Fate/Stay Night: Umbra Bello
SrWilsonMr- Well, I can't claim credit for the idea. Hell, this ain't even the first Fate Abridged fanfic! That honor goes to "fate first order derivative" by machiavelli. I think it's dead now, but definitely worth checking out. Still, thank you for joining me here, and I hope the rest of the story doesn't disappoint.
Bit of a shorter one, but I feel as though it cuts off at the right point.
runelt99- Not soon enough.
relyt118- a fair criticism. One I try to improve, especially in later chapters. But, it's a bad habit I'm trying to quit.
VolcanicFlare- Don't I know it now-
"Minus 50 points! Only Sakura-chan claims the 9-time Cthulhu weight championship!"
...what?
"I'll have you know, I'm a beautiful, gracious woman who will forgive you once you're groveling beneath my claws-!"
Taiga, get back to the end section or you get no dinner!
"... You haven't seen the last of me "flare", if that is your true username!"
… so yeah, that's been my week.
xfel- I mean, he did pull out a "sword of light", that Claíomh Solais he traced.
Guest Questions-
Yes, I've read the VN
He learned Illusions at the end of chapter 15 when he was in his warehouse workshop. In that part he was talking about hitting a brick wall. I alluded to it, but did not specifically mention it was Illusions he was doing in order to maintain the surprise.
Chapter XVII: KnightsShade
Date: 02/05/2004
Time: 6:02 pm
Location: Miyama Park
ThemeSong- ENGLISH "Brave Shine" Fate/Stay Night: Unlimited Blade Works (Akane Sasu Sora)
Walking through the park, the fact that something was wrong here was reinforced with every step.
First clue was the quiet. No bugs, no people, yada yada, I've talked about it before.
Second clue was that age old feeling of being watched.
Third clue? The crater in the middle of a playground.
"Looks like your hunch was right Master." Okita remarked.
"Be~cause of course it was. I literally let him out of my sight for an hour…" I start getting annoyed before analysing the damage. "Whatever happened happened recently."
"You thinking it could've been our new enemy?" Okita asked.
"... I'm not so sure. Whoever attacked Caster didn't leave much damage behind as evidence. And Shirou couldn't do this at this point."
A few parts of the area looked like they could've been bludgeoned. Possibly Shirou missing a hit or three with his pipe.
Other parts? The monkey bars for example look cut up. And that cheri tree? Something was recently stabbed into it. Something magical in nature I'd assume, due to it seemingly having been healthy some time ago, as it's higher branches seem healthy, but the rest of it is rapidly decaying. Shirou doesn't have access to projecting blades yet. Let alone poisonous ones.
"You see a trail? Maybe we can still-" I ask before-
"AAAAAAAAAIIIIII!"
"Or, y'know, we can follow that." I look to the source of the scream.
"It sounded like a little girl." Okita remarked, and turned serious.
"I'll play rabbit. You watch my back concealed in case this is a trap." I ordered through our connection.
"Roger." she responded, and faded into presence concealment.
I jog in the direction of the scream, and noticed something.
Blood. Not a lot, but it was prevalent. Indicating the battle moved this way.
I traversed nearly a hundred meters before I found Shirou.
He was bleeding out, sprawled out across the ground on his stomach. Barely moving.
I moved to help him, but stopped.
Left alone in a clearing, no sign of what attacked him?
"See anything Assassin?"
"...no. He's alone." she told me.
...odd.
"Stay vigilant." I order as I move to Shirou.
"(n-no… Illy… s-stop….)" he mumbled as I crouched down to him.
"Emiya-!" I touched his shoulder, but he responded by struggling violently- "easy- easy man! It's me!"
He calmed down for a second as I got him to sit up against a tree.
"(R-Rob!? L-listen… I-Illya… sh-she…)" he struggled to get words out.
He has multiple stab wounds. If whatever hit him was the same thing that hit that tree…
"Poison…?" I noted.
