Chapter Six
Akin to Apathy
Issei sighed as he was greeted with a blast of icy air as soon as Archer led him into his shop. He'd been here many times since it had opened for a variety of things from repairs for the temple to just to have lunch with a friend. One thing was remarkably the same, no matter what time of the year it was it seemed to be rather frigid in the building. Then again Archer had an apartment on top of the shop because he did own the building.
He often had wondered about Archer's living quarters as the taller man opened the door leading upstairs. Heat washed over the monk that had nothing to do with the raging inferno outside as Archer gestured for Issei to follow. His heart was racing like a drum and he felt oddly light as he followed Archer to his home.
He swallowed and said, "We could have easily talked down stairs, Archer."
"I don't have any tea ready to take downstairs and I know you're burning up after walking here from the temple," the white haired man said with a smile as he lead Issei to a large kitchen filled with stainless steel appliances.
Issei swallowed as he stood in the immaculate kitchen as Archer began to prepare tea. Heat filled the monk's face as he watched the painstakingly careful steps that the older man used to prepare the tea. He had no idea how old Archer was, physically he looked anywhere to his mid twenties to early thirties, or where the other man had come from other that he had some sort of tie to that fox, Tohsaka Rin. However, Issei got the feeling the less he knew about his mysterious friend the better off he would be.
Besides, there's just something about the mystery . . . Issei shrugged off that train of thought as he studied the pristine kitchen and its rather familiar layout. Eyes widened as one finger pushed up glasses just to see that Issei wasn't imagining things. The layout . . . it's just like Emiya's kitchen. From the placement of the utensils, appliances, and food stuffs it is almost a mirror image of Emiya's kitchen.
Of course that train of thinking lead Issei to think, Does he cook as well as Emiya does?
As the teakettle was set to start boiling, Archer looked over at Issei and asked, "Are you hungry? I haven't had a chance to grab lunch yet."
"I don't want to be a bother," Issei said with a smile and a wave of his hand.
There was something eerily familiar about the smile on Archer's face as he said, "Trust me, it's no bother Issei. Besides, I still owe you one after that exorcism."
"Yes, well the less we talk about that the better," Issei said with a laugh as he felt like his cheeks were on fire.
Archer's smile became lopsided before he said, "I'll agree to that. I can make the tea iced if you want. I've got several types I can make."
"Do you have barley tea?" Issei asked as he looked up at the taller man with wide eyes.
Archer nodded and said, "Yes I do. I also have several forms of Western tea, green, Oolong, white, and Liver Disaster."
"Liver Disaster?" Issei asked with a chuckle and a shake of his head.
Archer's roguish grin widened and he asked, "Are you feeling adventurous today, Issei? Want to try some Liver Disaster?"
"I think I'd like to keep my liver from being disastrous, Archer," Issei replied as he felt his stomach clinch at that grin, but he chuckled, "Why do you have a tea called Liver Disaster?"
Archer's broad shoulders shrugged while he answered, "I saw it and had to get it for the name alone. I might brew some for Rin when she's visiting from London."
Ice coiled up in Issei's stomach at the mention of that name. He replied in a stiff voice, "Well yes."
Archer's eyes widened before he said, "Well, we'll leave the Liver Disaster for another time and I'll just go with some barley tea. What about lunch? There's pretty much nothing I can't cook."
"You're . . . an amazing cook," Issei said as he dug into the simple meal that Archer had prepared.
Archer shrugged and said, "It's a talent born of necessity. I use to live with some real slackers, but thank you."
"The barley tea is excellent too," Issei said as he sipped at the deep amber liquid.
Archer gathered his portions and sat across from his friend. He smiled and said, "Well, maybe next time we can be brave and try the Liver Disaster."
"I think you should save that drink for Tohsaka," Issei said with a marked frown before eating again.
Archer chuckled before eating some well cooked rice. He tilted his head and said, "So, what did Saber throw away?" He'd become quite the master of hiding his emotions, teasing and playing with his friend while cooking to lighten the mood. However ice was still coiled in his veins as he waited for his indigo
eyed friend to take a drink and meet Archer's eyes.
