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Chapter Start:
Shirou's eyes fluttered open. The first thing he noticed was the extreme warmth that surrounded him. The cause wasn't hard to figure out; they'd wrapped him in at least four thick blankets. The second thing was the two girls sleeping in the chairs beside his bed.
Alise snored softly, her head tilted forward, arms crossed. Her face, usually so packed with focus and energy, seemed softer. As if in sleep, she found true peace.
"Don't let him get away. He's stolen fourteen loaves of bread from that shop!" She jerked and twitched as she spoke, teetering on her chair before settling again.
He couldn't contain his snort; he should never have expected her subconscious should be filled with anything but her sense of justice.
"You should see her when she passes out on the couch. We actually have to take her sword." Lyra said as she stretched and pushed herself to her feet. "how you feeling, squirt?"
Shirou pushed himself into a seated position, absently catching the damp that tumbled from his forehead. "Fine, I guess." He answered.
He could barely remember what could only have been an awful dream and waking up to find out that he'd been sick. Not that he ever remembered being sick.
"Good, then you best get yourself ready. The festival begins in about..." She paused long enough to peer out the window. "Probably an hour and a half to two hours."
While the festival itself wasn't set to open for another hour, the streets were already packed with people. They milled about moving through the stalls as the Familia working them trickled in to finish their last-minute setups. Shirou had never seen any part of the city so alive.
"A better turn out than I was expecting." Neze murmured, "figured too many would-be afraid."
Alise laughed, "They've no reason to be afraid. Not while we're here to protect them!"
Lyra snorted beside him. "Famous last words Alise." She warned.
Shirou was of a mind to agree with her. While he never put much stock into tripping the 'flags' so many of his classmates spoke of, it did seem like tempting fate.
"Oh yeah, Lyra? Famous last words? Whose?"
It wasn't Lyra who answered but Kaguya. She never said a lot, so Shirou still wasn't quite sure what to think of the only other member of his Familia who looked to have come from Japan. "A fair number of people, I believe. Including Lord Yoshiaki when Nobunaga Hiroda came."
"Who? Wait, why do we care what some dusty old fart from the Far East said?" (Amazon) said.
For a moment, Shirou thought she wasn't going to continue, that she'd walk away tightening and loosening her grip on her katana in an effort to keep her temper. That thought went out the window when she continued.
"One should always respect and learn from the past." She said, locking eyes with (amazon). Unfortunately, Yoshiaki was so certain of his victory he did little to safeguard his people from Nobunaga's tactics."
Neze nodded, "wise, yeah, but do we have the time to stand around? It looks like some of the stalls are getting ready to open."
She pointed out the Demeter Familia, who was flipping the sign for their potato croquettes stall into the 'open' position. The shooting gallery run by the Apollo familia a few stalls down already had barkers calling for people to try their luck.
"It's like they think it's a competition," Shirou muttered.
Astrea moved up to stand beside Shirou and placed a hand against her cheek. "Apollo likely does, and Demeter isn't one to let such a perceived challenge go."
"Well, that means it's time to get to work. Shirou, you'll be near the Aphrodite Familia's stall. I hear they're doing makeovers." Alise announced, pointing down the street.
Shirou winced. He'd seen a few members of the Aphrodite familia since he'd arrived in Orario. All of them would be considered beautiful. But, all of them also wandered about with massive smiles on their face. As if they'd not a care in the world.
He started down the street nonetheless.
"Shirou!" He turned to look over his shoulder at Alise. "Be careful!"
Anyone who heard hear would think she was talking about his safety, and Shirou had no doubt she was. However, he couldn't miss the way she tapped on the hilt of her weapon. The message was clear, stick to the swords at his side.
"I will." He called back over his shoulder.
He'd gotten a few more steps before he found Lyra at his side. "I've got beside Goibniu's stall. I hear they're selling a bit of everything. Mostly swords, though. Oh, a member of the Ganesha familia will be relieving you for lunch around midday. The codeword is frittata."
