ACT XXXVII - The Legion of Blood

After leaving behind Aoko, Lorelei, and the others Shirou, Arcueid, Saber, Rider and the two Dead Apostle Ancestors they would return to the place where Lorelei was attacked. The way Shirou figured it, Rizo and Altrouge shouldn't be too far off. What's more they were no doubt moving closer towards the Clock Tower as they walked so they were sure to turn into each other eventually. The only thing that hindered them was the fog and the darkness, making it so they could barely see 10 yards in front of them.

"Arcueid, now that we have a moment. I would like to ask you about your sister, Altrouge." Rider's voice cut through the silence like a summer breeze. "Why do you seem so obsessed with defeating her? She has done horrible things, but isn't she still your sister? You seem less concerned about saving her, and more about simply killing her." Rider asked curiously.

"We're not actually fully related. Altrouge is only half True Ancestor. Besides, I owe her for something and she's had it coming for a century. Death is less than she deserves." Arcueid replied coldly.

"And what about you, Enhance? You have a grudge against the other Dead Apostle Ancestors do you not? What is this grudge?" Saber asked him.

"That my dear knight, is best saved for another time. Don't worry, I have no intention of betraying you unless it will immediately benefit me." He said with a smile that made Shirou narrow his eyes.

"That makes me feel so much better." Shirou said cynically.

They all laughed at Shirou's comment and continued to walk. The mood was lightened a bit by the idle conversation and the gloomy cloud that had been weighing on everyone's mind was pushed aside for the time being. Shirou wasn't too sure about Enhance's motives but something in his eyes told Shirou that he was telling the truth. So for now, he would accept his company even though he seemed to greatly enjoy giving Ciel a hard time whenever he got the chance.

Soon they reached the street where Lorelei had fought Rizo. Shirou hadn't had time to get a good look at it before but now that he could actually take it all in he could instantly tell that a battle had happened here. There was a large crater in the pavement that looked like something had been slammed into the ground. Half-dried blood was splattered around including a rather large bit of it in the cracked pavement.

"Hey, Shirou! I found something over here. Looks like Rizo's armor." Arcueid called from a few yards off as she brought it to him. The armor was thick and had some kind of emblem on it. The emblem resembled thorny vines coiling around the blade of a sword. Near the lower part of the armor, a large hole had been punctured.

"It's no wonder Lorelei is in the condition she is after doing something like that." Shirou said after taking a look at the hole.

"The recoil from using that magic must have been very painful." Rider pointed out.

"Hmph, about time that guy took some punishment." Enhance scoffed. "Too bad the Vice Director wasn't able to finish the job though."

"We should press on, we've lingered here too long. If we idle here the Magi may reach the Ancestors before we do." Merem urged.

"The kid's right. Let's get this over with already." Enhance began tapping his food impatiently.

"Alright then, let's head this way then." Shirou pointed down a side street and headed in that direction.

"I'll have you know I'm quite a bit older than you, despite what I look like." Merem narrowed his eyes at Enhance as they had started to move.

"I'll call you by your name when you grow a little taller." Enhance chuckled.

That must have been the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back because Merem let out a short growl and in a flash swept Enhance's feet out from under him. A loud thud was heard as he slammed onto his back. Merem pounced on top of him, and positioned the tips of his fingers on Enhance's throat. One push from Merem and he could lop off Enhance's head.

Shirou and the others gasped and turned around at the sudden movement, never expecting such a thing to happen. They watched as Merem glared menacingly down at Enhance but was otherwise silent. He was contemplating if he should do it or not.

"I have had just about enough of you. Your relationship with Ciel is one thing, but I will not have you disrespect me." Merem snarled. "Seeing as we need your help, I am going to let you off easy just this once. However... if you so much as look at me wrong, I will let my demons tear you limb from limb. I do not care if we lose to the other Ancestors because of it." If Merem's anger was visible, it would be pouring out onto Enhance like magma. "Are we clear?" He asked in a threatening voice.

Enhance didn't move under Merem's light weight. "Yeah, crystal clear." He nodded. "You going to let me up now, Solomon?" Despite being so small, Enhance got the sense that Merem was telling the truth. If he didn't show him the slightest amount of respect, he would kill Enhance. Enhance knew he'd be no match for Merem, so he had no choice but to comply.