"It . . . was beautiful. It looked like something holy and sacred," Issei said in a soft voice before shaking his head.
No. Out loud, Archer asked, "What was it?"
Issei delicately wiped his mouth with one of Archer's cloth napkins and said, "I doubt you'd believe me if I told you."
"I had you help me exorcize a member of the yakuza. Try me," Archer said with a sardonic grin. Not to mention I've come back from the dead, been freed of my duties as a Counter Guardian, even though there's still EMIYA hating his existence in the Throne. Then there's the fact my body is made out of swords, I've fought against demi-gods, and I can create a whole world of my own making. There's little that I wouldn't believe Issei. I just hope you're not going to tell me what I'm afraid you're going to tell me.
Issei sighed, laid his napkin down and said, "She threw away a European Broadsword encased in this sheath . . . This beautiful, golden sheath that seemed to shine with its own light. The sword and sheath were pure, sacred things Archer. They may not be from my Faith, but I do know something Holy when I lay my eyes upon it."
"Where did she throw them?" Archer said as he mentally cursed himself and Saber.
Issei answered, "The river. She seemed so sad when she did it."
"That idiot," Archer said in a sharp voice and Issei flinched, looking at him with wide, blinking eyes from his glasses.
Archer shook his head and said, "That damned, stupid idiot. I can't believe she did something so . . ." Of course I can. Because she doesn't feel like she is worthy to wield her sword anymore. She believes she failed her people, that she failed her Master, and that she cannot wield Excalibur's holy light anymore because of it. So she's hoping that someone worthy will pick up the blade again.
Damn it, Saber.
Issei swallowed and said, "I think she needs help."
"Well that's a damned understatement," Archer muttered with a shake of his head.
The monk sighed and said, "And I don't think Emiya and Matou-kun are able to help her."
"Rider's probably not the greatest help either," Archer said with a sigh. It wasn't any great secret that there was no love lost between the Gorgon and the King. Saber just had the sort of temperament to keep herself from falling prey to Rider's occasional barbs. Despite everything, Saber was still proud. It had been hardwired into her since birth and wouldn't let anyone see her falter like this.
". . . That woman disturbs me," Issei said with a small shudder.
Archer smiled and said, "If Rin's a fox, treat Rider as a snake."
"But you seem to get along well enough with Rider," Issei said with a tilt of his head.
Archer replied, "We have an arrangement and we enjoy the verbal sparring." Not to mention the huge amount of sexual tension.
"Well you two do seem to have compatible personalities," Issei said with a tilt of his head.
Archer replied, "Difficult?"
"Well, yes, and a bit rough," Issei said before clearing his throat and looking up at Archer, "However, Saber seems so agreeable, but to do what she's done . . ."
"Everyone has masks, Issei," Archer said with a sigh as his shoulders dropped.
Issei said, "I didn't mean to burden you, but if there is anyone who can help her, I think it would be you. I won't ask what you've been through, and I doubt I could take that information, but maybe it grants you understanding and enlightenment that others can't comprehend."
"Or just makes you a raging, bitter asshole," Archer replied with a crooked smirk.
Issei smiled and said, "Well, that too, but I doubt you're as much of an asshole as you think you are."
"I don't think you'd want to press that theory," Archer said in a dry voice as he remembered records he'd read where he'd done things that should have left him screaming in a padded room.
Issei said, "An evil man would not repair things for a school or a temple for no charge. An evil man would not have risked himself to save one mobster. An evil man could not cook so well."
"I didn't say I was evil, just apathetic," Archer said as Issei stood up from his finished meal.
Issei's indigo eyes met his and he said, "Aren't they one and the same? And if you were as apathetic as you'd like to believe, you'd do none of the things I just blatantly pointed out to you."
"Sakura, oh god, Sakura!"
Saber bit her lip as she drew her comforter over her head despite the sweltering heat. Clothing was sticking to damp skin and her hair felt heavy on the back of her neck. It had already grown longer than it had in life, now brushing against her shoulder blades instead of her shoulders. She still painstakingly twisted it into her bun every day because that was what was expected of her even though wearing it as a tail would have been much easier and comfortable.
"Sempai, Sempai, harder!"
