Fate/Stay Night: Umbra Bello
Okay, bit of a warning, this chapter is a bit fillery. But it does set up several plot points for later. Regardless, I hope you enjoy it.
thewookie1/Akashic Records- Well, even if he had thought of it at the time, he really didn't want to risk pissing her off by mentioning that. He wanted her to get bored, and back off, not get more angry.
Chapter XI- Silver Lining
Date: 02/03/2004
Time: 12:45 am
Location: Emiya Household
A quiet spot on a hill full of flowers.
"It's perfect ******"
Huh?
"An ideal blade for an* **e*l ****." I tell them.
Who… who is that?
I… I know them… don't I?
It grows warmer as the scene begins to dissolve.
There's a girl… talking to me. She grows from a girl into a young woman in the blink of an eye. Her blade… it has become stained with blood for the first time. It won't be the last. Their eyes, once full of youthful optimism, now take in the scope of her role.
We are at a battlefield now. The warmth… it's the bodies of the fallen turning to ash, and a sacrificed city turning to ruin.
"So… this is the path I chose."
It was here, on this battlefield, that that light seemed to dim. Here where she realized what it meant to save some, by sacrificing others.
Just as she might've begun regretting that choice, she remembered why she made it. Her soul seemed to grow cold for a moment. But only a moment. Before accepting this.
"If this is what I need to do to make people happy… to make them smile... this can't be the wrong choice."
"What great irony it is-", I thought, "-that saving, and killing, so often come hand and hand."
Defense by Destruction.
Salvation by Sacrifice.
Mercy by Murder.
But you already know that. Don't you?
Hu-?
BZZZZT BZZZZT BZZZZT BZZZZT BZZZZT BZZZZT BZZZZT BZZZZT BZZZZT
"-uh?" I open my eyes.
A dream… this crap is getting weird…
I let the fog of sleep drain from my mind as I take in my surroundi-
Oh! Fou!
"Prou!" The familiar leapt onto me with relief.
"Didn't see you much during the fight… guess you played it smart and bunkered down, huh?" I assumed while scratching his head.
… so…. apparently I'm not in normal Fate.
… good to know.
I… didn't exactly plan for this…
So, in review, Rin's a lunatic, Shirou is the savior of Aincrad, Lancer likes poetry, Saber's about as subtle as Hiroshima. And Kuzu… Kazu... Caster's Master is quite possibly the most dramatic History Teacher… actually the most dramatic human I've ever met.
It's all starting to make… well not sense… but I am getting a full picture of this puzzle,
So, not only have I been dropped into an anime. I've gotten myself mixed up into-
"Ah, you've awoken."
I turn to the voice, and my brain trips up for a moment.
"O-Okit- I-I-mean Saber?!" fuck! "Um… Good... morning?"
"To you as well Master of Assassin." she nods from her own… futon?
Taking in the new environment, I think we're in one of the guest rooms of the Emiya residence. Me and Saber were placed about eight feet apart. There were tiny blots of dried blood leading to her spot. Rays of mid day sun passed through the thin walls, illuminating the room.
"... so… what exactly did I miss while I was out?" I dare ask.
"In case it wasn't obvious, we managed to escape from Berzerker. You have my thanks for warning us of its regeneration ability. We saw it pulling itself together just as we left the area." she began recounting the events I wasn't conscious for, "You continued slipping in-and-out of consciousness until about when we arrived here. After arriving at the conclusion that both you, and I would be incapacitated for some time, my Master, and your Servant decided that, for the time being, you both could stay here until you, and my Master, iron out the details of this proposed alliance. That was about eight hours ago."
"Right… that makes sense…" strange… why do I feel like she was omitting something? "So, where is your Master then-? Actually, where's Assassin?"
"Despite my telling him that it was a bad idea, both he, and your Servant are at school right now." she seemed frustrated that her Master seemed determined to get himself into as many bad ends as possible.
"...Why would Assassin go with him?"
"It was a compromise. Since he was determined to go, and I couldn't protect him in my condition, Assassin decided she'd use her Presence Concealment to keep guard over him. My Master protested, but she said she was under your orders to keep him safe." she explained my Servant's current absence.
Not untrue. His safety is a vital part of the overall war plan.
