ACT XII - Bow and Crown
Shirou woke up the next morning to Saber moving around him to get herself up. When she noticed he was awake she turned to him and smiled, "Good morning Shirou." She greeted him warmly. He sat up and returned her greeting.
Shirou got himself out of bed and prepared himself to use the shower in the small house. As he undressed himself he examined his chest where Akiha had bitten him the the night before. It looked alot worse than he'd previously thought, like a small chunk had been taken out of it. He shrugged at himself, finishing up his shower and pulling his armor on. He walked to find Saber just pulling her shirt down. She grabbed the ribbon she normally tied in a bow around her neck before Shirou grabbed her hand to stop her. "Shirou? What are you doing?" She asked in a surprised voice, her cheeks flushing a little.
"Let me do that. I've always wanted to do it at least once." Shirou replied after grabbing hold of the silky blue ribbon and sliding it out of Saber's hand. She was usually the one that took care of him and he rarely got to repay the favor. Since they had been reunited they rarely had time on their own and it has been hard to do intimate things that a normal couple do. Just then it dawned on Shirou, he had started thinking of he and Saber as a couple. The more he thought about it, the more it turned out to be true. Both of them cared greatly for one another yet neither have really expressed their feelings to one another.
"If that is what you wish." She said and turned around to allow Shirou to slip the ribbon around her neck and tie it into a bow. Letting him do this almost made her feel at home and relaxed, there wouldn't be much time to do carefree things once they were on the road. Once the ribbon was secured around her neck Saber turned around and gave Shirou a faint smile, "Thank you." She said and the both of them walked to the door together to prepare to have breakfast one last time with the Tohnos.
They opened the back door and entered the dining area where Hisui was setting up the dishes. "Good morning Shirou-san and Saber-san." She greeted them with a bow.
"Good morning Hisui-san." Shirou and Saber greeted her in unison.
"Shirou-san, your presence was requested by Akiha-sama and my sister. I believe they are in Akiha-sama's room." She said before turning to walk away to attend to her other duties.
Shirou wondered what the two of them together could want, so he headed upstairs followed closely by Saber. "Shirou, what do you think they could want?" She asked him as they turned into the west wing where Akiha's room was.
"It probably has to do with last night." Shirou sighed, "I told Akiha not to worry about it, she probably still feels guilty." He thought out loud.
Saber had a curious look on her face as she clearly didn't understand what was going on. What had Akiha done that she would have to feel guilty about? Shirou grabbed the knob and opened the door to find both Akiha and Kohaku sitting on Akiha's bed. Kohaku had a first aid kit in her hand. Saber followed Shirou into the room and stood beside him.
"Akiha... didn't I tell you not to worry about it?" Shirou said however Akiha had a sullen look on her face that almost made him feel bad.
"That won't do Shirou-san." Kohaku said and wagged her finger at him. "Akiha-sama feels guilty, if anything it would give her some peace of mind to at least let me look at you." It appeared that Akiha had already told her what had happened last night, and having been worried about him had asked Kohaku to look at his wound.
"It is just as Kohaku says. It would make me feel a lot better." She then turned her attention to Saber. "Pardon me for not greeting you earlier Saber-san, I have some business with Shirou." She apologized politely to Saber.
"That is fine, but what sort of business? Did something happen to him?" Saber asked. Something had happened to Shirou that Akiha felt guilty about but she had no idea what it could be.
"I am trying to get Shirou to reveal it, but it seems he is being as stubborn as my brother." She sighed and brushed a lock of her hair behind her ear.
"Alright, alright. You win Akiha, if it will make you feel better." Shirou reluctantly began to unclasp his armor. He thought Akiha was worrying too much, she knew that he wasn't normal yet she still insisted on acting this way. He slipped the armor off along with the white overcoat and T-shirt, baring his chest before the three women in the room.