Saber's Scabbard should be healing whatever damage is being done to him, so if it's still this bad…
"Definitely ain't Caster then…" it's not her MO. She doesn't do poison.
"It doesn't really match any of the Servants to be honest…" Okita mused.
"What happened Shirou-? H-hey! Stay awake! What happened!?" I asked as he seemed to be nodding off.
"(I-Illya… it took…)" was all he said before passing out.
The last thing he did was point in a direction.
"Shirou!?" I shook him, but he was out.
I had to think quickly.
Avalon should keep him alive. Poison shouldn't kill him.
But… he's not responding well. Whatever's ailing him is likely magical in nature. And factoring in distance to Saber herself… we need to get him home, quickly.
But Illya… he kept saying 'Illya'.
Sounded like she got kidnapped by whatever this was.
Master of Berserker getting kidnapped? Let alone the core of the Grail?
Not good.
"... Assassin, get him home." I make a call.
Risky… most would say stupid.
"Master?" she sounded surprised.
"Make it quick. I'll need your help soon."
"What the hell are you planning!? You're barely in a better state than him!" she objected.
"I'll distract whatever has Illyasviel! You just get him closer to Saber and get back here!" I ordered as I ran in the appointed direction.
"Did blood loss drive you crazy!? You'll die!" Okita objected.
"Then I'll see you in hell!" I shout aloud as I run.
She must've followed orders, as she quieted down.
In the couple seconds it took to get out of eyesight, I found the trail again.
A couple more, and I had to stop. Out of breath.
pain pain
it's cold
it's cold
it's wrong it's wrong
pain pain
Okita wasn't wrong. Adrenaline could only get me so far in this state. I didn't know what I'd do when I found the enemy.
Working myself into pushing past the pain, and the dizziness, I run again.
It doesn't take me long to find them.
A silhouette in the distance. Carrying something purple over its shoulder.
They were too far off to make out clearly nearly 200ish meters out, but they... seemed to be wearing some torn, frilly dress. With a dark, nearly black bottom skirt, and a violet top.
They didn't seem in a hurry, but they did stand out in that they walked… oddly. Like they were trying to cross as much distance with each step as possible. Stretching, and swaying unnaturally all the while.
The enemy turned a corner, and vanished in the darkness.
Define Real
Running, I chased the figure, ready to fight.
Turning the same corner, I found them to be closer and… it was clear this wasn't a human. Or any Servant based on one.
It's back turned to me, the figure sped up. Realizing it was being followed. Its running gait having some unnatural, alien grace. Slowed by its tiny albino burden, it seemed restrained in its agility.
"Attention Amber-Alert-Asshole!"
PEW!
It stops mid-step. Gandr frying where it would be if it didn't.
bzzzt
It's inhumanly thin, pale limbs freeze in place for ten full seconds before retreating to a more humanlike standing position.
"So, it can at least understand me…" I note.
"Put. The Loli. Down. I won't ask twice." I warn it, stepping closer slowly.
bzzzt
bzzzt
It didn't respond again for several seconds.
When it did, it carefully placed the Einzbern girl down.
Getting closer, I noticed Illya was out cold. Probably why Berserker wasn't trashing the place. Probably because she got a dose of whatever got Emiya.
"Okay, good… now back away slowly." Kinda surprised by its cooperation at this point.
BZZZT-BZZZZT
But that's when it turned.
It was just it's head at first. Twisting on its pencil neck like it had no bones, it's face-
Bzzzt Bzzzt Bzzzt Bzzzt
-like a… like a…
Bzzzt BZZZT-BZZZZT Bzzzt
"It l**k* like Mo***** w*rk"
"***. * *el**ve *** calls the*m... Knightshades?"
"An A**as*in f**"l*ar?"
Bzzzt BZZZT-BZZZZT Bzzzt
A violet flower bud. It's head was just a flower bud.
Its slender, alien body seemed like…
It reminds of Nobodies from Kingdom Hearts actually. A weird, flowery Nobody.
The thing gestured to me with a sharp, thin arm.