I tried focusing on the Master-Servant connection in order to communicate with Okita, but then-
BZZZZT
There was… I guess it was interference? The connection was still there but… where it was once a 5g full bar connection, it now felt she was going through a tunnel in Chernobyl.
If I had to guess… I'd say that between Rider's (Still inactive) Noble Phantasm, and distance… and possibly the state of my circuits right now, there were many issues with the signal.
I tried amping up said signal with my magecraft when-
BZZZT-PAIN-BZZZZT-PAIN-BZZZZT
"D-damnit!" I swore at the sudden jolt.
"Orso!?" Saber seemed slightly concerned.
"I-it's fine…" I shrug that off, "I guess my circuits are still recovering…"
I just hope it's not as bad as when Emiya first projected Kanshou, and Bakuya…
It's probably not… then again, I don't know all too much about my own circuits to begin with. I'd say I should consult an expert later… buuut, the only other mage- magic user available right now is Emiya. And calling him an expert would be generous.
I haven't really figured out how to perform simple structural analysis yet, let alone self structural analysis, so what I'm actually working with here in terms of circuit numbers, and quality is anyone's guess. I'll definitely get around to it when the opportunity arises.
There's a lot to cover in Magecraft 101, and a lot of what's in the book Kirei gave me doesn't make a lot of sense… probably meant to be read with a guide, or teacher. Someone who's already a Magus. If I had to guess, I'd say it's some kind of security measure. Since it's meant to teach noobies about magic you don't want to place any magical defenses on it so they can actually read it, but you keep it esoteric enough that only those with intimate knowledge of the moonlit world can understand it clearly. Thereby needing to already either be a mage, or have a mage teacher explain things.
That, or I'm an idiot. Or both. Whichever works.
"Like I said, we're both likely to be out for some time. Probably the better part of today." Saber diagnosed.
"...Well… it could be worse." I find the silver lining here. The outcome of last night was a lucky one. We all made it out alive with negligible injuries… well… unless you count Rin… but that's a whole other can of worms now.
If this were the normal Rin we were dealing with… I'd assume after she recovered I would become public enemy #1. As the only known other Master she would try (and likely fail due to my not existing in this world until about a month ago) to find information about me before confronting me from an advantageous position. Likely with superior firepower, and magecraft.
But this isn't normal Rin. This one… she's going to be the wildcard here.
Assuming she's still one of the good guys… we may be able to form a coalition against everyone else in the war…
Dammit… there's just too many unknowns now. With everyone being… different, there's no guarantee they'll act the same way.
Oooor, maybe they'll still do the same as their normal counterparts, just for different reasons?
I suppose it just depends on the kind of parody we're dealing with.
I suppose with Mr SWE himself around I should expect the plot to resemble the original to a point. Everyone doing the same things they would've done in the original, just with everyone being some kind of idiot, or lunatic.
Right then. So our plans don't change going forward. This changes nothing except the chances of me coming out of this with my sanity intact being drastically reduced. Unfortunately however, this raises another question-
What's next?
I only (kinda sorta) planned up to this point. Now that I'm likely to ally with Emiya, what's step 2?
I'm not fighting for the Grail. If anything I want to avoid fighting the other Maste- most of the other Masters.
Let's think here… we can't make a move against Kirei, and Gilgamesh. Emiya isn't close to being ready. And we don't really have a legitimate Casus Belli against the priest at the moment. We're gonna have to wait for him to make a move… still don't like the idea of giving him the initiative...
So in the meantime… I think we need to focus on getting Emiya up to snuff.
Once I finish looking into structural analysis, I'll see what I can do about stopping him from using his nerves as makeshift circuits. If we're careful, that should improve his capacity as a mage.
Normally, I'd let an expert (i.e Rin, or Archer) handle this, but… frankly, I think we're gonna have to start operating on the assumption we're not gonna be getting any help from anyone from here on out.
...Oh! And then there's Shinji.
As the only bad guy in the war we can really fight with a chance at winning at the moment, our next move should be against him, and Rider. Besides, he's the most immediate threat to innocent lives
Right then. Phase 2 of my Master Plan- Train Shirou, Defeat Shinji.
Since Caster's Master could beat Rider with his bare hands, I can guess our Servants won't have too much trouble. Assuming we don't give him time to activate the Bounded Field around the school.
