Disclaimer: I do not own the Fate franchise it belongs to Kinoko Nasu and Type-Moon.
Aozaki and Tohsaka – The Serpent's Feathers
Chapter 8
"Master, I've found something."
Touko turned away from where she'd been watching the Devil Dogs clear a deadfall from the road ahead, and walked to where her apprentice was at. Rather than reply telepathically, the Grand Magus instead opted to wait until she could address Sakura verbally.
Sakura would be found at the command vehicle, poring over a map of the surrounding area. "What is it?" Touko asked.
"Hmm…? Oh, right…" Sakura said before putting down the map and coughing. "One of the spirits I have watching our sides found a plane wreck nearby. Almost completely overgrown by the jungle too, if not for two reasons, I'd never have found it."
"…a plane wreck?" Touko echoed.
"Yes, master."
Touko pinched the bridge of her nose. "Sakura, we're at most a day away from the Mirror of the Sun." she testily began. "And at the very least, we'll reach it this afternoon or evening. So why on Earth should we be interested in a plane wreck?"
"…well, that's one of the reasons how my spirits found it." Sakura said with a shrug. "There's a magical signature coming from the wreck. Not entirely sure what, but I thought that was curious – or suspicious – enough to come to you."
"…good thinking." Touko conceded after a moment. "And the other reason?"
Sakura shrugged again. "Spirits aren't limited by the five senses." She said. "Or the laws of physics for that matter, though that's…academic, I guess, compared to the other reason?"
"…it is." Touko said with a nod. Then crossing her arms, she hummed in thought while tapping her chin. "It could be a trap, with the magical signature being bait."
"…it could be," Sakura admitted. "But it could also not be. From what my spirits tell me, it's old. Really old, at least fifty years-old, maybe even older. And from what I can see through them, despite the overgrowth it looks like a biplane of some kind."
Touko hummed in thought once more, then glanced back to where the Devil Dogs were still trying to clear the road. "Either us or our rivals may not be the first expedition to look for the Mirror of the Sun." she finally said. "It's not impossible, or even improbable for that matter, that other magi-archaeologists or even just treasure hunting spell-casters may have looked into this region before."
"Even without the map, master?" Sakura asked.
Touko shrugged. "Yes." She said. "There's nothing that says the map is the only record of the Mirror of the Sun, or the Serpent's Haven for that matter. Or if it's even the only map to exist. Though that does bring up the disturbing possibility that we might find only long-looted ruins by the time we get there…"
Sakura looked sick as Touko's face turned grim. "That's…something I really hope won't be what we find." Sakura said. Touko just grunted in agreement before kicking out at the ground to vent. "Maybe…maybe they were just flying around in search of something interesting? Maybe they didn't know about the Mirror of the Sun or the Serpent's Haven, and were just looking for…ruins, that haven't been found yet? I mean, the jungle here is pretty thick, and the countryside is big. Plenty of things could be hidden in all this green."
"…possible…" Touko agreed, and Sakura nodded. Touko then looked back at her. "Show me. No, not on the map, mentally."
Sakura shared her impressions from her spirits to her master through their telepathic link, and Touko nodded. "I'll have my puppets check it out." She said. "We'll need to be sure it isn't a trap, or even if it is genuine, there aren't any unpleasant surprises lying in wait for us."
"And once it is?" Sakura asked.
Touko shrugged. "I think it warrants a look." She said. "At the very least, I want to know where that magical signature is coming from. There might even be something worth salvaging from the wreck."
"A mystic code or two, maybe?" Sakura asked. "Or a magus or spell-caster's corpse?"
"…the former is more likely." Touko said after a moment. "The latter is almost certainly rotted-away, if not savaged by scavengers. It'd be a miracle if there was anything left."
"I see."
Touko nodded, and then walking off, prepared to unseal one of her puppets. She had something in mind for them to do.
"I'm not really sure what you expect me to say, there's not much left."
Touko's puppets had confirmed what Sakura's spirits had reported back, and that the wreck really was what it seemed to be. A plane which had crashed decades ago, and which the jungle had since grown over. There were no traps around it, especially since it seemed the pilot and passenger – and thus anyone who could set any traps after the crash – had been killed on impact with the ground.