"((...)) ((...))"
"Huh!?" I don't… it di-...
What?
FWOOOSH!
I jumped back as it charged at me.
PEW! PEW! POP! PEW! POW!
It swayed, bent, and slithered over, under, and around as many curses as I could throw at it until-!
"-GAH!"
PAIN-PAIN-PAIN-PAIN-PAIN-PAIN
It grabbed my bad arm, twisted in a death spiral, and pulled me down to the ground.
SLAM
"-Urgh! -shit!" I twisted to avoid it stabbing me with a dagger-like, thorn covered right arm.
It didn't let me rest like that, and twisted itself in a manner that betrayed the fact that it seemed to have no bones to break, soon-
fwosh!
SLAM!
PAIN-PAIN-PAIN-PAIN-PAIN-PAIN
Judo throwing me at least six meters.
POW PEW POW POW
I shoot more curses at it, but not one landed as it snaked its way to me.
I swayed back to avoid it reaching to grab my arm again-
PAIN-PAIN-PAIN-PAIN-PAIN-PAI-PAIN-PAIN-PAIN-PAIN-PAIN-PAI
But it got worse when it stretched and grabbed my neck. Trying to crush my windpipe.
And there will be no hammer to save you this time.
"g-gack!" I tried throwing it off as it constricted my throat.
Despite its lack of a skeletal structure, it's musculature more than made up for it.
PAIN-PAIN-PAIN-PAIN-PAIN-PAI
PAIn-Pain-pAin-pain-pain-pain-pain-pain-pain
I started seeing spots as it kept pulling me down by my neck.
All the while, I was fighting the thorny dagger-arm.
"I-I did… not fight off Rin… just to die… to a discount Audrey Two!" I declared internally as I pulled with all my might to remove the fingerless limb from my neck.
But, just as it seems I was making progress-
SPLLLERT
PAIN-PAIN-PAIN-PAIN-PAIN-PAIN-PAIN-PAIN-PAIN-PAin-Pain-pain-pain-pain…
It's limb thrusted into my gut, my body gave out.
cold… cold… cold…
As more blood spilled out of me, something cold entered my veins.
Satisfied, the figure dropped me, releasing its hold.
As I took deeper breaths in, I tried to hold in my guts.
Standing over me, the creature seemed content to watch me for what felt like an eternity.
I tried to stand up, but my limbs started feeling… numb.
Soon I… I couldn't control them anymore. My strength was gone… I felt cold...
The poison.
I stopped moving… barely awake...
After what was just thirty seconds real time, but felt like an hour, it turned around, and back to the dropped child.
She's going to die.
Illya seemed just out cold. She was breathing. Barely. With a pained expression.
She's going to die alone.
It was going to take her… to God knows where… and God knows what for.
"I… I can't…"
Then die.
Die with her.Alone.
"N-no… I need to…"
Stop them?
Then stop.
I stopped.
Feel it.
Feel it?
Come now boy~.
Your anger.
...anger?
It's the gate. Within you.
You never let yourself feel it.
It always… fizzles out.
Listen. Listen to your heart.
Find it's fire-
Stoke it with your pain(key)-
Hear your rage.
H-How… do I-
No! Don't ask. Just… feel.
It reached down to pick her up.
My pain…
pain-pain-paiN-
To my rage…
Acknowledge your passion.
Release your hate.
And set them both free.
paIN-PAIn-wrong-PaIN-PAIN-it'swrong-PAIN-PAIN-wrong-PAINPAIN! !?
STOPITSTOPITSTOPITSTOPITWRONGSTOPITSTOPITyou'lldieSTOPITSTOPITnotri-STOPIT!
bzzzt
Saber stopped in her tracks. Nearly dropping her 'appropriated' snack cake.
She felt it again.
It was undeniable this time.
It should be impossible... It was impossible...
But feeling this aura...
NO
This... Echo of that aura.
"So... it is him..." she accepted with melancholy.