Okay then, so long as there aren't any other surprises, I think we'll be good for the foreseeable future.
Meanwhile…
Homurahara Archery Dojo…
"I expected better from you of all people Shirou! I ask you to clean the place, and ya know what I see!? The dojo looks worse than it's ever been! You broke the floor! How did you break the floor you were trying to clean!? School don't have the money to fix that shit!" Emiya could only grow slightly red from embarrassment. It wasn't helped by the fact that he somehow instinctually felt that Assassin was laughing at him from her concealed form.
Thankfully at least, his guardian had taken him aside from homeroom to berate him about the dojo that had, to be fair, nothing to do with his actions.
Although, unfortunately for the redhead, the explanation of- "A Wizard did it", while accurate, is neither believable, nor legal.
Still, even if it wasn't him that did it, he still felt guilty watching Ayako having a nervous breakdown about the state of the place. To be honest, he wasn't sure which he'd be more afraid of, Ayako's reaction when she hears it was him that did it, or whatever punishment Taiga has in mind.
That girl had an ironically unhealthy obsession with Archery.
He was about to try to explain what had happened in a way that didn't break the one rule that every mage had to follow when-
RIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIING
Both he, and Taiga were distracted by the sudden sound from the P.A.
"'tap' 'tap' 'tap' 'tap' ….. ((Clears Throat)) OnE HUnDrED PeRCEnT MAxImUM NYOOOO CHIIIIIIIII-!"
Boooooom
rumble rumble
"... so, silver lining, I think I've identified another Master…"
Theme Song- Fate/Stay Night - "Brave Shine" (FULL Opening) | ENGLISH ver | AmaLee
Three Hours later….
Emiya Household…
…
…
I found myself gritting my teeth. This wasn't working.
After moving to the living room, to try and get the time to pass, I've tried… more or less meditating. A certain technique mentioned in the text that should help my mana recover just a bit faster. Unfortunately, something in this house has made it nearly impossible to clear my head.
This... awkward atmosphere.
There's this… strange tension coming from Saber… and I'm not all too sure what to do about it.
The suspicious glances haven't stopped since yesterday. I mean… I don't think I look that shifty, so it must be something I said, or did.
It's funny actually. Out of all the Servants from the original war, Saber's the one I thought I could at least get along with- well… no. Phrasing it like that makes it sound worse than it is...
Maybe I left a bad first impression?
Or… maybe she's just being defensive? I am technically an enemy right now. Although she did not seem to act like this with Rin in the series…
Sh-Should I say something?
…
…
"So…"
I nearly flinch when she turns to listen.
"... how are you liking 2004 so far?(?)?" I thin- did I phrase that as a question of a question?
"... my exposure so far has been battling heroes from the past, having a Master that doesn't seem to know what he's doing, an enemy that knowingly wants to ally with a Master that doesn't seem to know what he's doing, and Kotomine Kirei not only still being alive, but being the overseer of the war, and being confined to a bed for longer than I've been active. Barring some good fights, it hasn't quite impressed me yet."
Hm. So I guess she was right on the money with her being suspicious of me.
"Ah… well… I'm sure it'll get better. If nothing else, there will be some big fights coming up." fights to the death aren't my cup of tea, but for someone who lives, breaths, and eats the warrior lifestyle, this is essentially valhalla.
"Indeed. The Holy Grail War is far from short on worthy opponents. I do enjoy fighting amongst, and against such legends, (especially ones that don't turn out to be harsh reminders.)." she seems to remark this with some bitterness.
I barely made out that last part, but I can assume that not all of her opponents in the last war were necessarily ones she was proud to fight.
Hm. Maybe she had to fight one of her knights? With the sheer number of them the odds of any of them being summoned into the same war as her are considerable.
…
...
Are… are we already back to the silence?
...
...
God I'm atrocious at small talk.
…
"Can I ask you a question, Master of Assassin." Saber surprised me by opening up first.
"Uh… sure?" I awkwardly responded.
"Who are you?"
Eh-?
"Nothing of your story adds up. You say you were forced into the war, with no way out. Yet you seemed to imply you accidentally summoned your Servant. You also seemed to imply that you were more like my Master than other Mages, and yet you seem to have enough connection to the Magus community to claim to know much about other Masters in the war. Even to the point of knowing my Master would summon me before he did. And then, you claimed to know about events in the 4th Grail War that no one besides its participants should've known." ...er… um…. "At first I thought you might've been attempting to fool my Master, but my instincts told me that that wasn't the case. Almost as if you were, and weren't who you said you were. So, for the sake of my Master, I ask you, who are you?"