The puppets had also confirmed the magical signature Sakura's spirits had picked up, and determined its source within the wreckage. Once all that had been known, Touko had roped Benedek in, and had Sakura open a passageway through Imaginary Numbers Space.
"You're the expert here on stuff like this." Touko retorted, and Benedek glared.
"Touko, that wreck is at least twenty years-old." He snapped. "Between the impact damage from the crash and decades' worth of water damage and the jungle's growth, I'd need to bring this thing to a machine shop just to figure out the details."
"…then give me what you've got." Touko ground out.
Benedek rolled his eyes, and muttering in exasperation, walked closer to the wreck. Holding out his hands, he began chanting an aria in Hungarian, and the plants growing over and through the wreckage began to shudder and shake.
"Impressive…" Touko murmured.
"Master…is he…" Sakura hesitantly said, walking closer to Touko. "…is he using water magic to control the water inside the plants' cells?"
"Yes, he is." Touko said, before clapping Sakura reassuringly on a shoulder. "Don't worry. It's not nearly as easy as it looks. It takes a lot of control and focus, and add in a magus' innate magical resistance thanks to their magic circuits, well…I'm sure you can figure out the rest."
"Leaving himself open if he tries to use that against another magus, huh?" Sakura ventured.
"Pretty much." Touko said with a nod.
The shaking of the plants continued for several more moments, and then they began to pull away, tearing and snapping, uprooting and wrenching themselves. The undergrowth and deposited earth of decades heaved and spilled from the movement of the plants, and once Benedek was done, the wreck was exposed, if only largely.
Wiping at his forehead with a kerchief, Benedek approached the wreck, Touko and Sakura trailing after him. Crouching down, the Hungarian magus tapped and pried at the engine and its cowling, while Touko and Sakura focused on the two skeletons in their seats.
"…broken neck from the look of things." Touko said after a few moments. "This guy was killed on impact. How about yours, Sakura?"
"I'm not sure." Sakura replied. "This guy's neck doesn't look broken, but his arms are. I…I'm not sure what to make of that…"
"Let me have a look." Touko said, moving to the other skeleton. Sakura gave way, and let her master study the skeleton in peace, poking and prodding and muttering spells for the next few minutes. "…huh…now that's just cruel, really."
"Master?" Sakura asked.
Touko turned back to her. "This guy survived the crash," she said. "But it still broke his arms. He couldn't get out of the cockpit, not without being able to remove the straps holding him in place."
"Oh gods…he starved to death, didn't he?"
"Probably…" Touko grimly said, before giving the skeleton a veiled look of pity.
"Found something…" Benedek said. "…not sure how useful it's going to be, though."
"Oh?" Touko asked, before she and Sakura walked over.
"Yeah…from this inscription over here…" Benedek said while pointing to a stamped panel on the inside of the engine compartment. "…this plane was made in 1934 in the city of Troy, Ohio, USA."
"Huh…that makes this wreck at least sixty years-old." Touko remarked. "Almost seventy, in fact."
"Assuming it crashed in the same year, of course." Benedek said.
Touko nodded, and then Benedek turned back to the engine. Ignoring the other magus, Touko walked back to the skeletons, Sakura trailing after her. Placing a hand against the rib cage, Touko murmured a word, and then shook her head.
"…what a waste…"
"Master?"
"This guy had a crest once." Touko said, rummaging inside the cockpit and then pulling out a dirty and rusting Azoth Dagger. "It's gone now, though. All rotted away with the rest of his body."
Sakura made a face, even as Touko went to check the rest of the wreck. Behind them, Benedek had left the engine and moved on to the pilot, and muttered Hungarian curses under his breath as he found all the pilot's maps, charts, and his logbook all rotted away by the crash.
It shouldn't have come as a surprise, but even if it wasn't, it was still disappointing and frustrating in equal measure.
"Aha!" Touko cheered, as she pulled a sealed chest from the wreckage. It was dirty and battered, but secure still for all that.
"What's that?" Benedek asked, walking over.