Saber walked to the front of Shirou as Kohaku stepped forward to look at his wound. "When did you recieve this?" She asked, her emerald eyes looked stern and cold.
"Last night, I was not myself and in a daze I attacked Shirou. Please to not be too angry Saber-san. No matter how many times I apologize, it doesn't make me feel any better." Akiha said sadly, lowering her face. Her raven hair slid down to hide her face.
Kohaku began to administer some anteceptic to Shirou's chest which made it burn slightly. "Akiha, I said it was fine if it helped you out didn't I?" He said in an attempt to make her feel better.
"Akiha? You attacked Shirou?" Saber asked sternly, it did not feel as if she would attack Akiha but she was certainly angry with her.
"Yes, as I explained to Shirou I am not a normal human. The Tohno family is a line of half demons, and my body consumes more heat than a normal person. I have to constantly control my demonic blood, however by consuming blood I am able to keep this in check. The medical blood I normally drink has been hard to find lately... and last night I lost control. Please understand I was not myself." She explained in a pleading voice as if trying to make Saber forgive her.
"I see. I will forgive you this one time as I can see that you are very worried for Shirou's well-being. But be warned, if this ever happens again you will not be forgiven." Saber looked at Akiha with cold eyes as she spoke.
Kohaku finished cleaning the wound on Shirou's chest and taped some gauze over it. "There, that should do." She said with a smile and began to pack her supplies back up.
"I understand Saber-san." Akiha said, her voice still apologetic.
Kohaku finished packing the medicine back up. "Now then, breakfast should be ready so please come downstairs." She exited the room and Akiha simply sat on her bed silently.
Shirou slipped his shirt and armor back on and Saber grabbed his hand and dragged him out of the room before he got the chance to console Akiha some more. Shirou said nothing, because Saber had every right to be angry. Especially because of the way she found out about it, perhaps it would have been better if Shirou told her before they came in for breakfast. They found Shiki and Arcuied already sitting at the table and chatting once Shirou and Saber entered the dining room.
"Morning you two." Shiki greeted them with a grin.
"Hi! So, I thought that if we leave right after breakfast we should be able to reach Rome by sundown if we hitch a ride there." Arcueid wasted no time in getting right down to business.
"Yes, I think we should move as soon as possible." Saber nodded in agreement as Kohaku brought out breakfast which consisted of omlettes, toast, and grapefruit.
Shirou was a bit upset that he didn't get to help Kohaku with breakfast this morning but nonetheless he was glad that he at least got to eat with everyone one more time. "Is Akiha not coming down?" Shirou asked Kohaku.
Kohaku shook her head. "Akiha-sama has a migraine this morning so she will be taking breakfast in her room."
"I see, in that case tell her goodbye for me would you? We plan to leave right after breakfast." Shirou said as he cut a chunk off of his omlette.
"Of course, you will be missed Shirou-san." Kohaku said with a faint smile.
Shirou ate his breakfast slowly but eventually he had to finish. It was delicious as Kohaku's cooking always was. Akiha came downstairs to see the three of them off as they walked out to the iron gate escorted by Akiha, Shiki, Hisui, and Kohaku. Hisui unlocked the gate for the three of them and bowed. There was a slight breeze in the air and the clouds were dark, indicating it was most likely going to rain soon.
"Goodbye Hisui-san." Shirou said with a smile.
"Shirou-san, please take care of yourself and try not to get hurt. I would very much like for us to meet again." Her eyes looked almost sad.
"Of course, I haven't seen you smile ever since we've met. I can't die happy without seeing that at least once." Shirou grinned. A blush appeared on Hisui's face and she made no attempt to hide it nor did her facial expression change.
"Take care of Arcueid for me Shirou. She can be a bit troublesome at times." Shiki said as he and Shirou shared a handshake.
"Hey Shiki, what's that supposed to mean?" Arcueid pursed her lips.
"I'm sure we'll meet again Shirou-san. When that time comes, please help me with the cooking some more." Kohaku said with a wide smile.