Uh… crap in a bucket. Wasn't expecting Artoria to be the detective…!
Quick! Think of something…. Think of something….
You're Psychic
"I'm... Psychic..?"
"You phrased that as a question." Saber deadpans.
"... a very confused Psychic?" I mean… technically, I did see a future.
I CAn sEE ThE fuTURE!
Saber looked like she was having none of it. And was about to question me further when-
Creee….
"Saber. Orso. We're back."
Oh thank god.
Looking to move on to literally any other conversation, I nearly leapt up from my seat.
"Emiya, it's good to see you made it back." I give a respectful nod as the owner of the house enters.
"Oh, uh, thanks? Still gotta wrap my head around the fact that I'm in a battle royal right now…" I guess he's just now realizing that he could've been attacked on the way here.
Well… I'd say that that wasn't a concern in broad daylight… but with so many rules that are probably gonna be broken by this war, I'm not all too sure I can guarantee that.
"I gotta say Master-"
Assassin seemed to apparate behind me, although I wasn't spooked like the first time she did it to me.
"-modern schooling was a lot more exciting than you let on. In fact you could even say it was the bomb…?" she nudges Emiya, who only seems slightly disturbed. "... too soon?"
"Just… a little insensitive. Someone did try to have me killed." ...eh?
"Wha- Are you alright Master!? Were you attacked?!" Saber gets in his face with a concerned expression.
"No, Saber it's fine, someone just tried and failed to kill me with a bomb."
...
"... explain." let's just ignore the lack of self-concern for now…
"Not much to explain. Someone hid a bomb under my desk, it went off too late and no one got hurt. Well… no one except the schools budget, but that's… less relevant."
I immediately went into a detective mode. Thinking of what this could mean.
"There's no way it wasn't a Master. Problem is, this doesn't really fit into the M.O of most of the Master candidates I know of."
"If it helps, the P.A came online just before. The announcer shouted "100% maximum no chill" with the volume so loud you got the impression that the volume knob was torn off in a manic fit of lunacy." …
…
…
"... (fucking Rin…)"
"Silver lining, we now know for sure whether she's a good guy or not…"
"Isn't that a bit hypocritical?" Okita pointed out.
"Maybe." I concede, "But the way she did it was reckless. And could very easily have gotten bystanders killed."
"Huh? Rin!?" Emiya seemed to hear me.
"Putting a pin in that," since everyone seems to be physically okay, lets change subjects, "There's still something that needs to be made clear. Are we allies?"
"Huh? Oh… uh…" Shirou thought about this for a minute before answering, "sure. I'm not completely sure what I'm supposed to be doing right now, so I'll stick with you."
I nodded in acknowledgement. At least this part had worked out so far. "Good, now that that's established, let's talk about how this is gonna play out. It's best to have the ground rules laid out from the start so there's no drama later."
"Alright. I'm pretty cool with just about anything except one detail. No killing people." the redhead states his demand with firmness.
To be honest, I'm not 100% sure I can accommodate that request with this war. I'm not… completely a bleeding heart, Batman style hero. Push comes to shove, I'll kill. By god I'll hate it, but I will. Still, I can at least promise this much-
"I'll agree to avoid it wherever there's another solution. But I won't lie, while I'll never harm a civilian, if we encounter any particularly evil Masters… they'll have their chance to surrender. If they prove to be trouble after that… that's the path they chose." I state my position on the matter.
Emiya considered my words for a moment.
"(If there's a chance to turn people like them around…)" he seemed to think aloud.
"...tell you what. If we happen to both agree that the evil person in question is irredeemable, or otherwise unstoppable, it's fair play." I'm agreeable to a compromise on this.
The Master of Saber mulled it over before nodding.
"Fine. But I'm sure it… probably won't come to that... (I'll just save those people too.)" He nods in satisfaction at whatever conclusion he came to in his head.
Save them too? Hmph, prepare to be surprised.