Silently Shirou eyed the pallum at his side. She'd been demanding the aforementioned food for days and now had apparently gotten the Ganesha familia in on it. Though likely unknowingly.
He couldn't stop the small chuckle that escaped him, "I'll pick up the ingredients before heading home."
She didn't squeal or jump up and down, not that Shirou expected her to. She wasn't the type. However, she did cheer and stare at Shirou with bright shining eyes, like a squirrel finding the first nut in the spring.
"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" She said, but Shirou's attention was barely on her. Taken instead by the crowd of men and women surrounding a stall shaded by a large umbrella. He could hear the gossiping moving through the crowd.
"This is me." He said as he moved off to the side of the road. His place was a platform raised a few feet from the ground, allowing him an unencumbered view of the stalls in his direct vicinity.
Lyra waved as she walked on, "hope you don't have too much fun." She called even as she disappeared into the crowd.
Shirou rolled his eyes and scanned the crowd. A few people were being rowdy, but nothing that he had to concern himself with.
The hours passed slowly, and Shirou found himself with very little to do for all the goings-on around him. So he contented himself with watching the people moving about.
Every few minutes, a young man or woman would walk from the aphrodite stalls, their hair perfectly set, whether quaffed or pulled back into a ponytail, and each matched the guest's facial structure. Then almost without fail, they would head to the takoyaki stall run by the Andhrimnir familia. Then, finally, they would head off down the street toward one of the game booths.
Each person, a piece of a faulty series of chaotic clockwork, going around and around.
He moved from one subject to the next, tracking their movements and guessing their next move when he spotted Miach approaching from the side.
"Hello, Shirou." The god said brightly.
Shirou gave the god a shallow bow. He'd come to learn that no one had a bad word to say about the healing god. Instead, they spoke of his kindness and charity. "Lord Miach, off to get your familia more supplies?"
Miach nodded, "I have several skilled potioneers at my stall, and the potions are nearly flying off the shelves. Everyone loves a good bargain after all!" He said with a smile.
He nodded in agreement, "I've heard the Loki familia is planning an expedition into the deeper levels soon. So I'm guessing they've cleaned you out?"
Miach laughed and scratched at his head. "They have been doing their best, but they didn't have quite enough to buy everything."
"A fact that we are here to rectify." A smooth voice interjected.
Shirou traced it to a blond Pallum wearing a yellow vest over a purple long sleeve shirt and trousers. He recognized him immediately as the Captain of the Loki Familia. Finn Deimne.
Beside him stood the jade-haired elf he'd seen in the dungeon. Riveria, he thought her name was.
He expected them to pull out a large sack of valis and offer it to the god, but the Captain bowed his head instead. "While a deal is a deal, we are not so callous as to buy up all of your stock, leaving nothing for the other adventurers. Please allow us to make a proper order."
Miach placed a hand on the Captain's shoulder. "I appreciate your consideration and would be happy to accept an order whenever you care to make it."
Shouting from down the street dragged Shirou's attention from the conversation. He started off pausing to spare Miach a brief nod before slipping into the crowd. The shouting continued as he slipped around the congealing group, and when he stepped out, he found himself in front of a ball toss.
A large bald man bulging with muscle was glaring down at the operator. "I'm telling you those balls should have fallen! I want my prize!" He snarled and pointed at a stuffed rabbit.
The operator sighed, "As I've explained, sir. Each set of bottles is marked with a number that denotes the player's required level. You, sir, decided to throw balls at bottles made to withstand anything below that of a level three."
"I'm strong enough! Look at these!" He flexed his muscles showing the many veins that bulged across the surface of his arms.
"Hey there," Shirou said as he moved up to the counter. "Let's see if we can't just talk this out, okay?"
The operator looked at him and recoiled slightly, but the customer just sneered. "Get out of here, kid; adults are talking."