Finally Akiha approached Shirou. "I apologize again for last night. If you ever find yourself in Misaki then please pay us a visit." She said.
"I will. Take care of yourself Akiha." Shirou said with a smile.
"Shirou, we'd best be off." Arcueid said and began to walk down the hill.
"Goodbye everyone. Take care of yourselves." Shirou waved to them and turned his back to the mansion, walking next to Saber down the hill the breeze ruffled the white shroud around his waist as the three of them made their way out of Venice.
"Do you think Senpai is alright? Its been several days now." Matou Sakura said as she sat on the bed of the hotel room hugging her pillow and staring out the window at the dark clouds forming in the sky.
"He's probably fine. I'm sure he'll be back soon." Tohsaka Rin poked her head out of the bathroom as she was drying her hair to make Sakura feel better. "Saber and Arcueid are with him, so there's not really any way he can come to any serious danger." She gave her sister a reassuring smile.
"Hm." She nodded, not really believing it. How could he just send them away like that with no word to where they would be going? The first day it seemed like it would be alright, like he would come and get them right after they had disposed of whatever danger was threatening them. But as time dragged on Sakura began to worry.
"Instead of moping around, why don't we go sightseeing? We're in Rome you know. Why don't we go and have some fun while we wait for Shirou?" Rin suggested as she finished doing her hair. She glanced at the bored looking woman sitting in a chair reading a book with her legs crossed. "What do you think, Rider?" She asked.
The woman pushed up her glasses and looked up at Rin. "If that is what Sakura wishes then I will gladly accompany the two of you." Rider said and then returned to her book. Rider had become rather lazy it seemed.
Sakura looked out the window, she didn't think it would be raining for awhile and Rin did have a point. Instead of sitting around they should go do something. "You're right Nee-san. I once heard that the art museum here was very good. Let's go there." Sakura looked over at Rider, who nodded. Rider licked her finger and folded the page she was on in her book before closing it.
Rin clapped her hands together. "Great! Let's get going." She exclaimed with excitement and gathered up a few things, including a small bag of gems and the Kaleidostick in case they ran into trouble. With all the dangerous things that have been going on lately it was always good to run around prepared for anything. Since arriving at the hotel and having nothing to do besides wait for Shirou, Rin had been practicing using the Kaleidostick. It appeared that it didn't like Rin too much as she always ended up in embarrassing situations, but nonetheless it would prove to be a valuable weapon.
The three girls left the room and walked down the cheaply carpeted hallway and out the front double doors and outside. The air was cool and the smell of spring rain was heavy on the air, there was a slight breeze blowing and the sky was slowly but surely starting to darken. They walked down the sidewalk until a taxi drove by, Rin whistled loudly and waved her arms and the taxi stopped. The three of them ran towards it and opened the door.
"Hm? Japanese?" The taxi driver asked. He was a disheveled looking man, pretty much the cliched look of a taxi driver.
The three girls sighed in relief, it was a miracle that the taxi driver spoke their language. "Yes, thank god you speak Japanese." Rin said out loud.
The taxi driver chuckled, "Yeah, took it for four years in high school. Where to?" He smiled.
"The art museum please." Sakura leaned forward so the driver could hear her and brushed a lock of her purple hair behind her ear.
"Alright, hang on ladies." The man smirked and stepped on the gas and they were off down the street.
After some rather cliched banter between the taxi driver and the three girls they soon arrived at an impressive looking art museum complete with stone lions overlooking the entrance on pillars. They exited the taxi and paid the fee, (Rin had wisely exchanged some of her yen for the local currency earlier).
"Hold on a moment." The taxi driver said and Rider turned around, having been the last one to exit the car. The man held up a piece of paper, "That's my cell number, since I'm one of the few people who speak Japanese I thought you might need it. It would be difficult for you three if you ride with somebody who only speaks Italian right?" He said with a smile.