A groan escaped Saber's lips as she heard the impassioned lovers' cries from down the hall. Shirou and Sakura were very enthusiastic with each other in their lovemaking and did nothing to halt their declarations of such. Saber closed her eyes as the names shifted to two more familiar ones to her.
Guinevere.
Lancelot.
Her Queen and most trusted Knight who had betrayed her. She did not begrudge them their love, and she wished she could have let them continue to experience it for the rest of their lives. However the demands of a kingdom and the honor of its king had other designs. Catching Guinevere and Lancelot in their embrace did not make Saber feel betrayed, if anything she was envious and understood.
While Saber had completely thrown away her gender, Guinevere had to deny herself the pleasures of a woman because she did not marry a man, but a King. A genderless king who had killed the female part of herself as soon as she pulled the sword from the stone. It made sense that Guinevere would be drawn to Lancelot, a knight who was utter perfection, and Lancelot to Guinevere who was feminine, beautiful, strong and everything one could want as their Queen.
When she had found them lying together she did not feel betrayed, but filled with sad understanding and a bit of jealousy.
Saber could not indulge in anything of that manner, could not let her passions and feelings lead her to any sense of fulfillment. She had to cast away her emotions and dawn her armor of reason to be the perfect king. And look where that had gotten me, she thought as Sakura and Shirou's enthusiastic cries echoed around her.
Alone in a time where I do not belong to people I owe so much for.
As the lovers continued their latest tryst down the hall, Saber quietly crept out of bed. It was stiflingly hot in the Emiya household this night, and she felt herself unable to rest. So Saber found herself outside to look up at the cloudless sky and the hundreds of stars strewn across the sky like diamonds on so much midnight blue velvet. The crescent moon cast shadows over the courtyard, perfect places for faeries to hide and play.
She reached out with her small hand to the moon. The illusion was her hand grasping the moon, but she knew all too well how out of reach it was. Everything is out of reach for me now, Saber thought as she lowered her hand.
There was a slight rustle and soft footsteps on the wooden porch and Saber spun to see the person who intruded upon her solitude. Rider was standing there in a black tank top and purple boxers, her long hair pulled into a braid. Moonlight glinted slightly on the glasses that Rin had crafted for her as she approached Saber. Saber felt her body tense, the urge to fight strong despite her giving Excalibur and Avalon up in the hopes that they would find a proper wielder again someday.
"They're being eager tonight, aren't they?" Rider asked as she leaned against the porch's railing.
Saber felt heat fill her cheeks as she said, "I believe that Shirou and Sakura are always eager in that regard."
"Good, they both deserve it," Rider said with a nod as she adjusted her glasses over her queer eyes.
Saber asked, "Why did you approach me, Rider?"
"What are you doing here, Saber?" was Rider's reply as she folded her arms under her ample breasts. That woman's body is made for sin, Saber thought with a frown as she took in the Servant's ample curves and long, sculpted legs as well as the definition in her arms and around her neck.
Saber answered, "I came out here because I could not sleep. It is rather hot inside."
"I figured that, but what are you doing here, Saber?" Rider asked with a slight smile and a shake of her head.
Saber frowned and said, "I am afraid I do not understand the wording of your question, Rider."
"Shirou's studying to become a lawyer, Sakura is toying with the idea of becoming a nurse, Rin is in London studying her magecraft, Archer . . . well I doubt he ever has a minute to himself with all of the duties he has taken upon himself, and I work at the library as well as race," Rider said, "But you do nothing Saber. You sit quietly and eat the food that others give you and wear the clothing that others bring you."
Saber swallowed and replied, "I am grateful for the kindness that Rin and the others have given me, Rider."
"Are you aware how much you eat? I swear, you eat more than Sakura and Shirou combined," Rider said with a shake of her head, "And what do you do in return?"
Saber straightened to her full height and clinched her fists at her sides. Her eyes narrowed at Rider and she said, "I will repay them for their kindness to me, Rider. I will not allow this debt to Sakura, Shirou, and Rin go unpaid."
"And how are you going to do that?" Rider asked as her smile spread, displaying elongated canines.
Saber met Rider's eyes and replied, "Any way that I can, that you have my word."