"Don't be an idiot! He's a member of the Astraea Familia. You know the ones who keep peace in the city?" The operator hissed.
"This kid is the guy who supposedly walked through a monster parade without breaking a sweat? The same guy that fought off a level five adventurer as a level one? I'm calling bullshit."
Shirou quirked an eyebrow, a monster parade? A level five adventurer? Where had the guy heard those things?
"That's him." The operator snapped.
Shirou raised a hand, "look, who I am isn't an issue here. So let's see if we can't solve this problem so everyone can enjoy the festival."
"Than you tell this con-man to give me my prize!" The customer growled.
Shirou shook his head with a sigh, "the rules are clear. You chose to throw those balls at bottles set up for level three adventurers despite the warning. So how about you go for those set for non-adventurers."
He gestured at a different set of bottles without any mark on their surface. "It'll even be my treat," Shirou said, raising a Valis into the air.
"And I'm telling you that I can knock those bottles down. They should have fallen!"
"Then how about we arm wrestle?" The operator asked. "I'm level two, so if you can beat me, I'll let you choose any prize. You lose. You can try for the bottles meant for those without a familia or walk away."
The man snorted, "done." He slammed his arm down onto the counter and grinned when he took the operator's hand, encompassing it in his own.
"I suppose some will choose the wrong option even when one more favorable is right in front of them," Riveria said from behind him.
Shirou shrugged. "People will choose whatever option feeds into their own beliefs."
"A hard lesson to have learned at such a young age."
Shirou peered over his shoulder at her and smiled a grim smile. "The world teaches lessons on its schedule; our wants matter little."
"True enough," she said, "you handled the situation well, though was it wise to offer to pay for a game yourself?"
Turning his attention back to the match that could hardly be called a match as no matter how the man pushed, he couldn't budge the operator's arm in the slightest. Shirou shrugged, "a fight would only rile people up and possibly lead to more. If a bit of coin is all it takes to stop it without violence, I'm willing to pay. Of course, it can't be used in every situation. Some people just want to cause problems leaving me little recourse in how I deal with them."
"Pragmatic," she nodded and then extended three vials towards him. "Lord Miach expressed his wish that these make it to you."
He gently took the vials and inclined his head to Riveria, "Lord Miach is too kind. Thank you for delivering them."
"A request from a god is to be refused only in the most extreme situations." She responded as she turned away. "I bid you a good day Shirou Emiya."
As she moved into the group, the people parted.
'Thump!' "Gods damn it!" The customer roared. He glared at the stall operator before turning to Shirou. "Hey, I want to play again. You said it'd be your treat."
Shirou rolled his eyes. He'd expected as much; the man seemed to be the type. If he managed to miss the toss, he'd demand to play again, or Shirou pay his next game. He rolled the coin in his hand for a moment before making his decision and slipped it into his belt.
"You agreed to the bet, so I'm afraid not." Shirou answered, "I hope you enjoy the festival."
Ignoring the man's glower, he slipped back into the crowd without looking back.
When he made it back, he found Neze standing in his place. "Shirou, got get yourself something to eat!" She called as he approached.
Shirou changed course, heading for the takoyaki stall. It took several minutes to get his food. But it took far longer to find a place that the festival-goers hadn't overrun to eat. He settled on a nearby roof, eating in silence as he watched the people move through the streets.
The takoyaki was borderline awful. How they had drawn such a large crowd was beyond him. The batter hadn't been thoroughly mixed nor properly seasoned. The octopus wasn't cooked quite enough either. And the sauce was just plain off; he made a mental note to talk to the operator about the recipe.
As soon as he finished the food, he headed back to his post.
"You really need to learn to relax more, Shirou. You can take some time to look around, you know?" Neze said from her place, sitting on a burly man who had been bound and gagged.
"I'm fine. You should spend a few moments playing a game or something, though."
She hopped to her feet and pushed her hair back over her shoulder. "All fun and no play will make you super dull, Shirou."