"Thank you very much. May I ask you your name sir?" Rider offered him a smile, her long hair blowing in the wind, taking the piece of paper out of his hand.
"The name's Michael. If any of you ladies call me, believe I'll help you out in a heartbeat." The man smiled before driving off.
"That man seemed very nice." Rider said after pocketing the driver's number. The three of them walked up the stone steps and entered the art museum.
"We were lucky he spoke Japanese." Rin said as they walked through the museum and looked at the various paintings, surprisingly the place seemed to be empty as they didn't see a single person while walking around.
"Where is everyone?" Sakura asked, she had a worried look in her eyes as if she felt like something was wrong. The place was deadly quiet, there was no sound anywhere save for their footsteps.
They turned a corner to another hallway filled with paintings. The abstract faces and shapes seemed to stare back at them. The colors on the walls blended with the paintings and almost disoriented them. A sweet smell began to fill their noses, along with the horrible smell of rotting flesh. The three of them came to the corner, all of them silent. They were apprehensive to look around the corner as if they knew something horrible waited for them on the other side. Rin put her finger up to her lips and Sakura nodded. She poked her head around the corner and gasped.
Before her eyes lay about five people, at least what were left of five people. It was basically just a large pile of meat in a pool of blood, the bodies looked like they had completely torn limb from limb. Rin came back around the corner and dropped to the ground on all fours, she sped up her breathing to try to control the contents of her stomach that were threatening to rise.
"Nee-san!" Sakura exclaimed and ran to her sister's side, knelt down next to her and began to stroke her back.
Rin took a deep breath and then looked up at Sakura. "I'm alright Sakura." She reassured her with a smile and then stood up.
Rider looked around the corner for herself and her eyes widened. "I suggest we leave." She said calmly and began to back away. Sakura and Rin nodded in agreement with Rider. The group turned around to find several more people covered in blood and standing up in the hallway blocking the way out in the narrow hallway. All of them had protruding canines, they were the Shisha - The Dead. Familiars of a vampire who gather blood for the vampire when it cannot move around freely.
Rin opened her bag of jewels and took several of them out. She'd rather not have to use them for fear of harming the paintings but she figured that sacrifices had to be made if she was going to make it out of here alive. "Are you ready Sakura?" Rin said, positioning the jewels between her fingers for easy throwing in case she needed to use them. Though there were only about ten of them filling up the hallway so there was no need to go all out if it wasn't necessary.
Sakura raised her left arm, and a blackness began to materialize along it. It was the combination of her Shadow Element and the curse of Angra Mainyu, she had learn to control it thanks to Shirou saving her from being possessed by it many years ago. "Yes. Let's go Rider." She said and prepared to fight.
Rin began by Gandr shooting one of them in the head. As expected it had no effect and the Shisha was only knocked down for a few seconds. The group began to move forward before Rider materialized her nail-like weapons and threw it at one of them, impaling it in the head and easily tearing it off. The head and the body turned to dust and evaporated upon hitting the ground. The Shisha were basically in the process of decomposing so it was quite easy to rip off limbs as their skin was about as easy to rip as paper. Sakura made a motion with her hand as if she were pitching a softball and a wave of pink energy spread across the floor and sped towards the Shisha, effectively cutting off the legs of the entire group and sending them tumbling to the ground.
Rin then threw a jewel on the ground and when it released the prana contained within it a wave of ice froze the floor and the Shisha along with it. "I think that's our cue to leave." She said and began to run back the way they came with Sakura and Rider following closely behind her. The Shisha were now immobilized and it was easy for the three of them to escape by running on top of them. They burst out of the entrance and stopped.
Rin sighed, "It figures, the one time we go out to have fun while Shirou is gone we have to deal with zombies." She said with an annoyed voice. Unfortunately it had started to rain softly while they were inside. Nobody was outside save for a few cars heading home, which wasn't rather unusual.
