Disclaimer: I do not own Fate Stay Night, Highschool DxD or anything else.
Fate: Devil Night
Chapter17: Interlude III
Human World
Japan: Fuyuki
Emiya Residence
Emiya Shirou sat alone on the wooden floor staring up at the night sky wearing one of his nightwear kamino's, silently watching the stars shine through the darkness. He winced slightly as pain shot up his left arm and into the rest of his body. It took a moment for him to steady his breathing and suppress the pain, something he had become accustomed to. Even with the Archer card acting as a buffer and Ravel's Phoenix Tears healing the damage, he was still feeling the aftereffects of the latest battle.
The battle…
He could still remember it, the overwhelming power that the so-called 'Super-Devils' gave off when they'd fought. Rizevim was a powerful and ancient being whom had surpassed his father, yet under normal circumstances he was weaker than Sirzechs and Ajuka. However since they'd fought with Rizevim's Reality Marble—Devil's Requiem—he had been able to overwhelm them both. Shirou was only able to match him at his current level because he had partially been able to 'invade' his Reality Marble with his own, granting him just a small chance of surviving.
It hadn't been enough…
Devils were weak against Holy Swords, that was a fact, and Shirou, Miyu, Sakura and Xenovia had been wielding four of the strongest Holy Swords ever created against them. Without Galatine, Excalibur Durandal and Arondight in combination with Shirou's half-formed Reality Marble they wouldn't have been able to buy Issei enough time to charge up and transfer his accumulated power to Ravel allowing her to land a solid blow on the son of Lucifer. They were among the strongest weapons they had in their arsenal but they were imperfect copies since Shirou and Miyu couldn't fully replicate them.
And it still hadn't been enough…
Rizevim got away…
And he took Miyu with him…
He would save her…
"Sempai?" a familiar voice spoke up from behind him.
It was Sakura…
"Sakura," Shirou smiled back over his shoulder. "I thought everyone had gone to bed."
Tonight was his turn to stand guard...
"I'm not tired," Sakura reasoned. "May I sit with you?"
"Yes," Shirou nodded back. "Of course you can."
Sakura hesitated for a moment before nodding and walking up beside him. It was then that he got a good look at her and noticed that she was wearing a kamino like him. She slowly sat down next to him and put her hands on her knees as she looked up at the stars. They sat there in silence for a while, simply enjoying each other's company. Even after all this time he still didn't understand other people, especially the women in his life, but even he could tell that there was something on her mind.
"I was useless," Sakura spoke finally. "When we were fighting Kokabiel and just recently with those devils."
"There was nothing you could have done," Shirou told her. "They were all monsters."
"You fought them," Sakura said simply.
"Yeah…well…" Shirou trailed off.
There was nothing he could say to that…
"I'm joking," Sakura suddenly smiled cheerfully at him.
"Huh?" Shirou blinked in surprise and confusion.
"It was my way of getting back at you for always being mean to me," Sakura told him.
"I'm always what?" Shirou asked further. "I'm never mean to you."
"You always worry by yourself and never talk to me about it. You don't talk to the others either," Sakura explained.
"Well…I…" Shirou stammered unsure how to respond to that.
It wasn't that he didn't want to, it was just that he didn't think it was necessary to do so. He worried about stuff at times but he just dealt with it himself rather than burden his friends and family with it. It had always been like that, ever since Kiritsugu passed away all those years ago. Idly he tried to recall a single time that he'd talked about what was bothering him with anyone and couldn't. He'd never done that before and he wasn't sure whether he should start.
"You may not tell me what's on your mind but I'll tell you some of mine," Sakura continued. "I'm worried that after all the evil I've done, I'll never be able to make up for it."
"Sakura…" Shirou trailed off as he stared at her.
"This, right now, is the happiest time of my life," Sakura confessed. "You maybe mean to me sometimes, but you're nice too, and I still get to go to school even after everything that's happened. I get to study and be in the Archery club. I think that being able to live here with everyone is what you call happiness. I guess that sounds corny though…"
"No, it doesn't," Shirou smiled back at her. "I think so too."
"Sempai, you're smiling," Sakura commented. "You've been smiling more and more lately."
"I have?" Shirou blinked. "I hadn't noticed."
"I also…actually…I really enjoy spending time with you. Going to school, attending club activates, walking home together, saying 'see you tomorrow' and stuff like that. I treasure those small things," Sakura smiled sadly at him.
"Sakura…you…" Shirou said unsure what to say.
