Disclaimer: I do not own the Fate franchise it belongs to Kinoko Nasu and Type-Moon.

Peaceful Days

Chapter 7

"YAHOO!"

Eyes turned to the source, a pitch-black void hanging in the air above the sea, from which Kirsikka launched out while riding a jet ski of all things. Well, it looked like a jet ski, except it had no propellers. And yet, when it hit the waves, it was speeding off at high speed, Little Rin and Mikasa following in its wake. The vengeful spirit just flew over the waves, while Mikasa literally ran on the water, the familiar no doubt borrowing her mistress' water element mysteries to pull that off.

"A jet ski, really?" Rin asked no one in particular, while the children yelled in awe. "More importantly, did she just build one in less than an hour."

Luvia sniffed. "You talk as though neither of us could do just as well." She said. "The frame itself would take less than a minute to construct, with the real difficulty lying in its internal mechanisms. And even then, a simple system of levers and springs would suffice to provide basic control functions."

"…fair enough." Rin grudgingly admitted.

"That said," Luvia thoughtfully began while tapping her chin. "I am rather curious at how Kirsikka is even moving. I saw no propellers, and I don't think she's using elemental magecraft either."

"She isn't." Rin agreed. "Mikasa – little me's familiar – is, but not Kirsikka. If I had to guess, she's probably using some kind of spatial manipulation to move, but the details are beyond me."

Luvia sniffed again, and pulling out several gems, began conceptualizing her own jet ski. "I'll bet you can't finish your own jet ski before I do." She said.

"You're on!"

Luvia laughed, diamonds breaking down at the molecular level as carbon atoms were rearranged to form a carbon fiber frame. Sapphires did as well, aluminum atoms torn free and rearranged to form a quartet of drive shafts ending in carbon fiber propellers. More aluminum formed circular casings in the air, Luvia murmuring arias as she lined their interiors with jade as a form of magitech rotary motors which she then attached to each of the drive shafts. Additional aluminum rods then arranged themselves into a series of levers supplemented by carbon fiber springs. Coal-like carbon blocks made up the ballast, while more carbon fiber made up the outer hull, the rudders, fins, and the control stalk.

"Hmm…" Luvia hummed thoughtfully, before drawing water from the air. Her crest flared to life to assist her in this, as she only had an affinity for Earth making it more difficult to manipulate other elements, but it was doable. Hydrogen was separated from oxygen, and recombined with carbon to form rubber to pad the jet ski's dorsal section and reinforce the grips. "…and done! Looks like I win, Rin! OH-HO-HO-HO-HO-HO!"

Rin ignored Luvia's mockery, too busy with finishing her own jet ski. Like Luvia's, it used carbon fiber derived from diamonds for the frame, hull, and other components, as well as carbon blocks for ballast. Her jet ski had neither rotary motors nor propellers or drive shafts, though. Instead, the ventral hull sported a quartet of tunnels, each featuring a central, x-shaped mount around a sapphire enchanted with water elemental magecraft. Water would go in from the front, and magically-accelerated into a high-speed, high-pressure jet out the back, providing thrust in the process.

Rubber was made and used in the same way, and then Rin's jet-ski was finished as well. "Propellers…?" Rin mocked in her turn and with a face-splitting grin. "That is so conventional. Elemental water jets, though?"

Rin paused and laughed while wagging her eyebrows at a reddening and shaking Luvia. "I am a genius." She concluded.

"YOU LITTLE…!" Luvia exploded, but Rin was already dashing away, cackling like a stereotypical witch while hauling her jet ski over her head. She tossed onto the sea, then jumped over, the water jets erupting to life the moment her feet was on the deck, Rin barely having the time to grip the handlebars before zooming off.

Luvia screamed in frustration, before likewise tossing her jet ski onto the sea, and jumping on, sped off in pursuit.

"What are those two doing?" Kirsikka asked as she turned to see Rin and Luvia exchanging fire with Gandr as they circled and made figure-eights around each other on the water. Every once in a while, one or the other would throw a gem, sending water towers blasting into the air.

"Looks like they're fighting each other." Little Rin replied, while Mikasa meowed while rolling around on her back on the water nearby.

"Japanese battleship Nagato vs Finnish battleship…um, Kalevala, yeah, let's go with that."

"They'll get angry if they hear you. They'll think you're mocking them."

"But I am mocking them."