"Nee-san, what if they come back?" Sakura asked, looking behind her through the glass doors.
"Don't worry, we'll be fine." Rin reassured her with her soft voice and a smile.
"Rin? Sakura? Rider?" A female voice was heard along with the rain pattering on the road.
"Who's there?" Rin looked around and asked.
A woman jumped down from a lamppost, she had short bluish-black hair and blue eyes. She was wearing a priest's robe and a pair of brown boots. "It's been awhile hasn't it?" She said with a smile.
"Ciel-san! Why are you here?" Sakura asked excitedly upon seeing her familiar face.
"There was a report of some Shisha in the area and I followed their trail here." She said while scanning the area.
"I am afraid you are a little late for that Ciel, we have already disposed of them." Rider said in her usual cold tone of voice.
"Is that so?" She said with a surprised voice. She put a finger to her lips as if she was thinking about something. "I need the three of you to come back with me." She started to walk back down the street.
The three girls looked at each other and nodded, running after Ciel in the rain. "Ciel-san where are we going?" Sakura asked after they had caught up with her.
"The local headquarters of the Burial Agency. Our base in Venice was attacked recently so we moved here." She said as she scanned the area while walking, as if making sure they were not being followed. She led them on a walk through many alleyways within the city, the rain began to pick up. Ciel stopped before a brick wall in a side alleyway, the three girls stopped behind her.
Ciel looked around and then knocked on the wall three times. The wall opened to reveal a dimly lit tunnel, Ciel went inside followed closely by Rin, Sakura, and Rider. Once inside several men who had been guarding the door looked up as the door closed. The stone hallway was lit by many lanterns, and it looked like it had been carved out under the whole block. Their feet pattered on the ground as Ciel let them through the many chambers, occasionally turning a corner and going down another hallway.
Sakura looked curiously into each room as they walked by, a couple of them even looked like offices. They followed Ciel through the facility until they reached a door, Ciel knocked and a woman opened it.
"Back already? You didn't kill those Shisha that quick did you?" She asked.
"I arrived late, these three had already killed them by the time I got there." Ciel answered apologetically as she introduced Rin, Sakura, and Rider.
"I see, so that's how it is huh? Well friends of Emiya's are friends of mine, you're welcome to stay here if you want until he finds you. In fact, this would probably be the first place he'd try to find." The woman who had introduced herself as Narbareck answered with a smile.
A patter of footsteps could be heard from outside as if somebody was running frantically through the hallways outside, the door burst open to reveal a man in a priest's robe with blood pouring out of the socket where his left arm used to be. "Ma'am! It's here!" The man shouted frantically as he panted to catch his breath. The look he had in his eyes was pure terror, as if something had scared him out of his mind.
"Slow down, remember who you are working for. Now tell me clearly and calmly what happened." Narbareck put her elbows on the desk and folded her hands together, whatever this man had to say she had to get a clear picture.
The man seemed to collect himself after taking a deep breath. "I was chasing after some Shisha in the north district of town by the Roman Colosseum, I went in to investigate and found Ancestor number one waiting there." He told her calmly while clutching his stump of an arm.
Narbareck's eyes widened with surprise. "Altrouge..." She muttered to herself. She looked up at the man. "Get yourself to medical right away. I'll take care of it." The man bowed and then left the room.
"Ciel. I want you to take Crown with you and investigate this. If the Hound of Altrouge is here, then we're in for a lot of trouble." She had a worried look on her face, she uttered a sigh and then looked up at Rin, Sakura, and Rider. "It seems you three came at a bad time, I suggest hiding out here for the time being." She said as she shuffled some papers on her desk.
"I want to go help Ciel-san." It seemed that Sakura had already made up her mind about the issue as her voice sounded determined.
Narbareck looked up from her desk. "I wouldn't reccomend it, but I'm not going to stop you if you go."
"If you're coming with me then hurry, we have to find Merem." Ciel rushed out the door followed by the other three girls.