"Okay, we're good on that. Point two, how are we keeping in contact? Cause I don't got a phone, and my… let's call it a base, is a bit of a walk from here." At least… 10? 15 minutes? Leaving it like this while we're allies would be inefficient. A lot can go wrong in that time, and that's assuming we somehow know the other is under attack.
"... well, until we figure something else out, how about you stick around here? The guest room isn't really in use right now." Shirou offers.
It's not... exactly ideal. I spent a lot of time, resources, and energy working on my HQ.
Still, this is supposedly temporary until a better line of communication is available. I'll just deal with it until I get either a landline, or a proper familiar.
"Fine. I'll have to pick up a few things I've been working on later… but this'll do for now. So, any other questions or concerns?"
"Uh… oh! Just one thing, it's… a bit off topic, but the other day you mentioned that you knew about my dad when he was in the Grail War?" … well he's right. That is a bit off topic.
"What about it?" Where's he going with this?
"It's... been bothering me for a while, how the person I knew, someone that I know tried to be a hero got involved in all this. I guess I'm trying to ask about-"
"Why was your Father in the Holy Grail War?" I suppose it's a… fair question. If I learned the person I looked up to decided to join a big murder party, it would give me some pause.
"Right." he affirmed.
"Well, I can't say for sure the exact thing that drove him to join. The most I know of his involvement in the war is that he was hired by the Einzberns to collect the Grail for them. Although it should be mentioned that he had an infamous reputation as a mercenary, so one could guess that it was just another job for him, although with the Grail involved… I wish I could say more, but you're probably better off getting information about him from someone who's actually met him." I gesture to his Servant who seemed less than comfortable with the conversation topic.
"If it's all the same to you, I'd… rather not." Saber objected, "If you're sure you want to, I'll try to accommodate, but… that's a part of my un-life that I'd rather forget."
The redhead seemed almost disappointed by this for a moment, then came to some sort of idea before accepting this.
"That's fine Saber. If it makes you uncomfortable I won't make you relive bad memories." I suppose he'd know about that.
"Then if that's that, we can move on to this war? Good. Now, we clearly got two different issues going on at your school right now." shifting back to the present….
"What do you mean?" Emiya didn't know about the bounded fields.
"Well, besides the failed terrorist attack, there's another problem. I don't suppose you've noticed anything odd about the mana around your school recently?" I get us moving along.
"Not… really..?" he tried imagining what I might be talking about.
"Well, apparently someone's set up a bounded field around your school. A dangerous one if it ain't taken care of- actually? Nevermind! I think that other Master might have solved the problem." I realize.
"What do you mean?" oh, it's quite elementary dear Watson.
"Well, summing up, an enemy Master set up a bounded field at your school that was supposed to turn everyone in it into mana soup."
"Wait- what!?"
"But, thanks to that bomber, I doubt that'll be a problem!" nevermind what I said, good going Rin! Knew I was on to something last night...
"Oh, so they were trying to blow up the field?" Emiya thought. "A bit odd they'd do it during school hours…"
"Not exactly. See, there's no way the school would continue running after a bombing. No students nearby, no one for the field to nom on." I nod sagely, crisis averted.
"...errr… Orso? You… might want to rethink that..." the other Master tried putting this delicately.
"Hm? Why? Problems solved. Well… at least one of them…" field, or no field, Shinji's still gonna have Rider feeding on the townspeople. That shits gotta stop.
"See… about that... Our school's… not... exactly worried about it…"
…
…
"...excuse me?"
"Our school isn't closing because of the bombing." he answers simply.
I give him an incredulous look.
"But… a bomb went off… like an actual bomb."
"y-yeah…?" the redhead seemed only a percentage as surprised as I was.
"... and people… aren't the least bit concerned about this!?" shouldn't the police be investigating!? something!?
"...huh. Now that you mention it it does seem a bit weird." Emiya seems to realize.
"That's because it is weird! Like putting ketchup on toast weird on steroids!"
"Master…" Okita speaks up, reminding me to get back on track.
"((groan of ever increasing increadulation)) I know, I know… just… let's take a step back." I try not to get any more riled up. "Okay, so that's still a problem. So we got that, the bomber, and the Servant feeding on the townspeople-"
"I'm gonna have to start writing this stuff down…" Emiya deadpans. Yeah, probably woulda been helpful for me earlier too.