Little Rin just laughed, even as Kirsikka changed course and headed for where Rin and Luvia where still shooting at each other. "Little big sister, prepare to fire mega particle cannons." She grandly said. "Time on target!"

"Do you even know what that means?" Little Rin asked curiously.

"Yes to the former, and no to the latter." Kirsikka admitted. "I just heard the latter from WWII movies. It sounds cool, and awesome."

"True!" Little Rin said before abruptly swinging her legs forward to brake, and then held up her hands. Fireballs erupted into existence in her palms, then began to spin while building up heat. "Here we go!" she shouted as they turned incandescent, and fired them off. "Plasma rounds! Take that!"

Plasma flew over the waves in a glowing arc, and then slammed into the water between Rin and Luvia. Water turned to steam in an instant, the explosion blasting hot water and gas into the air, and blowing Rin and Luvia away.

"HOT! HOT! HOT!" Rin babbled while jetting away.

"HEY!" Luvia shouted, looking very red from all the steam. "WHAT THE HELL?"

"I should be asking those questions." Kirsikka said. "Seriously? Get a room, you two."

"WHAT?" Rin and Luvia screamed as one.

"I mean, it's all just sexual tension, right?" Kirsikka asked. "Two powerful magi, forceful personalities, confident in their sexuality…"

Rin and Luvia turned red (or redder, in Luvia's case), while spluttering denials and accusations. Kirsikka just stuck her tongue out at the two of them. "See?" she said. "It got you to calm down instead of throwing fire and brimstone at each other."

"You were the one who was throwing around fire and brimstone?" Luvia thundered.

"No, that was me." Little Rin interjected singsong while flying by, Mikasa meowing as she similarly flew past.

"…more importantly," Rin began while pinching her nose and counting to ten. "What took you so long? It took me and Luvia just over five minutes to make our jet skis, while you spent over an hour in your workshop."

"That's because you used carbon fiber to make your jet skis." Kirsikka replied with a critical look at their creations. "I mean, sure, it's lightweight, durable, and easy to make and mold, but it's not that durable. I, in contrast, used steel to make my jet ski."

"WHAT?" Luvia monosyllabically asked.

"You heard me." Kirsikka said. "I used steel."

"Where'd you get the steel?" Rin asked incredulously.

Kirsikka shrugged. "I have a fair bit of metal lying around in Imaginary Numbers Space." She said. "I use it for all sorts of things. Titanium alloy for beam sabers. Molybdenum steel, gold, and various rare-earths among others for the Zarathustra Cannon. Aluminum for the floating disc. Things like that."

"…I hesitate to ask," Rin dully began. "But I'm curious: what kind of steel did you use for your jet ski?"

"And what's the floating disc?" Luvia asked.

"In reverse order," Kirsikka began. "Little big sister, could you get the floating disc? Luvia wants to see…thanks! Moving on, I used mild steel for the frame, stainless steel for screws, rivets, and the like, and ST steel for the hull."

"ST steel?" Rin echoed faintly.

"Special treatment steel." Kirsikka explained. "It's got small amounts of nickel and chromium to make it stronger, if not enough to be rustproof like stainless steel. The Americans use it to make the hulls of their warships, so way back when, I thought if it was good enough for the Americans to make carriers and nuclear submarines, it's probably good enough for a few mystic codes or so."

Rin and Luvia palmed their faces, and then their jaws fell as Little Rin practically surfed her way out of Imaginary Numbers Space on…well, a floating disc. Like its name said, it was a large disc – large enough for a person to stand on – that floated in the air, made of aluminum with some kind of glowing thing running around its lower edge.

"What's that?" Rin asked.

"The floating disc." Little Rin replied, and Rin palmed her face again.

"No, I meant what exactly is the floating disc, and how and why you made it." She clarified.

"The floating disc is a floating disc." Kirsikka replied deadpan, and causing Rin and Luvia to palm their faces in exasperation. "As for how, it uses spatial manipulation as a form of anti-gravity. Space, after all, has no mass. And without mass, gravity has no effect. That's what allows the floating disc to, well, float. And move, of course, kind of like this jet ski of mine. Technically, it's not moving, or even floating, at least, not on water. The space around the hull, though? I'm travelling without moving right here, and I didn't even have to dose up on spice."

"Dune, really?" Luvia deadpanned.

"Oh, so you've read Dune?" Kirsikka asked.

"Just who do you think I am?" Luvia scoffed.