She didn't know everything. This sort of thing wasn't her specialty.
But after the answer he gave the other day, when she asked-
"Orso... are you sure that's your true name?"
She knew why.
She knew why he was here, even if he no longer could.
Deep down, some part of her wanted things to be different this time.
But... she knew the war was no place for that kind of thought.
Because in the end, she'd have to kill him.
Artoria only hoped that time would come before he remembered.
It'd be less painful for them both that way.
"H-HEY!"
It twisted to look at me crawling to it.
bzzzt Bzzzt
"W-What!? C-Can't finish the job…!?"
PAIN-PAIN
BZZZT-BZZZZT
Fwoooosh…
shakeshakeshake
It tilted it's head to the area, as the local wind picked up wildly while I forced myself back up, and gestured for it to come at me.
"Come on… you're just… a weed. A pest. Did you think… I'd roll over… and accept losing a fight to some Dandylion-bitch!?"
Define Real
BZZZT-BZZZZT-BZZZT-BZZZZT-BZZZT-BZZZZT
My undamaged arm lit up.
"To some… raggedy… washed up hags toy!?"
Electricity danced along my arm.
It hesitated, watching me monologue.
"If you're feeling suicidal… come on… try me."
My body screamed in pain.
And I listened.
Embrace it.
And let go.
FWOOOSH
It rushed me again, but-!
GRKG Imp$&stasi+PAIN#RK!-!?~!?=REAL?RRrRrrimpossssserrror-!?
BZZZT-BZZZZT-BZZZT-BZZZZT-BZZZT-BZZZZT
I blew it away.
FWWWWWOOOOOOSHHHH!
A gale of hurricane force wind knocked it back, and-!
CRRRRRAAAAAACK
Snapped the oak tree it flew into.
If it was human, it'd be dead. No doubt.
Standing on my own two feet again, I slowly walked closer to the thing.
It was 'alive'. Barely. Sputtering out the last of its life like a wounded fly.
"Oh? Is that… all you can do, pest?" I asked it in an unfamiliar tone, and-
SLAM!
"((!))"
I crushed its leg under my boot.
"((!?))"
It twisted and-
Shhhrp!
pain?
Stabbed my leg with it's thorny limb in a Hail Mary attempt to escape.
"Hm… what do you know? A puppet can fear."
"Let's see if it can scream."
And in a sadistic twist-!
"((!))"
I ripped the petals off its pseudo head.
Again, again, again, again, again-
"Oh! Let's play a game! Let's see… she loves me?"
"((!))"
"She loves me not?"
I tore off petals off to reveal a blank, slenderman like head.
21 petals in all, I finished.
"Awwww, she does! Well, this certainly made my night balanced again! ...aww, I guess I broke... it?"
The thing stopped moving.
tired…
And it started dissapaiting.
tired...
pain…
tired...
pain…
"Heh… I guess…. I guess… what did I…?"
Wait.
This was wrong.
It was wrong-bad-error-error-error-error-errOR-erRor-ERROR-ERROR-ERROR
"RRRRRAAAAAGH!" I roared to the heavens as pain, and confusi-rage-screamdeathwrongwrongwrong
I… I collapsed? When did I…
What did I… do?
Fwoooosh~!
Something… something was coming.
I looked.
More of them.
I saw… at least three.
They skip-walked closer to us.
...well shit.
Well… I tried.
I look to the still unconscious Illya.
She looked like she was struggling to awaken.
I crawl over to her.
If these things were gonna attack, they'd go through me first.
"S-sorry…" I apologise to her.
My body was shutting down.
The poison... the pain... the blood loss...
How was I still conscious?
My legs refused to move anymore as they approached.
My arms… I barely felt them to begin with.
"De...fine… R-real-!"
EERROR-ERROR-ERROR
My Gandr failed. I had no Mana left in me to fight with.
All I had with them was a defiant glare.
They seemed to mock me.
But none… not one made a sound?