Merem looked satisfied and jumped back off of Enhance, watching as he got up off of the ground. Merem stormed passed everyone and turned to look back at Shirou. "Let's get moving." He said calmly with a blank expression.

Shirou was struck speechless, and he was pretty sure just about everyone else was too, particularly Enhance. Merem had taken the lead now and was leading them in the direction that Shirou had pointed. An uncomfortable silence befell them but nobody wanted to say anything so for now they were content to follow Merem through the dense fog.

()()()

A few streets ahead Mike and Scarlet from the London News ducked into a dark alleyway to escape their persuers. They had sneaked into a gas station to grab something to eat when they ran into a strange woman drinking all the alcohol. Running for their lives, to escape her when she tried to kill them. Just when they thought they got away from her, more of the people that assaulted the city came after them. Mike barely managed to escape, getting injured by one of their claws leaving deep, bloody scratches across his back.

Now, in another alley, they sat against the wall to catch their breath, watching as the people jumped across the rooftops to look for them on the streets.

"You alright?" Scarlet whispered softly, but her eyes held concern.

Mike nodded through gritted teeth as he bared the sharp pain in his back. He reached his hand back and felt the wounds through his clothing, he could feel the blood on his fingers. "Dammit, that bloody git got me pretty good." He sighed. "Did you get the camera?" He asked her.

Scarlet patted the large video camera sitting next to her. "I got it. I can't believe we got away though. Do you think maybe she let us go?" Scarlet asked.

"Hell if I know, I'm glad we made it out okay."

"We've got to take care of those scratches, they're pretty deep. They might get infected if we leave them." Scarlet said.

Mike waved his hand dismissively. "I'll be alright, cameramen are tough."

Scarlet stifled a laugh. "Whatever you say tough guy. We should still get you some help." She insisted. "There's a hospital about a mile off."

"Alright, alright, whatever you say." Mike let Scarlet pull him to his feet. They couldn't stay in this alley anyway, what better place to hide out than a hospital. Getting away from all the crazies running around off the streets would be the best course of action.

The two of them barely stepped out of the alleyway when they heard voices and footsteps. Scarlet gasped and pushed Mike back into the alley into the safety of the darkness. It could be more of those people that were killing everyone. The two of them have been evading them all this time, it would be a shame to die here.

"We've been walking for an hour now and we haven't seen one Dead Apostle. Not even a little one." One of the men sounded frustrated and impatient.

"Would you rather have the entire army and the Ancestors attack us all at once?" The blonde woman in the purple skirt said. Mike could tell these people weren't English. Especially the little boy that looked like he belonged in a museum with Egyptian Artifacts, and the taller woman dressed in black. The other blonde woman walking next to the man in white however, looked like she could be a Knight straight out of the Arturian Legends. She didn't appear to be armed but carried a stern expression on her beautiful face that didn't suit her good looks at all.

"Absolutley!" The impatient man sounded excited and pumped up. "If I have to die, I want to die taking every single one of those bastards down with me!" He roared enthusastically. Could the people that attacked the city be these "Dead Apostles" that they're reffering to? Mike began to think that this small group of people were here to fight them all by themselves. That's crazy, they'd need an army for something like that.

As they walked passed, a tall woman with long hair that reached almost to the ground and wearing all black stepped into view. She wore a strange thing over her eyes but it seemed like she still could see. She gave off a strange feeling making Mike and Scarlet uneasy. Scarlet's weight shifted and the tip of her shoe acidentally tapped an empty can of who-know's-what. The noise was actually quite small, but to the two of them they may as well have just fired a cannon.

The woman stopped and stared into the dark alley directly at the two of them. Scarlet began to shake in fear and sweat began to form on Mike's forehead. The woman's loud footfalls grew louder as she began to walk towards them, maybe she couldn't see that well, or maybe she could.

"Rider? Did you find something?" A voice called from the direction the rest of the group had went.

The woman in black stopped. "No, I was just checking something out." Her voice was smooth, clear, beautiful. She turned to walk away. Scarlet and Mike both let out a sigh as they saw her back, but the woman stopped walking again. She turned her head. "You two should head the other direction, it will be getting messy soon." She said with a voice filled with concern. Perhaps they were the good guys, and this woman just happened to stumble upon some survivors. Mike and Scarlet watched in silence as she moved away from them.