"So, what do you think of our lord and savior, Leto II Atreides, God-Emperor of the Known Universe?"

"…OOOOOOOOOOKAAAAAAAAAAY!" Rin exploded. "Sakura, why did you make the floating disc?"

Kirsikka shrugged. "Lord El-Melloi II was in one of his annoying phases." She said. "You know, when he complains about how certain mysteries are so impractical, have no real applications, and makes – insulting – 'suggestions' about how I should spend time and resources on boring stuff instead…things like that. So, I made the floating disc to shut him up. He suspended me for a few days out of spite, shows who's the more mature between us."

Kirsikka shrugged and smirked. "I am a genius." She said smugly, and Luvia rolled her eyes.

"You two are sisters." She said, and Rin laughed.

"That we are." She said. "Race you two."

Then she sped off, with Kirsikka following suit a moment later, and Luvia bringing up the rear with a yelp of outrage.

"What's with the giant bell?" Rin, Luvia, and Kirsikka chorused as they walked back onto the beach for lunch.

"It's for after lunch." Shirou said. "Enjoy yourselves?"

"Yes."

"Glad to hear it."

"…seriously," Rin said after a moment. "What's with the giant bell?"

"Like I said, it's for after lunch." Shirou insisted.

"I can guess, though." Luvia said, suddenly standing next to the bell, or rather had been arranged in a before it on four sides. Five wooden frames, each with hanging iron triangles. A nudge had the triangles swaying in a slow but steady motion. "Try and hit the bell through the triangles while they're moving, is it, Shero?"

Shirou grumbled wordlessly while Kirsikka whistled. "Now that would take plenty of skill." She said.

"Are you that skilled?" Luvia challenged.

"Maybe," Kirsikka deflected with a shrug. "Shirou here definitely is, though."

"Well, no argument there."

"More importantly where'd you get the bell?" Rin shrugged. "And the wooden frames and triangles?"

Shirou signed in surrender. "I traced them." He admitted.

"Oh, well…" Rin said, looking and sounding lost. In hindsight, she should have expected that, and was surprised that she hadn't. "…okay, yeah, that makes sense. So…arrows for you, Sakura, and Kirsikka, while Gandr for me and Luvia. What about Rider, though? Or Bazett and Caren?"

"Rider's sitting this out." Shirou said. "Said she's no good at ranged stuff like this. Bazett wanted to use Fragarach at first, but there are kids here and I don't want to risk any misfires or whatnot. So, throwing daggers for her. She said she's got some experience with them…"

"Of course she does," Rin said with a roll of her eyes. "She's an Irish Terminator."

"…while Sister Ortensia said she's also sitting this one out," Shirou continued. "Seeing as she's got no combat or even any relevant skill for participating in the contest."

"Makes sense…so, after lunch? Really? Whatever happened to your kids' afternoon nap?"

"Then later this afternoon, after the nap. Thanks for reminding me, though. I'd forgotten entirely about that."

"Uh…yeah, sure. You're welcome. So…lunch…?"

Shirou nodded, turning and heading to where everyone else was already gathered together, the three Edelfelts following in his wake.

"So," Luvia began, lounging under a pavilion with an icy fruit punch at hand after lunch, wearing only a light shawl over her shoulders along with a white-frilled midnight blue bikini. "What do you rate your chances winning Shero's challenge?"

"Just time your shots." Kirsikka dismissively said, and still wearing a Hawaiian shirt over khaki shorts. "The biggest issue isn't the movement of the triangles, it's that there are five triangles, with variations at the rate they swing on those frames."

"Pretty much." Rin agreed, once again wearing her bikini along with a sari skirt. "In fact, I dare to say that me and Luvia will actually have the advantage compared to archers like Sakura and Shero. Arrows are longer, heavier, and slower than Gandr or Finn shots, after all. Then again, this is Shero we're talking about. The guy practically has Heroic Spirit-levels of skill with the bow, thanks to absorbing their knowledge and experience from tracing various Noble Phantasms."

"Well, we can't really fault him for that, anymore than we can be faulted for having our crests." Luvia pointed out. "Besides, it's Shero. How can you fault someone as…charming, and good-hearted as he is?"

"Luvia, I think you really need to move on." Rin remarked with a slight air of concern.