"- although at least two of those problems are tied to one person. So, it's probably best to deal with them first. Two birds, one beatdown." we're coming ya little shit.
"Uh…."
"Oh, long explanation short, one of the Masters is having a hard time supplying their Servant with Mana, so they're taking it from civies with the field, and having their Servant drink the blood of the innocent." that about sums it up. "You remember seeing the quote unquote "vampire attacks" all over the city on the news? That would be them."
Emiya gets serious upon hearing innocent people are being put in harm's way. "Right. So we find the Master doing this, and force him to give up his command seals."
"That or destroy their Servant. If the Master is having a rough time coughing up the magic cash, they should be a relative walk in the park. If anything this could be a proper warm up. Your first Servant encounter was… a bit one sided." facing Berserker and Illya was a clusterfuck if ever there was one. "Starting tonight, we'll patrol around the general area of the school. That Master will still be trying to prepare the field, so we'll ambush him while he's still weak."
"Okay, that sounds good. We both take care of whatever we need to do ahead of time, and meet back up here around… seven? Sound goo-... oh… crap." his eyes grow wide when he looks at the clock in the room.
"What's wrong Master?" Saber grows concerned.
"How could I forget!?" he berates himself.
"Emiya? Chill out. What's wrong?"
"Okay, I forgot that there's supposed to be-"
Creeeeee
The Servants all tense to be ready for battle the second we heard the door open.
"Hey Shiroooouuuu! What's for dinner-!... eh?." a loud woman bursts through the door with an excited expression on her face, but pauses when she notices the extra occupants.
There's someone standing behind her, a girl with purple hair that tilts her head to get a good look at what's going on.
"... friends of yours?" I ask the Master.
"HEY! That's MY line!" the older woman declares.
Hour and a Half later...
"So you guys all knew Kiritsugu huh?" the older woman, Taiga Fujimura recounts our cover story.
I nod in between bites before swallowing, and answering.
"Yeah. We met a while ago in Atlantic City while he was on the job. When we stopped hearing from him we assumed he was busy with said job. Shame to hear about what happened…" sit the fuck down Leo, that Oscar's mine.
"Hmm… well, these things do happen." Fujimura accepted my explanation. "Well, friends of Kerry are friends of mine! Since that hotel you were supposed to be staying at had one of those totally not suspicious at all gas leaks going on lately you're more than free to stay!" she nods confidently.
"(because apparently, I have no say in the matter...)" Emiya mumbles as he rolls his eyes at his Guardian.
"(join the club buddy, we're thinking about making T-shirts…) the purple haired girl, Sakura, added.
Yeah… it totally didn't add to the overall awkwardness when we simultaneously recognized each other from the other day. Not in the least bit...
It also didn't make me feel like an idiot for forgetting she was a thing. Or, to be more accurate, the lead romance of one of the routes. Shame I didn't see it. Apparently that route hasn't been adapted into an anime yet? Or they're supposed to be making a movie on it?
"Yeah, sorry to intrude. This whole trip to Japan has been one big mess so far." not exactly a lie…
"((Done't wurry bout it!))" the English teacher put on a fake New Yorker accent while trying to speak english… but it was really weird because it still had elements of Engrish intertwined with it. "((Ma boy Shirou's gotcha covered, ya dig fam?))"
"... sure." not even touching that...
Emiya's face was tinted a little red in embarrassment. "S-So Taiga… what's going on with the school? We changing classrooms, or are we gonna have something like that "Bad Egg" incident?"
"Meh, most of the damage was superficial. A couple chairs broke, so we can just borrow some spares from the drama room… if we're careful." she almost seems to shudder at something.
"... I volunteer Shinji for this suicide mission." apparently, even Emiya ain't having that shit.
"Noted." Taiga nods.
"What's wrong with the drama room?" I ask curiously.
"It's… not so much the room as it is the teacher. Mr. Kazuki is probably the most intense person I've ever met. He's scared so many students away from drama he's not allowed to teach it anymore. Thing is… he was only the drama teacher. So he technically doesn't have a class. But no one wants to fire him..." Ominus- wait. Drama teacher? I thought he was history?
"Hmph, (like to see you stand up to Shakespeare's superbuff evil grandkid…)" Taiga mutters while picking at her rice.
Yeah, just about any human with general awareness could sense the aura of danger coming off that guy.