"The source of the magical signature that drew us here." Touko said with a nod, before turning to her apprentice. "Sakura, check if there's anything else of value. If there isn't, let's get back to the convoy."
"Yes, master."
The Moon shone down with wan and silvery light, casting long shadows across the jungle at night. Devil Dogs on lookout kept a wary eye around the camp, once again located on top of a hill.
Despite the hope of finding and reaching the Mirror of the Sun within the day, the poor condition of the road they had to travel on had forced them to come to a halt just short of their destination. But it wasn't all bad. They might not have been able to reach the Mirror of the Sun today, but they knew where it was now, thanks to those of Touko's puppets scouting ahead.
"…we'll leave before sunrise tomorrow." Touko said as she spooned chili beans in meat sauce into her mouth. "We'll go on foot, accompanied by an escort detail of Devil Dogs, spirits, familiars, and puppets."
"How far is it exactly again?" Alba asked while gnawing at a chunk of bread.
"About ten kilometers north-north-west of here, give or take." Touko said with a shrug.
"Huh…not too far all things considered," Alba said. "But it'll be rough going over the hills, add in the jungle."
Touko shrugged. "Maybe," she admitted. "But it can't be helped."
Alba nodded. "Fair enough," he said. "I'll stay here and make sure you've got someplace to fall back to, and so we'll be ready for the final push when you come back."
Touko nodded, and then tilted her head. "Got any ideas for who to command our escort detail?" she asked.
"…I'm thinking Sergeant Nores will do just fine." Alba said after a few moments' thought. "Pardon the hyperbole, but he's a veteran of a hundred battles. Solid and prudent, he uses what he has well."
"I'll defer to your judgment then." Touko said, and Alba nodded his acknowledgement.
"On another note," Sakura began as the conversation trailed off. "What'd you find inside that chest, master?"
"Passport and travel documents, for starters." Touko replied. "Apparently, our dead magus from the 1930s was Theodore Reilly, and an archaeologist from New York. He seems to have made his trip in 1938, or at least he left America and arrived here in Mexico in 1938."
"What was he here for?" Sakura asked.
Touko shrugged. "Not a clue." She said. "His journal is encoded in some kind of personal code, and unfortunately, it doesn't look as though the cipher is in the chest."
The Grand Magus paused, and then shrugged again before giving a smile. "I don't know if he was a good magus," she said. "But he was thorough in keeping his secrets, at least in written form."
"Can you crack the code?" Benedek curiously asked.
"Give me time," Touko replied. "And I'm sure I can. It's not as though there aren't any clues, as there are roughly-sketched maps inside the journal, with simple annotations in them. Assuming they're not encoded either, that could be a good place to start."
There were nods all around, and then Touko took a drink before continuing. "Aside from those," she said. "There were vials of elixirs and potions of some kind, along with a basic field alchemy kit."
"That doesn't seem enough to generate the magical signature we picked up." Sakura said with a frown.
"No, it isn't." Touko agreed before giving her apprentice a smile. "But you see, it was the chest we were picking up."
"It was enchanted?" Sakura asked.
"Oh yes, and very well at that." Touko said with a nod. "I'm still taking the mysteries apart, but they seem to be meant to keep anything put inside as safe as possible. No moisture or spores or whatnot have been able to get inside over the decades thanks to those mysteries, and the temperature's been kept at an even level too. I'm still not sure if it's true stasis though, so I'm keeping the elixirs and potions back until I'm sure they're completely safe to use. You can have the alchemy kit though, just let me do a few more checks."
Sakura nodded. "Got it, master." She said. "And thanks."
"No problem."
"So…all that effort…" Benedek began. "…was for nothing?"
"…it's ancillary to our expedition, but I wouldn't call it for nothing." Touko replied. "Look, if you want a share in whatever's in that journal, all you have to do is ask."
"Then I'm asking…so long as the dangerous – of the mystical kind – stuff is left out." Alba asked with a grin. Benedek shot him a look, then sighed before turning back.
"I'm asking now then." He said.
Touko rolled her eyes. "Fine," she said. "After dinner then, and I'll show you what little I've managed to crack so far."