()()()

Rider caught back up with the group shortly after leading that couple in the direction where they would not come to any harm. Rider had a faint smile on her face. It wasn't meaningless what they were doing here, at least two people are still alive even after all that's happened. They must be quite the resilient couple.

"Rider, are you certain you did not find anything back there? You seem awefully happy about something." Saber asked her, tilting her head curiously.

"Yes, they will be just fine. They are a resilient couple." Rider made a strange, yet happy face. There was a reason she did not tell Saber or Shirou about the survivors she saw. Shirou would no doubt worry about them and want to help them get to a safe place. They did not have time for such things, so Rider was confident all she needed to do was push them in the right direction. Perhaps they'd be lucky enough to run into the Magi.

"Hm, so that's how it is." Saber nodded, seeming to understand but didn't press the issue. She instinctively knew that whatever Rider had on her mind she didn't want to talk about it. The two of them seemed to think alike sometimes, girls often have a sixth sense about one another.

At that moment the sound of shuffling feet could be heard ahead of them, but whateve was making the sound was concealed by the fog and darkness. Was it them? Had they finally stumbled upon the Legion?

Enhance gripped his pistol tightly and in his other hand removed his large sword from his back. "It's about time. I'm going ahead I'll see you guys in there." He grinned menacingly and then looked forward. "You hear that you bastards! I'm coming to kill every single one of you!" He yelled into the fog and then ran, disappearing into it. Flashes of his gun and sounds of swords clashing could be heard in the distance.

"Enhance!" Shirou called after him.

"That idiot! Does he want to die?" Merem gritted his teeth.

"It's them!" Arcueid strained her eyesight to see if she could see a bit better. She began to see the outlines of many people, all of them now fighting a single person. "Wow... there's a lot. It really is an army." Arcueid said with surprise. As far as she could tell, there were at least a few hundred filling the street, with many more filling in from elsewhere. They were certainly easy to miss in these conditions.

"Let's give him a hand before he gets himself killed." Shirou gritted his teeth. That idiot must be desperate for blood if he just jumped in there like that. The irony of it almost made Shirou laughed. "Trace, on." he muttered the familiar words as he pulled back the firing pin in his head. Picturing the familiar swords Kanshou and Bakuya into his mine, he projected them into reality and into his hands.

Saber's sword appeared in her hand still hidden by her sheath of wind, and Rider materialized her nail-like daggers. Both of them looked at Shirou and nodded, indicating they were ready.

"Here I go!" Arcueid jumped high into the air and landed in the middle of a group of Dead Apostles with a loud crash, splintering the concrete and causing a large plume of dust to rise into the air. The impact sent several vampires flying into midair which Arcueid quickly slammed into the ground, cracking their skulls open.

"Arturia, Rider, let's go!" Shirou kicked off the ground and launched himself into the battle. Two vampires got in his way and blocked his blades, but Shirou quickly counterattacked and slashed them from neck to groin, sending their bodies to the ground in a mess before disippating into dust. Shirou turned around quickly to slash away a Dead Apostle trying to grab him from behind. Killing them was becoming surprisingly easy, it was too easy. He remembered the time when he once fought Caster's bone soldiers. They were brittle and easily destroyed, just like these people. No, Shirou didn't want to call them people. They were monsters, they'd done unspeakable things to the townspeople that Shirou could never forgive them for.

"Haaa!" Behind him, Shirou heard Saber start fighting as well. A loud clang as she parried a sword one of the vampires had only to run him through and kick his body away which became dust before even hitting the ground. As she was dealing with a second one, a third jumped on her from behind and tackled Saber to the ground. Kicking him off she jumped to her feet and cleaved the one she had been fighting in two at the waist.

It wasn't long before they were all surrounded on all sides by the Dead Apostles. Rider and the others seemed to be doing okay, but Shirou was having some trouble. He would often get tackled to the ground or grabbed, within only the first five minutes of fighting Rider and Saber had each saved him once. In truth he wasn't used to fighting so many opponents like this. Shisha were one thing, but these were full fledged vampires. They were cunning, quick, and strong as well. If Shirou had come here as a human and not as a Counter Guardian, he would have been killed within seconds.