In fact, just so much as mentioning his name seems to have added an oppressive weight to the room.
"''nom!' more please!" Okita requests after finishing her third bowl.
Is it just me, or do Saber and Assassin seem to be in some sort of competition right now?
I don't think Saber has so much as breathed since the food was put in front of her. She's not a Servant, that girl's a food vacuum!
I mean, Emiya and the good Matou's cooking is good, really good, but this is a bit… excessive.
… can Servants choke on their food? Should I be worried for her?
"Hey! Leave some for me!" Taiga roared at seeing how quickly the meal was being wiped out. "S-Shirou! Tell them to stop!"
"There's more than enough to go around Taiga." Emiya responds with a shrug.
"Yeah that's why the food budget was tight with just her…" Sakura remarks.
The teacher grew a bit red at this.
"H-Hey! Can I really be held responsible when the two of you cook like iron chefs!?" She pleads.
"Yes."
"Yes."
They respond in unison.
Taiga collapses like her head's weight quadrupled. "so cruel…"
But then a triumphant glint appears in her eyes as she turns to me.
"Orso! You know what I'm talking about right!? Having to fight for every scrap!?" is she trying to get me on her side? "Traveling with those two, every meal's gotta be a battle!"
"Eh?"
"Join me Yank! Join the "fair share" coalition! And together we'll secure an equal share of dinner for all!" she offers while doing a Darth Vader impression.
"Er… well I'm actually trying to cut back on food right now so I don't really-"
"-DIBS!" She wastes no time to claim my leftovers, making everyone sweatdrop. Huh, so that's actually a thing?
"(...such a greedy tiger…)" I mutter.
"(you get used to it…)" Emiya adds.
One Hour Later…
"Okay, I'm off to get some of my stuff." I announce as we're ready to leave.
"Okay, see you in a bit," Emiya nods as he readies to head off to do whatever task it is he's planning to do.
At least he's taking his Servant with him this time. Granted, Saber could probably use a few more hours to be truly ready, but "the sooner the better" apparently.
Sakura and Taiga left about ten minutes ago. Although Sakura seemed… hesitant. For someone who's kinda quiet, and passive aggressive she really wears her emotions on her sleeve. That or I'm just getting better at reading such things. I probably wouldn't have noticed things like that before all this, so I'm guessing minor telepathic empathy is something that comes with basic magecraft?
Weird. Why do I feel like Sakura's more important than she seems? It's like… like some kind of sixth sense that I'm unaware of is feeling some major red flags. It's a really specific hunch but…
Whatever. She's gone, so there's not much I can do about it now. But if she pops up again...
Anyway, the sun'll be down in about an hour or two, so we better get moving.
"Alright Assassin let's go." I start walking in the general direction of the HQ.
"Hai Master." she nods, then apparates into her spirit form.
Twelve minutes later…
6:37 pm...
Okay… couple gems, some rune grenades, spare clothes, the book… eh? "...when did we get packaged dango-? Assassin."
.
I turn to see my Servant blushing just a bit.
"... they were on sale?" she offers meekly.
I raise an eyebrow, and roll my eyes.
"I don't actually mind, it's technically not my money after all." I figure I might as well let my Servant indulge herself. "Just make sure they don't go to waste."
"Now that's an order I can get behind." she smiles as she secrets her snacks away.
I get back to sorting what we'll need for a while before she speaks up again.
"...master?" she says quietly.
"Something wrong?"
"could… could you be a bit more careful next time?" she says almost weakly.
"... gonna have to be a bit more specific."
"l-look... it's supposed to be the Servants job to get hurt right?" she asks rhetorically.
"Well… technically yes, but the Grail Wars aren't exactly famous for adhering to the rules. Why?"
"..." she hesitates for a moment, "...'sigh', look, after we got you back to Emiya's place you were convulsing pretty bad. You were delirious... I got worried. It reminded me of… it reminded me of when I died."
...oh.
"I know that asking you to not get hurt is impossible in this war. I know that you thought you were making a calculated risk. Just… just try not to die. Okay? Especially not like that." she looks away.
"I… sure." not… too sure what I'm supposed to add to that.
I continue packing in silence. I want to say something reassuring but… everything else I could say would be a lie.
After about a minute, I'm ready to head back, and am about to call it when something pops into my head.