"So who is this Crown?" Rin asked as they rushed through the stone carved hallways.
"He's one of the most powerful Dead Apostle Ancestors, he works for the Church sometimes when we're in a pinch like now." Ciel turned a corner and headed deeper into the facility.
"Is he close by?" Sakura asked. It was a bit hard for her to run in the dress she was wearing but she still managed to keep up with them.
"Fortunately he's been hanging around here since yesterday." She turned another corner and there were a series of rooms lining the walls. Ciel slowed down to a walk and the other three girls followed her lead. Ciel stopped next to a wooden door and knocked. "Merem, are you in there?" She asked.
"Yes, just a moment." A voice from inside the room came and the door opened. The four girls had to look down as a boy that looked no older than twelve stood before them. "Greetings, what can I do for you?" He said with a smile, Sakura then looked down and noticed a large white rat on his shoulder nibbling on what looked like a jewel with a crown engraved on it. He had many rings on his fingers as well as a red tatoo of a crown on the back of his right hand, his straight black hair hung down to his shoulders as he greeted the four of them.
"We have reason to believe that Altrouge and her hound are in the city. I need you to come with us to intercept The White Beast." Ciel said, her eyes were stern and full of urgency.
"The Black Princess here? Say no more, I'll come with you right away." It seemed like Merem understood what was going on, as he immediately came outside and shut the door behind him.
"Who are these charming ladies?" Merem looked up at Rin, Sakura, and Rider with a warm smile.
"This is Rin, Sakura, and Rider." Ciel introduced each of them and Merem bowed politely.
"It's a pleasure. Now that we're all acquainted I suggest we move." Merem said returning to seriousness.
Ciel began to lead them down the hallway with Merem picking up the rear.
"Do you know anything about what's going on? You still speak to Trhvmn don't you?" Ciel asked Merem. They walked at a brisk pace down the halls and back the way they came. Sakura thought the place looked extremely plain and that a few pictures might spice up the place a little, it was extremely confusing for her as most of the walls looked the same.
"Some. Trhvmn doesn't let me in on too much information these days but I believe The Black Princess is trying to summon The Dark Six by gathering every Dead Apostle Ancestor she can." Merem seemed deep in thought for a moment, like he was trying to put pieces of a puzzle together.
"That would explain the increase in vampire attacks, not to mention the attack on our main headquarters." Ciel sighed. "It looks like we're going to be busy for awhile."
Rin, Sakura, and Rider couldn't understand much what Merem and Ciel were talking about but it didn't sound good at all. The group reached the door outside and they stepped outside into the rain.
"How do we find this White Beast?" Rider spoke up and asked, her long purple hair almost reached the ground, and it was tied with a bow on the end. Her glasses had tiny amounts of raindrops on them, every so often she closed her eyes, took them off and dried them on her shirt.
"Shisha, if I'm correct the increased activity is from Altrouge's feeding. We find her, we find the Beast." Merem said and began to turn a corner.
"Hang on, something has been bothering me." Rin spoke up and Merem stopped to listen to her. "If this Altrouge is a Dead Apostle Ancestor, how is she able to walk around in the daytime like this?" Rin asked, it was a good question. Although it was dark out, it was because of the clouds. However, ultraviolet radiation was still leaking through the clouds which is what vampires have a deadly reaction to.
"That is because she was born from a True Ancestor and a Dead Apostle. It seems she can stand sunlight to a degree, though I imagine direct contact with it would still burn a bit." Merem answered.
"What about you?" Sakura asked in a confused tone, "You are just a Dead Apostle Ancestor aren't you? How can you be out like this?"
"I was bitten by The Crimson Moon, so I'm special." He said with a smirk.
Every time they spoke, it seems they got a question answered but another one managed to replace it. Sakura thought it would be better to just be quiet and stop asking questions that she'd most likely find out the answer to if she just waited. The rain pattered down on them, making the world give off a fresh spring scent.