Shirou shrugged. "I'm okay with that."
Neze shook her head and started off toward Lyra's position, no doubt to give her a break. "You're going to take a break sooner or later, Shirou. Oh, and avoid the takoyaki. It's not anywhere near as good as yours." She waved just before disappearing amidst the people.
The rest of the day passed slowly. He had a few more visitors, including A member of the Ganesha Familia who took the tied-up man, Lyra, who brought him a batch of the octopus dumplings from another stall that had much better results. One of Mama Mia's waitresses came by later in the day. She passed him a note asking him to come back around to the restaurant to discuss a few recipes.
He ended up stopping two thieves, one trying to run off with a stall's money, the other was a small girl running off with a stuffed pink horse.
Her, he took by the hand and led her back to the stall. Set the prize onto the counter and proceeded to throw a ball to knock down two moving targets. When the second target fell, he left the third ball on the counter and passed the girl, her prize.
Finally, his night relief arrived in the form of a member of the Ganesha familia, and Shirou headed back up the street to the city center.
The loud bang of metal on metal drew everyone's attention up to the top of the building. Several cloaked figures stood there, wielding weapons of various sizes. Despite the mystery of their identities, who they were wasn't in question.
Evilus.
"I hope you've all enjoyed the festivities because I think it's time we do as well!"
The sound of cracking wood punctuated his statement, along with a number of howls.
Shirou followed one of the howls to a building next to him, a battered thing that looked to be on its last legs. The wall shuddered before with a loud 'crunch' burst outward in a shower of splinters. From the hole stepped out a creature along the lines of a wolf-man. One Shirou didn't know the name of.
People screamed—some in fear, others in pain, and even a few in anguish.
The wolf-man raised a white stone cudgel and leaped forward. Its speed was nothing to scoff at; moving quick enough, Shirou could barely keep track of it.
He drew his blade and swung. Stone met steel, Shirou stumbled back, his arms shuddering from the force. He didn't even come to a complete stop before rushing back in.
Each swing carried as much force as he could muster, and each met the stone club. Knee's, chest, stomach, neck, nothing reached its target. The worst part the thing wasn't even struggling to keep up.
As he brought the blade up to sever the monster's head from its shoulders, an identical sword appeared in his off-hand, and he jammed it into the stomach of the creature. Then, angling the blade up, Shirou plunged it into the monster's heart.
Facing the plaza, he found it in chaos. The gathered crowd had attempted to run all at once, creating a giant bottleneck. Men, women, and children alike lay still on the ground, victims of the crowd's fear. He took no time deciding his next target, another wolf-man like the one that slumped to the ground behind him. This monster, in the process, bludgeoning a slender elven woman to death. She'd curled herself on the street. She wasn't screaming in pain or moving. There couldn't be any doubt to her state of health—the small hand waving about in futility beneath her, however, happened to be alive. As far as Shirou was concerned, it had chosen itself.
Blood roared in his ears. Leaping over the crowd, Shirou descended blade set to impale the creature's head. His eyes widened as its ears twitched, and he crossed his arms in front of him just in time too. Its clawed foot gouged into his arm guard just before he was sent flying back into the building behind him. The wood gave way to its force, and Shirou skid across the wooden floor until he met the other wall.
He coughed as he stood, his eyes locked on to the hole as the wolf-man filled it. Shirou blurred forward. His sword raised to slash his target shoulder to hip. It met white stone just as Shirou expected it to, and once more, he traced a copy of his sword into his other hand and jammed it into the wolf-man's side.
Or would have. Instead, it halted on the edge of a white stone knife. Shirou gritted his teeth and leaped back, eyes locked on the blade.
The thing was vile, used to slaughter one adventurer after another. Its only other purpose was to cleave flesh from bone for the creature's dining pleasure. The blade was shorter than the length of Shirou's hand.