Before the Fifth Holy Grail War, he'd only known Sakura's smile and caring. He'd never wondered about her past and thoughts despite knowing that she was from a Magus family. To him she was neither a Magus nor a Hero of Justice but solely an existence of Emiya Shirou's haven of retreat. He knew that Magi families only trained one heir in Magecraft so he'd thought that Shinji, being the oldest, had inherited the Matou family Magecraft with Sakura being there as a 'spare' for them in case anything happened to him.
"I'm scared," Sakura admitted tearfully. "I'm not a brave person, all I want to do is run away with you and never look back."
Run?
He'd never thought about doing that before…
If things had been different, if Kiritsugu had never told him about Illya and Chloe, if he had never summoned Ravel, if he had never saved Medea, then he might have left. When the Grail War started, he could have fled to the Underworld with Ravel and Miyu. Of course if he'd done that then Sakura would be consumed by all the world's evils and Angra Mainyu would not only have the full power of the Holy Grail at his command, but he would have also had access to Akasha.
They would all be dead…
"It's okay to be scared," Shirou told her. "I'm scared."
"Y-you are?" Sakura asked confused. "But you always look so calm."
"I can't just throw away everything like that," Shirou smiled sadly at her. "I just can't."
He had to save Miyu…
"…You didn't choose me," Sakura smiled back just as sad. "But I love you anyways."
"Sakura…" Shirou trailed off as he watched her stand up.
"Good night Sempai," Sakura waved over her shoulder as she started walking down the corridor. "See you tomorrow."
"…See you tomorrow."
Ravel Phenex let out a sigh of relief as she finally reached the front gates of the Emiya Residence. After the day she'd had, all she wanted to do was curl up in bed and go to sleep. Her back ached from all the sitting up straight she'd been forced to do, not to mention the headache she had. As the devil overseeing Fuyuki city she had certain duties to perform now, including but not limited to dealing with the paperwork and the odd Stray Devil that showed up in the area. Not to mention searching for Rizevim and Miyu.
All of which were taking up all of her time lately...
Since the meeting between the Three Biblical Factions, members of the Khaos Brigade organization had been showing up all over the Human World and the Underworld. To combat this rising threat, the leaders of all three factions had banded together and were now allied with each other which was strange in itself. She didn't know how she felt about having Angels and Fallen Angels as allies now. Because of the actions taken by her and her peerage, they were rather well known in the supernatural community now, especially after the battle with the Super-Devil Rizevim.
She still couldn't believe they had survived that…
Though they had lost Miyu…
She stopped at the front door and paused before sighing. Well, she might as well go and see him. After all, at this time of night he was probably still in his shed-workshop like usual. She walked round and into the courtyard before making the short journey to the shed. Ravel walked up to shed door and opened it slowly, the Bounded Fields allowing her access like they usually did. There she found Shirou wearing his dusty work clothes and gazing down at something lying on the floor.
"Shirou?" she asked him.
"Ravel?" the white-haired Queen blinked surprised to see her.
"What are you doing?" Ravel asked further as she peered around him.
His workshop appeared to be just as untidy as it normally was, especially since Miyu had been stockpiling the things she created in there. Sooner or later they would have to expand or move it to a different place, preferably one of the warehouses in the Underworld. The Phenex clan owned quite a few so turning one into a workshop for her peerage shouldn't be too difficult, though she doubted that would be for awhile yet.
They were still rather attached to this city after all…
It was their home…
"Take a look," he answered as he picked up the object on the floor and showed it to her.
It was red bow, curved and steady with a string connecting the two ends. Black lines ran up and down the otherworldly material it was made out of. It was a Japanese-style bow crafted along similar lines to those that she had seen him and Sakura use in the Archery Club at school. Still, there was something different about, something demonic. He handed it over to her and she grasped it with both hands, examining it closely. She could feel it, a small but intense heat coming from the weapon, one that she was intimately familiar with.
Phoenix Fire…
"It looks like you've been busy," Ravel commented as she handed the bow back to him. "What? Is that sword we made not good enough for you?"
"Kuro is a good sword," Shirou said as he set the bow back down and looked over at the aforementioned blade. "And I'm going to take it with me when we go after Miyu. But if I'm going to 'hell' then I want a bow that I can rely on for fighting over longer distances. I was planning to make one after the fight with Kokabiel but between dealing with everything that came after—and the whole mess at the meeting of the faction leaders—I just haven't had the time until now."
"Why are you making a bow, anyway?" Ravel asked confused. "I mean, can't you just project Archer's or something?"