"c-come on… c-come on… you… daisy-dolts… step closer… I'll use my teeth if I have too! I'll take you all on!" I dared them.
"Well then, I guess he's got it covered. We should go now Rin."
...w… what?
"Satan, if it isn't me that kills him, so help me, I will use my last Command Seal to make you go fuck yourself!"
No way…
"... yeah, not touching that one."
Fwosh
Fwosh
Fwosh
The creatures fell one by one as swords flew in from just outside my peripherals, and stuck inside their surprised heads, survivors snaking into the shadows.
And as they dropped dead, I heard footsteps approaching.
"Hey, McBatfly? You still alive?" I hear a familiar voice ask me.
pain
"regretfully…" I angst.
"Oh, cool. Now I get to ask you something." she says as she gets close to me.
Pain
"Ow…" I sound out as Rin Tohsaka flips me over, and points a Gandr at me.
"You Coo-Coo for Cocoa Puffs man!?" she exclaims.
"...possibly. To be honest, I don't know what is, or isn't cray-cray anymore…" I admit. "So, this the part where the 'Tohsaka option' comes in?"
"...hm, nah." she decides on the spot.
"What?"
"Why?!"
Me and Archer both exclaimed, though he was much louder.
"Item 1, you just got your ass beat by some familiar trying to steal my kill. You think I, Rin Tohsaka, would accept the help of some dumbass daffodil!? No! Your ass is mine!" she exclaimed. "Now stay still so I can make sure you don't die, and I can kill you myself later!"
b-baka!
She started pulling something out of her pocket, a gem.
"... And… item 2?" I ask, cautiously.
"Reason B, is because… what you did earlier was... kinda badass." she hesitates to admit, a tiny blush on her face.
"Oh… you saw that?"
Not entirely sure what that was all about myself…
For a minute there I… I just didn't feel like myself.
"Uh, duh? You knocked me off the roof?" she looked confused.
"...oh. Well… you just... missed something else that was... pretty cool." I puff up a bit in pride. "... I think?"
Rin used some magecraft to emit a green light from her hand that gave off a warm, comforting feeling that restored feeling to my body that wasn't terrible terrible pain.
"(... jeeze, how are you alive?)" she asked.
"Huh?"
"That stuff in you would stop an Elephants heart. How are you still alive? Let alone conscious?"
"...good question. One I would answer by passing out-"
And so I finally did.
"...well, shit." Rin sighed. "Archer, little help?"
Archer appeared in a swirl of blue particles after investigating, and dealing with Illya, and placed a hand on him to analyze his body.
Trace On
It didn't take long for him to find something was unusual about him. Beyond the poisoning. Far beyond that.
"... I see. So that's why." Emiya then understood Robert Orso's place in all this.
And what that… outburst he saw a just moments ago was about.
It could be… problematic. If he was anything like Saber said… if Orso couldn't control that side of him, it could be dangerous. For him, and others.
He'd seen the results of people losing control in similar situations. The results were on the same level as rogue Dead Apostles.
Not pretty.
Robert Orso's potential threat level just increased dramatically. And would continue to do so exponentially if he was allowed to live. It was part of his heritage.
But still…
He looked at the eternally child-like Illya.
Orso fought to keep her safe when he didn't have to.
"The poison is an alchemical formula based on Nightshade Belladonna that's shutting down his nervous system. Deadly stuff. He lost so much blood over the last hour he should have collapsed ten minutes ago. Though your magecraft stopped the bleeding. But let's not talk about his Mana levels."
"Is… there nothing we can do?" she actually sounded concerned.
"Well, I could do a- MANA PULSE!"
Orso's body jolted as a burst of foreign Mana danced through his body.
"There. That broke down the poison. All he needs is some Mana as a lifeline until his body restores his blood naturally." Emiya doctored. It was the least he could do since this guy protected Illya here. They were even now.
"... well, I'll leave you to it~!" she tried walking away.
"I'm not doing that Rin." Archer objected.
"W-wha-!? You think I'm gonna do it!?" she complained.