Rider herself was amazing to watch. Not only was she very adept at keeping the Apostles at bay with the chains attatched to her nails, but she was also very skilled at fighting a single one while keeping her eyes on others. It all seemed so natural and effortless for her, it was almost like she was dancing with them. If any Dead Apostle managed to get through her twirling chains, they were sent flying away by one of Rider's powerful tornado kicks.

Enhance meanwhile was right in the middle of it all, deftly waving his large sword around. His styles were crazy and all over the place, it seemed like he'd randomly switch to his pistol. Flipping it around and desintegrating Dead Apostles like they were nothing. Whenever one got too close it would be slashed by his sword. His white hair waved as he spun around, even blocking blades with his gun before running them through with his sword. He was a monster, unpredictable and fast as lightning. "Come on! Is this all you're going to throw at me!" He yelled tauntingly into the distance as he fought off the vampires. Someone like him must be getting bored, he wants to fight the Ancestors.

The furthest into the horde of vampires was Arcueid. She fought like an animal with her claws. Mercilessly punching and tearing apart Dead Apostles with her own two hands. If watching Rider was like watching a beautiful dancer, then watching Arcueid was like watching a pack of rabid wolves. Her eyes were glowing yellow as she tore through the vampires before her and soon her fists were completely covered in blood.

As Shirou was busy parrying a blow from a Dead Apostle the one that was sneaking up behind him to go after his neck suddenly fell over dead with a tiny hole in it's forehead. "Sorry to keep you waiting!" A cheeful voice was heard over the commotion. Shirou looked to where the voice was coming from and on top of a nearby house stood Aoko Aozaki.

"You certainly did take your time getting here." Merem shouted up at her while running between the legs of a Dead Apostle before jumping into the air and kicking him in the head.

Aoko laughed. "Sorry about that." Her face then took on a more serious expression and she glanced behind her. "Alright everyone, let 'em have it!" She yelled. The rooftops became lined with Magi who immediately started casing a plethora of spells into the undead horde of vampires, all the while being careful not to hit Shirou and the others. Explosions wracked the street, houses became splintered messes, and in some cases, individual Dead Apostles looked like they sprouted flames from the chest and died.

"Senpai!"

"Shirou!"

Hearing two familiar voices up on the rooftops Shirou looked up to see Sakura and Rin waving at him.

"Shirou, let us handle this. You and the others find the Ancestors quickly!" Rin said as she took out a sapphire from a bag on her hip and tossed it into a crowd of Dead Apostles. The gem shattered and encased a 5 meter wide area in solid ice, vampires and all.

"That's our cue Shirou, let's go!" Arcueid killed the vampires she was currently engaging and punched the block of ice that Rin had created. It shattered like glass, openening up a path out of the main horde into the open street.

"Arturia, Rider, come on. The others will take it from here." Shirou urged them.

"As you wish, I have your back Shirou." Saber nodded.

"I'm coming." Rider said as well and the two of them followed him as he chased Arcueid. Merem saw them and also broke off his fighting and followed after the True Ancestor.

Enhance was the last to leave, killing off a few more Dead Apostles before looking up at the rooftops. On one closeby he saw Ciel and Narbareck toss a few Black Keys into the Legion's bulk. "Wait for me baby, I'll be back soon! I just need to crash this party first!" He called at Ciel with a wide grin on his face.

Ciel looked towards the voice and spotted him. "How about an early victory present?" She smiled faintly, but it was fake. On the inside her anger roared up inside her and the vein in her forehead looked like it was going to rupture. Taking out a Black Key from her robes with all her strength she threw it directly at Enhance.

Enhance jumped to the side where Ciel's Black Key impaled a Dead Apostle through the heart, he howled in pain and fell to the ground. "Sorry but I can't accept something like that. After all, it's a man's job to do the giving except on special occasions. Unfortunately it's not my birthday yet." He winked and blew her a kiss before running off after the others.

Ciel growled angrily and tossed another Black Key at him, only to have it miss and hit another Dead Apostle.

Beside her Narbareck chuckled. "I think you'd make a cute couple." She teased.

"Oh shut up." Ciel stomped her foot and angrily tossed another Black Key into the main bulk of the Legion.