"I could," Shirou nodded. "But I'd rather have a bow that I can rely on and not have to use some prana to make it."
It was the same as with Kuro, he'd much rather save his prana for when he needed it, like when he was forced to project one of the numerous Noble Phantasms he had in his arsenal. Besides, Archer had created his own bow but later discarded it in favour of using a projected one and Shirou wanted to surpass him in every way. To do that he had to create a bow that was able to do what Archer's did, and that was fire Noble Phantasms.
He'd used Archer's bow before—or at least a projection of it—and knew that it was a western-style bow forged from a material that mankind had yet to discover. Shirou knew this and had asked Azazel if he knew anything that could survive a lot of strain. Azazel had sold him a synthetic material of some kind which he couldn't identify or name. Apparently it was only found at the northernmost peak of the Underworld, buried about half a mile down.
It was called Hell-Stone…
"…What's its name?" Ravel asked him.
"Aka."
It was cold…
That was Medea's first thought as she felt herself slowly drift and awaken from her long slumber. Her body felt heavy and ached all over though she had no idea why. She couldn't remember much of anything nor did she know where she was as she awoke to the sight of a familiar-looking ceiling. It was dark and she could barely see anything. It took her a moment to realise where she was and slowly push herself into a sitting position.
This was her Master's workshop…
Though he seemed to have done some redecorating while she was out…
Looking down at herself she noticed that she was lying in the center of a magic circle, the same magic circle they'd used to forge their contract, and she was currently occupying a futon. It was better than the floor at least, and she appreciated it at least. Still, what had happened to her? The last thing she remembered was being struck down by Saber and the curses of Angra Mainyu invading her body. Had her Master done something?
He must have…
"Caster?"
She hurled the disbelieving whisper and looked up at the entrance of the shed-workshop. Sure enough there stood her Master, the young man's hair now white and his skin tanned. He looked about the same age he had before though he looked a bit older and seemed to be staring at her in disbelief, as if the sight of her awake was something he couldn't comprehend. How long was she out? It must have been awhile or he wouldn't be so shocked to see her conscious again…
"Master…Shirou…" she said as she crawled out of the futon and slowly stood up. "What happened?"
"Medea," Shirou spoke quietly. "I can't believe that you're awake; I thought that you'd never wake up after you were cursed at the end of the Grail War. You've been in a coma for months as your Magic Circuits recovered and repaired themselves."
"Months?" Caster asked in surprise.
This would take some explaining…
For the moment he was just glad that she was okay…
"What's the last thing that you remember?" Shirou asked hesitantly.
"I remember fighting Saber with you and then it goes dark. I don't know what happened after that," Caster answered as she tried to piece together her scattered memories of the battle.
"Saber struck you with her sword and nearly killed you. I managed to save you and get you to safety before continuing on. You've been in a coma ever since," Shirou explained. "We were able to save Sakura but Rin, Illya and Chloe died that day. In the end I destroyed Angra Mainyu and the Holy Grail."
She didn't know what to think nor could she say anything to that, after all what could she say? He'd clearly gone through hell and they all knew what they had signed on for when they went to Mount Enzou. Caster had been prepared to die—again—for the selfless kindness that this young man had shown her. He'd saved her not once but twice, fought by her side and together they had won the Fifth Holy Grail War as Master and Servant.
For now she was just thankful to be alive…
Ravel Phenex hurried through the front gates of the Emiya Residence, almost flying passed the surprised Xenovia who was standing guard at the time and rushed over to the shed-workshop. She opened the door and entered as soon as she reached it, bypassing the Bounded Fields covering it and spotted Shirou and Caster standing around a table at the back of the room. Both of them looked up in surprise at seeing her suddenly appear and shot her a confused look after realising it was her.
"We've found her," Ravel spoke with ragged breaths.
It had taken her nearly a month but she'd done it, she'd found out where Rizevim had taken Miyu and where they were hold up. After exhausting almost all of her contacts both in the Human World and in the Underworld, not to mention some recently acquired contacts in Heaven, she'd managed to narrow down the list of places Rizevim had taken her to two locations. She'd already checked one, so that meant the other was certainly the place where Rizevim was hiding out.
"Where?" Shirou asked the question.
"The Dimensional Gap," Ravel answered.