"It's a Mana transfer Rin. Not a big deal. He's not even conscious."
"Well if it's not a big deal, you do it!"
"Ph-yeah, you and what command seals?" he gestured to her hand that only had one left.
After spending one earlier today to call him to save her from that fall, she wasn't in a position to use any more.
Flustered and sputtering, she objected to the idea until-
"You wanna kill him yourself or not?" he asked.
"...f-FINE!" she yelled at him before turning almost nervously to the unconscious Master, and muttered "... (wellI'llkillyoulater,soit'sfairIguess…)"
If she was being honest, him being at least moderately attractive helped the situation.
If he was awake… well… to begin with she'd knock him out beforehand, so it would be a moot point, but if he was, he'd consider it an equivalent exchange for how the rest of the day was.
Wanting to just get it over with, Rin got down to his level and… well, kissed a stranger, basically.
And just as she guestimated he'd been given enough-
"HEY! BACK OFF OF HI-AAaaand what are you doing!?"
Rin scrambled to escape the compromising position, and saw the Assassin Servant skidding to a halt.
Fwooosh!
The wind her speed picked up caught up to them.
"... You. Saw. Noth-ing." Rin warned her.
Assassin's blushing face considered it…
"Y-you hand him over, my mouth is sealed." Assassin made a deal.
"Done. Archer?" Rin ordered.
"Doin' it." He picked up the unconscious Master, who seemed to speak in his sleep-
"(...nice... hands...)"
Before being tossed over to the Assassin, who caught him.
"A-And the girl!" Assassin got serious again.
"Huh? Oh, uh, yeah, go nuts." Rin gave Archer a nod.
Archer sighed, and more carefully handed Illya over.
"Pleasure doing business with you. As the Grail tells me they say in Canada, "peace oot~!"" Assassin saluted before carrying her charges off.
This led to Archer and Rin standing there awkwardly for a full minute before Rin added.
"... the Grail tells Servants… oddly random information."
"Yyyyyup." Archer annunciated the p.
"...wait, was… that Berserker's Master?" Rin asked, suddenly worried.
"Yyyyyup."
"... shit."
"Yyyyyup."
Meanwhile…
Assassin stared at her Master whenever she wasn't checking her path as she ran back to Emiya's house.
…
…
"Nnnnnope! Not analyzing this feeling today!" she announced after crossing the halfway point.
ENGLISH "This Illusion" Fate/Stay Night (Akane Sasu Sora)
DunDun!
DunDun!
It Begins!
TAIGA DOJO!
"Muah… it's getting scary teacher!" Student Number 1 complained. "I don't like it here!"
"Nonsense! I'm scarier than any plant delinquent burger!" Taiga dismissed her.
Actually, I think she was referring to 2020
By the way, we're in the end section.
"W-wha- Y-Yes! Welcome to Taiga Dojo faithful readers! I'm your host, Fujimara Taiga!"
"And I'm the eternally loyal Student Number 1!"
And I'm… not payed enough for this…
"This is the end section where we try to explain the chapter to an audience in need of it." Student Number 1 nodded sagely.
"Correct! (Wealsogettomovefreelybutwedonttalkaboutthat…)"
"Teacher… your obsession with animation needs to move on..." The albino complained again.
Well, if you guys are doing this, can we please get an explanation as to what happened here?
"Yes Student Number 2-!"
Please do not call me that.
"For you see..! Who knows?!" Taiga proclaimed.
"Sensei…"
Really? "Who knows?"
"Hm? Did I say the explanation would be accurate?" The teacher tilted her head.
"Well, she's correct, but she's not right." Illya continued, exasperated. "We know as much as the audience at this point…"
Insightful.
Any last minute advice for our hero?
"De-mystify the mysterious enemy!" Taiga shouted.
"And Rin is actually a lot nicer than she seems. Although that isn't to say she's not scary…" the student shuddered a bit.
...right. (luckybasdardwasntevenawakeforit…)
.