"Hey… Okita? If you don't mind me asking… why are you still fighting with me?" I guess this was spurred on by wanting to change the atmosphere. That and genuine curiosity.
"Huh? What do you mean? The worlds in danger right? What kind of "police girl" would I be if I just let that slide?" she states bashfully.
"Well I mean… I guess what I'm trying to ask is… what exactly did you want to use the Grail for? I-If that's not a troublesome thing to ask that is…"
"... Let me ask you a question. Are we friends Master?"
Are we..? I mean… I think so?
Congratulations, you made a friend!
Collect three and you get a free sundae.
"Er… sure?"
"Then promise me something. No matter how bad it gets, you let me fight until the bitter end." to the bitter end?
"If this is about the order to fall back the other day-"
"Not what I meant." she tries to clarify. "Promise me that you won't stop me from fighting. If we retreat, and it's to come back and fight another day, it's fine but... promise me that we never surrender, and if we have to, we die before giving up. Promise me that, and I'll consider my wish for the Grail fulfilled."
I… think I get what she's asking?
I guess all she wants is to fight, and die as a warrior. In a way, I think I get it.
Besides, for this war? Surrender? Giving up? There's no room for such concepts.
I think I'd rather die than survive a world where someone like Kotomine, or Gilgamesh wins.
And if they do, I'll have at least some degree of peace in knowing I at least tried to stop it.
If I give this everything I got, give this 110%? I can die with an acceptable level of regrets.
"I promise." two words. Two words that carried so much weight…
"Then my wish is granted." she nods solemnly.
For the first time today, the silence seems almost comfortable.
…
…
"Well, come on, let's not keep our ally waiting." I move to leave.
"I'm sure if anything he's gonna be the late one." Assassin seems rather sure about that…
"Really? How do ya figure?"
"Well, he is going to go talk with Kirei after all." she answers.
…
…
…
"... he's what?"
Meanwhile…
Outside of Kotomine Church…
"Y'know, when I said I didn't like talking about the 4th War I meant it... but if it means we don't have to talk with him…" Saber was immediately regretting not being forthright with what she knew.
"Well, we're already here. And besides, this guy might know some things you don't." Shirou knew that it might not be important at all but… he had to know. He needed to.
"..." okay, bad choice of words…
"... by which I mean he was there as well, so it might be good to have more than one perspective?"
"That's better." Saber let up the glare, "But if you must do this Master, I'll caution you. Kotomine is a dangerous, devious man, and may try to deceive you."
Emiya nodded. The priest had an aura about him that set him on edge. He'll take what Kirei has to say about it with a grain of salt.
Saber stayed outside the main Gates once more. Respecting the neutral grounds of the church.
Emiya felt something as he got close to the main doors. Something suddenly felt… off about the place he hadn't noticed last night.
Shaking the feeling off he opened the doors to the church, but did not see anyone immediately.
Shirou walked in cautiously, looking for the priest when he felt the doors close behind him.
He was about to call out for Kotomine when he noticed someone else.
For some reason he couldn't help but feel their presence was… it wasn't normal. People don't give off feelings like this.
The man noticed Shirou, his red eyes taking his form in for the briefest moments before his expression turned to one of disdain.
"Well? Speak up mongrel. Or are you only here to gawk at your betters?" the blonde man demanded of him.
"I… I'm here to see Father Kotomine." Emiya answered after regaining his composure. The sooner he was out of this person's sight the better.
The well dressed man took but one more second of his time to grace the Master with his presence before getting up and moving to another room.
"Kirei! There's another lost mutt here for you!" he dismissively announces before disappearing around a corner.
Shirou stood by the entrance, unsure of whether he was supposed to follow him, or stay where he was.
He had a strange feeling his life banked on not being near that guy, so he went with the latter.
After about a minute of waiting the priest appeared from behind that very corner.
"Well, this is just disappointing…" he sighs, assuming the reasons the Master was here.
.
"I'm not giving up. I'm here because there's some things I need to ask you." Shirou declares.
"Oh? And what is it you're looking for Shirou… Emiya…?" the priest tasted the name on his tongue like it was the finest of dishes.
"Tell me… about my father."
End Theme- This Illusion (LiSA)
Aaaand that's a wrap. Hope you all liked it, so stay safe, and I'll see you all next time.
