya just giggled as she clung to Shirou, enjoying being swung around.
"No, no, Shirou. Call me Illya!" she said.
"Okay, Illya. So why are you here? Are you planning on fighting?" Shirou asked, stiffing up at the memory of Berserker.
"Why do you want to fight?" Illya asked. "Because I can call Berserker if you really want to."
"N-no, I don't want to fight," Shirou said.
"Right?" Illya said, clasping her hands behind her back, and smiling cutely at Shirou. "Fighting between Masters is at night. Since it's day, we can talk and play all we want!"
"Umm, yeah," Shirou said, awkwardly. Illya didn't seem to notice, grabbing Shirou's hands and dragging him away.
"Come on, come on, I want to show you a park I found," Illya said, as she ran. She brought them to a deserted park, where she sat on a nearby bench and patted the spot beside her for Shirou to sit down in.
"So was there any reason in particular you wanted to talk to me?" Shirou asked.
"Not really, I just wanted to talk," Illya said. They sat in an awkward silence for a minute or two.
"Soooo," Shirou started. "Did you have any questions or something to ask? I mean, I was kinda expecting you had something you wanted to know, but well, you aren't saying anything. You're just kicking your feet and watching the sky."
"Well do you promise not to get mad?" Illya asked, nervously. "It is kinda important."
"I promise," Shirou said.
"Do you like me?"
"Phh, what? What do you mean do I like you?" Shirou yelled, standing up.
"You promised you wouldn't get mad!" Illya yelled back, tears gathering in the corners of her eyes. "Liar liar Shirou!"
"I'm sorry, but this is ridiculous! First Sakura asks me if I love her, and now Illya shows up randomly asking me if I like you, and it's just all so crazy! The last time I saw you, you were trying to kill me, and now you're all happy and cheerful like it never happened!" Shirou shouted frustrated. Illya pouted, and turned to run away, but Shirou caught her wrist before she could get anywhere. The air went still as Shirou felt the raw power that Illya was gathering to strike him down.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to yell," Shirou apologized, bowing. "I was just so surprised."
"So?" Illya demanded, still frowning. "What's the answer to my question?"
"I don't hate you," Shirou admitted. "I'd really like to get to know you better as well. Okay Illya? So how about you ask me another question?"
"Hmm, okay," Illya said, sitting back down. "So, who's this Sakura girl? The one who asked if you love her? Is she your girlfriend?" Shirou blushed, and explained how Sakura had started coming over to her house, and just sorted inserted herself into his life. He finished with the recent discovery that she was a Master in the Grail War and a sanitized version of her behaviour today.
"And then what?" Illya asked, bouncing in place. Shirou hesitated, and Illya frowned. "You didn't give her an answer did you? Geeze Onii-chan, do you know how mean that is? She basically confessed to you, and you blew her off! The first thing you do when you get home is apologize to her, got it?"
"Oh, I'm sorry," Shirou said.
"Not to me," Illya said, slapping Shirou's shoulder with mock rage. "You can't treat a lady like that, didn't anyone teach you any better? Though of course you can't date her yet."
"Huh? Why not?"
"Well, she has to get permission from me first, naturally," Illya said, smiling innocently. Shirou was struck speechless, and before he could regain his composure, Illya was asking him more questions about his daily life. He answered them, and they chatted for an hour in the cool winter air. Finally Illya stood up from the bench.
"It's been fun Shirou," she said, starting to walk away. She paused and spun around. "I lied earlier. I did have a reason for seeking you out. There's something really weird going on with this Grail War, and I wanted to see if you were responsible for damaging it. But, no offence Onii-chan, you're far too dumb to pull something like that off."
"And what will you do once you find the person responsible?" Shirou asked, his stomach sinking.
"Why, kill them of course," Illya said, with a brilliant smile.
/*/
A voice called upon the Grail. The sword of the false Assassin was used as a catalyst. A subtle backdoor was called upon, one that only the original creator of said backdoor could access. The Grail was informed of a mistake. The Assassin card had not been properly drawn. And now a Master was calling upon it to summon the appropriate Servant.
Overall, the summoning was perfect. The conditions may have been subpar, and the catalyst was nothing more than an illusionary blade, but every requirement was checked of and the Grail complied. It opened a passage to bring a Heroic Spirit into the real world. But it was damaged. Hearing the call, and sensing the passage, the contents known as Angra Mainyu flowed down it, spilling out into the summoning circle that was meant to hold a Servant.
"What?" a dry, raspy voice said. Angra Mainyu couldn't sense things, not in the conventional sense. But it could 'see' the monster's true form in front of it. And he could see its magic. Angra Mainyu rushed forward in a wave of black mud. The man split apart, trying to flee, but the bugs were caught by the mud, and began choking on it. The soul prepared to flee, but the mud chased it. It wasn't truly mud, but the manifestation of sin. And oh, how the old monster had sinned. Again and again throughout the centuries it had murdered, lied, abused, and corrupted. The sins it had committed over its long life called to All the World's Evils, allowing Angra Mainyu to grab the monster's very soul.
Do not fear, Angra Mainyu promised the monster's soul. I shall grant my Master's wish. What do you wish for?
"I want...to live...forever!" The old monster coughed out, the many bugs of its body still trying to wiggle free.
Is that all? How easy. Angra Mainyu replied. The mud writhed, penetrating every last iota of the monster's soul. All around the city the bug familiars of Zouken Matou darkened until they were little black blobs. Even the tiny worm inside Sakura's heart turned black. You shall live forever inside me. And in doing so you shall outlive the world. Well, not that the world has much time left.
Zouken couldn't reply, he no longer had the will to do so. All he could do is observe, as the black bugs fused together to create a body. It was the body of a young Russian man. He was tall, with a noble bearing, and a cruel face. His hair was black, and his pale skin was crisscrossed with strange black tattoos, spelling words in a dead language, or forming strange symbols. His only clothes were red rags, that he wore wrapped around his waist.
"Hahaha, oh this is wonderful," Angra Mainyu chortled to himself, as he walked up the stairs to the main floor of the Matou mansion.
"Who the hell are you supposed to be?" Archer asked. He and Rin were waiting in the dining room, and had been expecting Zouken and his new Servant. Not this half naked man alone, whose aura was almost sickening to behold.
"Good day my wonderful allies," Angra Mainyu said, cheerfully. "I'm the Heroic Spirit summoned by Zouken. You can call me Avenger."
Author's Notes: Time to kick off the second arc!
Magic Poisoning is something that does exist in Nanoha, it's whatever was killing Percia in the first season. She got a lethal does from a magical reactor overloading when she well within the blast radius. But any other canon details are vague, so I just made something up for it's conditions and how it's actually hurting it's victim.
On that note, I made up Sakura's magic. She's described as being so bad at magic, that Shriou is better than her. However, this is a simple spell, and something that falls directly into the whole Matou theme of 'take.' The whole lust from magic is canon though. Using magic wakes her worms which both hurts and arouses her. Which also just happens on it's own. Because porn. Needless to say, writing Sakura's scene was uncomfortable.
Finally Avenger being summoned. I want to give full warning here, he's going to have abilities he's never shown before in canon, since this isn't just Avenger, this is Avenger with the full power of the Holy Grail behind him. So in addition to his normal stuff, he can see Master's and Servant's wishes, has infinite regeneration, and more as you'll see. Oh, plus everything Zouken was capable of.