"I am the bone of my sword," Shirou whispered as the wolf-man vanished from his sight. He loosened his grip when the makeshift mace stuck his sword and thrust his closing hands toward his enemy.
Kanshou and Bakuya bit deep into its flesh a moment later. It roared in pain and burst into black dust.
Another shadow took the position in the hole he'd created, and Shirou lurched forward, stopping as he heard a very familiar, "Shirou!"
"Alise." Shirou sighed, "I'm fine. We need to get back out there."
She shook her head. "Take a breath, kiddo. The girls are already out hunting." She explained. "Not to mention that Loki's familia is in there too."
Shirou started for the hole anyway. He couldn't just sit by and do nothing. "Captain, there's a kid-"
"Underneath the woman that it" she pointed her sword at the Wolf-man, "was attacking? We've already moved her to safety."
She cracked a grim smile, "it's impressive that you managed to drop even one of these bastards but don't think I don't know what I'm doing."
Shirou nodded. "I don't think that! But I'm not going to stand around twiddling my thumbs while I can help." He argued.
"Stay here Shirou, That's an order." She snapped, and without her eyes leaving his own, she stepped out of the building, dropping from his sight.
He raced to the edge and found her soaring from the building over what he could only describe as a battlefield. The dead scattered about, small parties engaging the monsters all over. While rarer, a handful of adventurers were facing off against the wolf-men alone.
Lyra was one of them. She weaved between the monster's attacks striking out with her daggers with every pass. That the thing was standing in a pool of its own blood showed just how well her tactic was paying off. More so with the numerous corpses that surrounded her.
For her part, Alise cleaved through a monster as she passed above it. She cut the legs from beneath another as she landed before bisecting its jaw.
Across the courtyard, Neze was fending off two of the beasts with her Halberd and her swift kicks.
As much as he hated to admit it, Shirou couldn't deny they had the situation well in hand. Scanning the field, he spotted an adventurer pulling himself along the ground toward a side street.
Shirou jumped from the building and hit the ground running. His swords at the ready, he looked about the plaza for any sign of threat, but everyone he could see was engaged in combat or dead. He slid to a halt beside the downed adventurer. He was missing a leg, and a monster had left four long scores across the man's face.
"Help me!" He howled reached a hand for Shirou.
For a split second, another image, one of a small girl with golden eyes silently reaching for him, overlapped him. Her face was laden with terror the same as his. It passed as quickly as it had come, and Shirou latched on to the man's wrist and hauled him up onto his shoulders.
Triage had been set up near the small fountain near one of the cities premier restaurants. "Hold on," Shirou said and took off.
The man groaned in pain with each step Shirou took, but that was fine. As far as Shirou was concerned, the man could be screaming, and he wouldn't mind. If he was crying out, he wasn't dead yet.
The battle continued around him as spells began sweeping through the area. The monsters started falling faster than before. He twisted around a man carving into one of the monster's hide. Shirou snorted. It wasn't the time. To be gathering magic stones, but he didn't have time to stop and say anything about it.
An elf with long blond hair stood above a child, whispering his spell, causing the girl to glow in a green light that seemed to spread across the kid to shine.
"Are you the one who stopped us at that silly meeting? The swords you carry seem to match the reports I've gotten." The words were soft but carried a heavy level of malice that Shirou couldn't ignore.
Though he acted as if he hadn't heard him, instead, Shirou chose to lower the man onto a sheet with a nod at the healer. Then, finally, he turned to face the speaker.
He towered above Shirou. But that and the man's broad shoulders were all Shirou could tell due to the cloak he wore. Kanshou and Bakuya once more in his hands, Shirou gave the man a stern look. "Place any weapons you may have on the ground and put your hands on the back of your head."
Everything about the man screamed dangerous, and Shirou's instincts agreed, but he couldn't bring himself to care. The man in front of him was part of the reason so many had lost their lives. Shirou was less than surprised when the man laughed for that reason alone.