"You said Altrouge was born from a True Ancestor right? Do you mean like Arcueid?" Rin asked curiously.
Merem nodded. "Yes, in fact you could say that Altrouge Brunestud is Arcueid's half-sister. Now if you have more questions I suggest you ask them on the run. Where was the Beast spotted at?" He said and turned to Ciel.
"The colleseum." Ciel answered and they kept running down the rain soaked streets. Like earlier the streets were mostly empty as it was raining, save for a few cars driving around. Even the street lamps had turned on. Ciel estimated it should be almost sundown. The group ran through the streets, only Sakura seemed to be worried about stepping in the large puddles of water as she avoided them but everyone else just ran through them without a care.
They could see the Colosseum in the distance, the old looking building with some of the side missing. Not since the days of the Roman empire has there been a battle fought there. The group ran towards it, and the closer they got they heard the sounds of metal clanging.
"Do you hear that? Something is going on there, hurry!" As Merem urged them forward a few Shisha came sauntering out of the alleyways. One of them grabbed at Rin's neck but she grabbed its arm and flipped it over her shoulder, she pointed her finger at the zombie's head and fired a point blank Gandr Shot which caved in the creature's skull and killed it. Rin's Gandr Shots were special, normally they were just a curse but Rin's were so strong that they could hurt something physically and actually had physical form.
Rider aimed a roundhouse at a Shisha that went after Sakura and knocked it's head off. Meanwhile Sakura cut a few of them in half by using her Shadow Tentacles that came from a shadow at her feet. Merem was helping Rider defend Sakura and Rin by tripping any Shisha that came near one of them, he then jumped on top of them and crushed their heads with his palm. Soon all of the Shisha had been eliminated, the fight lasting no longer than a few seconds.
After the Shisha had been dispatched they continued on their way to the Colosseum. The large building was looming above them and Sakura couldn't help but look up at it. They went into the entrance and they had to weave their way through the hallways of the colleseum. They had to jump over some ropes that were in place to keep tourists from straying out of the path. The sound of clanging metal was getting louder as they neared the main floor of the ancient arena.
The group came out of the interior and reached the middle, what they saw surprised them. A man in white holding a longsword was dodging attacks from a large wolf like creature. The wolf's fur was pure white and it stood as tall as a man even on all fours, it was a monstrous beast with glowing red eyes and blood dripping from it's fangs. That was not the only battle going on, a girl with a white one piece dress with black lace lining the edges was fighting an older woman. The young girl looked only about as old as Merem and she had long blonde hair, while the older woman had short blonde hair.
A third person jumped into the fray, an armored woman carrying an invisible weapon was helping the older woman in a purple dress fight the small girl.
"It's them!" Sakura shouted. She was so relieved to see that Shirou, Saber, and Acrueid were alright.
"I'm coming Shirou." Ciel muttered and drew out six Black Keys which she held between her fingers. The rain pattered down, soaking everything under it and even a clap of thunder could be heard overhead. Ciel began to run into battle to assist her friend.
"Senpai!" Sakura was next to run out followed closely by Rider and Rin. That beast was huge, the only thing going through her mind was Shirou being hurt by it. She wanted to do everything in her power to prevent that, she couldn't bare seeing him hurt anymore. She was so happy that he'd returned she just wanted to run out and greet him, however that would have to wait until the threat was gone.
Shirou swung his sword with both hands at the beast but it deftly caught it between it's teeth and snarled at him. "Senpai!" He heard somebody call him that, only one person he knew called him Senpai. As he struggled to get the sword out of the wolf's mouth he looked up to see Sakura running towards him tailed by Rider and Rin. "Sakura?" He was a bit surprised to see them in a place like this, and that surprise gave the White Beast enough time to snap the blade in half and tackle Shirou to the ground.