"What about that Azoth Dagger, master?" Sakura asked as she and Touko prepared for bed a couple of hours later. "You didn't tell them about that."
"The captain doesn't need to know about it, or anything that might come of it." Touko replied dismissively. "He'd even admit it himself, if asked."
"Hmm…point…and Benedek?"
Touko smiled and shrugged. "We're magi." She said as though it was answer enough. And it was, causing Sakura to shrug herself.
"…okay…and…can I ask about it?"
"You just did."
Sakura pouted, and Touko laughed. "Most of the Azoth Dagger is too corroded for anything useful to be found from it," she said. "But the jewel at the pommel just needs to be cleaned. That said, getting any information from it will take time. Time we don't have right now, and which can wait until we get back to one of our workshops."
"Right, master. Sorry I can't help directly there."
Touko shrugged. "Can't be helped, right?" she asked. "Without any elemental affinities of your own, you can't use jewel magecraft."
Sakura made a frustrated sound at that. "Yeah, I know." She said.
"Well, look on the bright side." Touko remarked, while regarding herself in a mirror and brushing her hair. "You've got the incredibly-rare Imaginary Numbers. Wind might be a rare element, and having affinities for all five elements rarer, but that Sorcery Trait of yours is even rarer still. And in some ways, more useful."
"Spiritual invocation…"
"Not talking about spiritual invocation." Touko interrupted while still brushing her hair, looking at Sakura by her reflection on the mirror. "Spatial manipulation: you know as well as I do that for most magi, spatial manipulation is something that can only be done by means of High Thaumaturgy. And most magi can barely manage that, and only in groups, that is rituals, and needing at least one crest to get a decent chance of success."
Touko paused, and then laughed before winking at her apprentice. "Unless they're geniuses like me." She said. "Or old bloodlines like those which make up the Aristocratic Faction. Or like you, with something that makes the usual rules not apply."
"Well, if you put it that way…"
"See, Sakura?" Touko pointed out. "Even if not being able to use elemental magecraft can be frustrating sometimes, it's just a trade-off, and which might actually be in your favor depending on the situation."
"True enough, master."
A slapping sound echoed in the pre-dawn darkness, as Sakura swatted at a mosquito on her neck. "Remind me again why we have to head out before the Sun rises?" she asked.
"Symbolism, for one." Touko replied. "You know how important the Sun is in Mesoamerican myth and legend. And this artifact we're going to is called the Mirror of the Sun. You do the rest."
"…fine."
There was another slapping sound as Sakura swatted at another mosquito, but for the most part, the magi and their escorts proceeded through the jungle in relative silence. Following a winding route along the jagged ridgeline of the hills, the party made their way through and between the trees, brushing past bushes and shrubs in their way.
Spirits ghosted in silence ahead and to the flanks, serving as scouts to warn of enemies lying in wait, and to frighten off predators such as jaguars and snakes. As the minutes and then the hours ticked by, the sky above began to lighten, midnight blue giving way to rose and pearl, and casting the surrounding jungle with eerie light.
Birds could be heard twittering to themselves, their sounds merging with the background hum of insects in the jungle. And then…
…gunfire.
The party went to ground as one, the Devil Dogs bringing up their rifles and turning off their safeties. "Sakura…?" Touko asked.
"Hang on…one of my spirits is already taking a look." Sakura replied.
For the next few minutes, the party stayed where they were, and then Sakura blinked. "Over here." She said, moving quickly but quietly forward and past. "We should be able to see what's going on from…there."
Touko nodded at Sergeant Ramon Nores, who commanded the twelve Devil Dogs escorting them. The man nodded, and gesturing sharply at his men, followed the younger woman's lead. Moving quickly and quietly from cover to cover, they made their way to high ground, from where they peered down onto a running gun battle below.
"…those look like the bandits we were fighting a couple of days ago." One of the Devil Dogs remarked.
"Either them, or they just look it." Nores replied, looking through a pair of binoculars. "I'm sure to people who don't really know us, we look the same as any other mercenaries out there."
"Yes, sir."
"Who are they shooting at, though?" Nores mused.