"You're funny. But you know what?" He blurred, and Shirou threw himself forward. But it wasn't fast enough. The man's boot slammed into his back.
He crashed through the stall in front of him and continued on until he stumbled into a pile of dirty pots. He pushed himself to his feet and charged back the way he'd come. The cloaked man stood where he once had as if he had not a care in the world.
"Trace on." He uttered. He could feel his circuits heat up.
"Trigger back."
"Fire." In the span of a second, a broadsword burst into being and launched toward his enemy. There was a brief flash of light and the sound of clashing metal. Just like that, the broadsword flew skyward.
"It's a nice trick, but I don't see how you could have done anything to stop them. You're nothing but a one-trick pony."
Shirou didn't respond; instead, a dozen swords of various sizes formed around him.
"Fire."
Every sword launched forward, cutting through the air a whistle following in their wake.
The man moved so fast he was a blur striking the flat of the incoming blade, sending them careening off course, but two made it through for all of his speed, impaling the man. His head tilted back, and he loosed a groan, one filled with what Shirou could only describe as pleasure.
"You are something, aren't you?" He said as he reached down and took hold of the hilts. Then before Shirou's eyes, he began pulling them slowly from his stomach. "I can see why she's so interested in you."
The swords clattered to the ground, and the gaping wounds slowly began to close bit by bit. From his side, the cloaked man pulled two curved, serrated knives. "Course, it also means you need to die."
Shirou grit his teeth
He started lowering himself into a stance reminiscent of a sprinter when a high-pitched whistle swept through the area.
"I should have known." He grumbled and stowed his weapons away. "Something always interrupts my fun."
He turned his cloak sweeping out around him as he did. Alise descended on him from above. The man crumpled like a pile of wet sawdust.
"I told you to remain where you were." She said pointedly.
Shirou shrugged, "people needed help, and I wasn't going to standby when I could do something."
His Captain sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. "Fine, just help me tie our friend here up."
She took hold of one of the banners hanging from a stall, tore it into long strips, and as soon as she finished, Shirou set about twining the fabric together. In short order, the man was bound and delivered to the nearest Ganesha familia member for holding.
As they walked away, Shirou interrupted Alise when she opened her mouth to speak, "I'm not just going to stay out of this. People are dying."
"More reason for you to stay out of it, for now, kid," Lyra said as she dropped to the ground beside them. "Your strong, and I know you can take care of yourself, but fighting a person is different than fighting monsters in the dungeon."
"Another set of steps were matching their pace a moment later as Neze joined them. "I would say leave him, but I'm pretty sure that he'd follow even if we did leave him behind."
"Indeed, he does seem to be rather hard-headed," Kaguya added as she all but appeared out of nowhere in front of them.
"Fine. But you stay back and focus on the monsters. You've a lot to learn before you even attempt ending an adventurer's life."
"Unless you don't have another choice," Neze added.
"Right." Alise agreed.
Shirou wanted to argue, to tell her he''d already done his fair share of killing people. That wasn't anything new. But his familia didn't know about it.
He followed Alise through the city, turn after turn though he was pretty confident he knew where they were being led. Unfortunately or fortunately, as the case may be, Evilus wasn't particularly creative in their plans, using the same tactics repeatedly. So, it was no surprise when Alise slowed to stop a few feet from the stairway leading into the dungeon.
Alise strode to the stairs and turned her hair, sweeping around her. "Okay, keep your eyes open. I've no doubt they've prepared traps! We're going in, and none of them are getting away today.!"
Chapter end.
Authors note:
Merry Christmas! I hope you enjoyed the chapter, folks.
Now I do have some news! I am revamping my P.a.t.r.e.o.n. Page including the way I'm writing my rotation. I will be writing several chapters of any one story before moving on to the next. You have a chance if you have a story you'd like to see updated. Patrons will get to vote for the story of their choice.
Link to P.a.t.r.e.o.n: w.w.w.p.a.t.r.e.o.n.c.o.m./swryder
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