Shirou raised his arms and grabbed the beast's jaws as they went for his throat, if those things got around him he was done for. With all his might he rolled his body and slammed the beast's head into the ground. One of Rider's nails pierced the side of the beast and she grabbed onto the chain it was attached to and flung the creature off of Shirou.
Meanwhile Ciel had joined the fight with Arcueid and Saber. "Hmph, it seems you've caught me at a disadvantage my dear sister." The little girl said and her eyes glowed furiously, there was one thing emanating from her and that was bloodlust, pure bloodlust. Saber then charged the small girl and swung her sword at the girl's small body. The girl casually raised her arm and caught Saber's blade, the sword dug into her flesh and blood began to drip from it.
"That was foolish." Saber taunted her and poured prana into her arms, it released in a burst of energy giving her an extra boost of strength and her sword cut through the girl's hand. At least half of it was severed and it fell to the ground, the girl howled in pain and clutched at her hand.
As the girl screamed in pain the White Beast turned it's attention to Saber, turning away from Shirou completely. "Oh no you don't." Shirou said as he grabbed onto the Beast's tail and held it in place as it try to escape to it's master's side.
"Give it up Altrouge." Arcueid said as she stood with her hands on her hips, an almost annoyed expression on her face.
"Maybe next time." The little girl named Altrouge said and she drew runes in the air using the blood from her hand. The blood seemed to hover in the air and Altrouge muttered something in an ancient language and with a loud crack like lightning she disappeared into thin air just as one of Ciel's Black Keys was thrown at her.
Ciel clucked her tongue in annoyance. "That would have pierced her heart too." Her voice held disappointment.
With Altrouge's disappearance the White Beast frantically tried to escape from Shirou's grasp. It growled and snarled but Shirou still hung on, trying to pull it back. Rin approached it and froze the ground it was standing on with a jewel. Shirou let go of the beast's tail and it continued it's struggle to escape.
Ciel threw the rest of her Black Keys at the frozen beast, impaling it with five of them. Blood poured from the wounds as it howled in pain, it's fur then burst into flames and began to burn the creature. Arcueid stepped forward and walked towards the burning beast, her eyes began to glow a bright yellow color and she thrust her hand into the flames where the Beast's head was and severed it with her claws. The head fell to the ground with a loud thud and with it the White Beast faded away.
"Senpai!" Seemingly out of nowhere Sakura launched herself at Shirou and tackled him to the ground, the grass making a squishing noise as they landed in it.
"Sakura, it's good to see you too but would you mind maybe getting off? The ground is awful wet." Shirou said with a smile as he looked up into her violet eyes.
"Sorry Senpai." Sakura said and reluctantly raised her body off of Shirou's.
Shirou stood up and dusted himself off, "It's good to see the four of you again. Sorry I took so long." Shirou greeted them with a smile. Shirou for the most part was uninjured from his battle with with the White Beast, save for a few cuts and scratches all over his body which were bleeding slightly.
"I heard about Venice, that was nice work Shirou." Ciel walked forward, a smile appeared on her face.
"You have my sincerest apologies for that, Altrouge gave me some strange concoction in my sleep causing the King of Earth to materialize out of my control." Merem said.
"So that's what it was. I take it you're Merem Solomon then?" Saber answered as she sheathed her sword and dematerialized her armor. Saber's armor was made from her prana, so she could put it on and take it off in the blink of an eye with little difficulty. It was the same with sheathing her sword or else she would be encumbered with all kinds of equipment.
"Yes." Merem answered simply.
"Can we talk someplace dry? I'm getting soaked." Rin asked, her hair was completely wet and she had a sour look on her face.
"Alright, let's all go back to the Agency then. I'm sure Narbareck will want to hear what happened." Ciel said and began to lead them back to the current headquarters of the Agency. As they walked out Arcueid took a look back at the scorched patch of grass where the White Beast was killed, blood still soaked the ground and she narrowed her eyes at the earth as if she was expecting something to happen.