The magi used reinforcement on their eyes, and spotted a party of about the same size as theirs, gunmen dressed in fatigues and body armor struggling to fend off the bandits all around them. They weren't having much success, though. Not only were they outnumbered, they were outgunned, having to make do with measly MP5 submachine guns while the bandits had AKMs.
An explosion went up, causing the gunmen to get down. Correction: the bandits didn't just have AKMs either, they also had RPGs.
"Where the hell did those bandits get bazookas from?" Sakura breathed.
The older magi and the Devil Dogs gave a collective snort. "Kid," Nores began. "You'll find that so long as a Russian weapon is man-portable, it's as easy to get and as common as dirt."
"…are they any good?" Sakura asked.
"If you're asking if they can kill, then yes." Nores replied. "They're not nearly as reliable or as accurate as American or German weapons, though."
"Ah…so…their selling point is their cheapness?"
"Pretty much."
Sakura nodded, and then turned back to the battle. "I'm not sure if that woman down there is a magus," Touko murmured after a moment. "Or if they're headed to or from the Mirror of the Sun even, but there's an opportunity we shouldn't pass up."
Eyes turned to her, and she looked at them evenly. "We're in bandit country, it looks like." Touko said. "Only that woman and her thugs down there are drawing the bandits' attention to them and away from us. That leaves us a clear path to the Mirror of the Sun, and I for one would not waste it."
"Hmm…the next question will be if it'll stay clear on the way back." Nores said.
"If it isn't," Touko said. "Then we'll just to shoot our way out, don't we?"
"…well, that's what you're paying us to do."
Touko smirked, and with one last look at the battle below, gestured with her head. "Come on, let's go." She said.
Nods went up all around, and then they were creeping back the way they came. Returning to where they diverged from their original course, they only managed to proceed for a few minutes before Sakura blinked.
"Hold up." She said.
"What's wrong, Sakura?" Touko asked.
"Bandits ahead of us." Sakura replied. "About twelve according to my spirits. They've got a machine gun with them, and they're waiting for us."
Alarmed noises went up from the Devil Dogs, but Sakura looked unconcerned. "I'll take care of them." She said. "It'll only take a few minutes."
"Might as well," Touko said with a nod. "We're running out of time, especially if that woman and her thugs back there is our rival – or one of them – in this expedition, and who might already have been tested by the Mirror of the Sun."
"True," Benedek chimed in. "And besides, we've been using magic more and more recently. They might already have seen enough to figure out what you're capable of, and how. No point in holding back at this point."
"Assuming they're watching, of course." Sakura said. "And even if they have been and know what and how, if master's not exaggerating how rare what I can do is, there's little they can do about it."
Touko and Benedek nodded, while Sakura closed her eyes. And then she blinked, and nodded. "Now we wait." She said.
They waited, the minutes ticking by one after the other, and then shouts of alarm could be heard from ahead, followed finally by wild gunshots. They lasted for only a moment or two, and then silence returned.
"Let's go." Sakura said, and the party resumed moving. Several minutes later and they passed by where the bandits had planned to ambush them. Instead, there was no one there. Devil Dogs and magi alike move through the area grim-faced and resolute, ignoring the corpses lying across the ground, looking for all the world as though they'd simply fallen dead on the spot.
Fallen dead out of fear, that is, what with their faces frozen with shock and surprise at the moment of their deaths.
Clambering up a hillside, the party came to a halt on top of the hill, and took in the sight that awaited them. There, rising out of the sea of green that was the jungle, was the broken ruins of an ancient city. And at its very heart, a great pyramid rose step-by-step into the sky, and as the Sun rose in full above the horizon, all the magi present felt something great and powerful awake in the distance.
"Did you feel that?" Touko asked.
"I felt something." Sakura said.
"So did I." Benedek said.
Touko nodded. "As I thought," she said. "What we're looking for is over there. Under or atop the pyramid, we'll find out when we get there, but there's no doubt about it anymore. The Mirror of the Sun is there."
Then Touko paused, and narrowed her eyes. "Let's go." She said.
A/N
Up next, the trials of the Sun.