The Dimensional Gap, the endless void between the realms, former home of Ophis, the Infinite Dragon God and current residence of True Dragon God Emperor otherwise known as Great Red. It was a multi-coloured abyss that stretched on forever, a place where few had ever gone and even fewer had returned alive. Only the Kaleidoscope himself had ever ventured there and had seemingly tuck up permanent residence near where Great Red was usually spotted flying about.
From what they'd heard the two of them had become fast friends…
Rizevim would have to be insane to be hiding there…
"How sure are you?" Shirou inquired further.
"One hundred percent," Ravel replied with a nod. "There's a Bounded Field set up near the border of the Underworld, one matching Rizevim's demonic power."
"His Reality Marble," Shirou mused.
"Yes," Ravel confirmed.
So that was how he'd done it, Rizevim had deployed his Reality Marble inside the Dimensional Gap and was using it to hide away from Great Red and everyone who was searching for him. Being a Super-Devil he had an enormous amount of demonic power, enough to keep a Reality Marble deployed for month's one end, especially if he was drawing energy from the Dimensional Gap itself. It didn't matter, Shirou had already made his choice, he was going to save Miyu no matter the cost.
"How do we get there?" Shirou asked the question.
Travelling through the Dimensional Gap was hazardous at the best of times, especially since the very nature of the 'nothingness' that exists there destroys anything it touches. It took some incredibly powerful magical protection in order to traverse the Dimensional Gap, and even then the energy requirements for it were enormous. There were trains that could travel through it but they had so many Bounded Fields in placer over them that it made even his shed-workshop look like an unprotected glass building.
"Sakura," Ravel answered simply.
Sakura…
She didn't mean…
"No, no way in hell," Shirou shook his head in response. "Rin was one thing, she knew what she was doing with it, but Sakura is a long way from that."
"It's only way we can get in there," Ravel told him. "It's all we've got."
She wanted Sakura to make a contract with the Kaleidostick Ruby, a magical wand, a Mystic Code, created by Zelretch himself and given to the Tohsaka family centuries ago. It was power, and it was dangerous. Ruby had the ability to use the Second True Magic Kaleidoscope, the Operation of Parallel Worlds, the ability to traverse and manipulate the barriers between dimensions. When Rin had bonded with it, she had been brainwashed into being a Magical Girl for a little while before she was able to return to her normal self. Considering it was the Kaleidoscope they were dealing with, everyone had opted to seal Ruby back in the Tohsaka chest and leave it there after Rin had been killed.
"I'll do it," Sakura spoke from the doorway.
"Sakura…" Shirou trailed off as he looked up.
"It's okay Sempai," Sakura smiled back sadly. "I still have much to atone for, so please, let me do this."
He stared for a moment unsure how to respond, merely clenching his fists at his side. She'd already gone through so much and now he was forced to ask her to do something that he wasn't sure she'd be able to recover from. It might break her mind again, being bonded to Ruby and seeing everything through the Kaleidoscope. He knew better than anyone what it was like to drown in memories that weren't his own, after all between the Archer Card and Archer's Arm, he had seen things that were both beautiful and horrible at the same time.
He wouldn't wish that on anyone…
"We'll give you two a minute," Caster said as she and Sakura left the shed and closed the door behind her.
She had her own preparations to make too…
"…You know, don't you?" Ravel asked him.
"…Yeah," Shirou nodded knowing what she was speaking of.
"Rizevim on his own will be incredibly difficult to defeat, however the main issue is his Reality Marble. As long as he's inside it we don't stand a chance," Ravel explained clearly.
Rizevim's Reality Marble—Devil's Requiem—granted him a boost to all of his parameters, effectively making him almost invincible. There was no way to defeat him while he was inside it, and even if he wasn't there was a very slim chance of them managing to defeat him outside of it too. Still, they had to try and save Miyu. She wasn't just Shirou's sister, she was also a Holy Grail, an artefact that could grant any wish that someone could make once the required conditions were met.
If Rizevim gained that kind of power…
They couldn't let that happen…
"Any ideas on how to counter it?" Shirou questioned.
"I do have one," Ravel spoke quietly as a small blush settled on her cheeks. "You don't have enough prana to use for it, but I can held up with that."
"How?" Shirou asked her.
"A Tantric Ritual," Ravel answered simply.
"Wait—what?" Shirou asked in surprise. Of course he knew what a Tantric Ritual was, his father had taught him about them and how they were done.
But he hadn't paid them much mind…
"Do I have to spell it out for you?" Ravel asked back looking a bit agitated.
"No," Shirou replied hesitantly.
"Well?" Ravel inquired.
"…Yes."
Author's Notes:
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