Luvia just waved her off. "Oh, don't worry." She said. "I don't plan on seducing or stealing Shero, not when he's happy with my cousin. It's just not done. That said, he is and remains my standard, even if it means a constant headache for my parents. That, and no one seems to be able to meet said standard, such a shame."

"…well, Caules could have met the standard." Kirsikka admitted. "The one in my timeline…he just made some bad choices…the one I met in that other timeline was…he proved that much."

"Caules…Forvedge…?" Luvia echoed. "From Modern Magecraft Theories?"

"Yes."

Luvia frowned and mulled it over. "Well, I suppose he does have a charm of his own." She eventually admitted. "Though, he does have a callous streak, even if he doesn't usually let it show."

"And we don't?" Rin asked. "The problem is if he lets it get to him, like the Caules from Kirsikka's timeline here did."

"…point taken." Luvia said, inwardly curious about what happened between Kirsikka and her version of Caules, but from the look and sound of things, it was a sensitive topic. It'd probably be best to get to know Kirsikka some more before prying. "In any case, considering the me from Kirsikka's timeline eventually settled for Waver Velvet of all people only proves the value of the standard set by Shero. I could do so much better."

"Mind you, though," Rin pointed out. "Your insistence on following Shero's standard and refusing to settle down is probably one reason why your father – or the rest of the family council – has decided against letting you assume the full title and authority of Lord Edelfelt."

Luvia scoffed. "And?" she asked. "There are more important things than power, never mind empty titles. You, of all people, should know that better than anyone else, save for Sakura Matou."

"…point."

"Besides," Luvia said with a dismissive wave. "If it comes to that, I'll just abdicate in Marjatta's favor. She's basically me, only settled down and actually happy with her arranged marriage. Then again, even if Juhani is fairly…conventional, he's still a superior choice compared to the likes of Waver Velvet."

"Hmm…" Kirsikka hummed thoughtfully while tapping her fingers on an armrest. "…now that I think about it, I don't think my version of Luvia has actually met Shero. She never adopted his standards when it came to choosing the man in her life, which not only contributed to her settling down with Lord Beckenstein, but also becoming Lord Edelfelt."

"Just like I said." Rin said with a nod and a sip at her martini (with two olives).

"Is she happy?" Luvia asked instead.

"I assume so." Kirsikka said with a shrug. "She has settled down, after all. That, and there have been a few…incidents, where other ladies have tried to seduce Lord Beckenstein. It never ends well."

"Hmm…" Luvia hummed in her turn. "…I wouldn't be so quick to say she's truly happy. But, she does seem content, so while I still have my doubts about her husband, I can be happy for her."

"Well, in any case," Kirsikka said while stretching her limbs out as far as she could. "I'm in no rush to start a new relationship. Besides, I can always just get an apprentice and name him my heir. Sure, it'll make Tokiomi turn in his grave, but all the better if he actually does."

"That," Rin began with a knowing smile. "And you're not completely over Caules, are you?"

Kirsikka gave her a dirty look. "That's a bad joke." She said.

"Who said I was joking?"

"That's an even worse joke."

Luvia closed her eyes and shook her head as the sisters bickered next to her. It reminded her all too well of home, even if arguments between her and her twin tended to be far less argumentative. Despite their name, the Tohsaka really were just brunette Edelfelts. They even had the blue eyes that had skipped Luvia and her twin, of all things.

"Then again," she thought philosophically while sipping at her punch. "That's life."

A/N

Well, now you know why Kirsikka vanished at the end of the last chapter: she was busy building a jet ski…with an inertialess drive! Naturally, Rin and Luvia make their own jet skis, with the latter going for the 'traditional' route (propellers) while the former outfits her jet ski with the magitech version of a caterpillar drive (or as it's properly called a magnetohydrodynamic drive).

You might be surprised that Luvia read Dune by Frank Herbert of all things, but I don't really think it's OOC, considering how heavily…Nietzschean, the setting's themes are. Leto II practically embodies the Ubermensch, even more so than Atham the Revelation of Mankind from 40k does. And back to Luvia, or rather magi in general, well, their society also embodies or at least strives to embody the Nietzschean ideal. If anything, Dune would be considered a rare example of a socially-acceptable science fiction work for magi to read.

In contrast, Star Wars would be considered a comedy (in the classical sense), given it glorifies the Last Men of the Jedi and demonizes the Sith Ubermenschen. Though, I wouldn't be surprised if Atlas tried to build their own Death Star if their predictions showed it could be useful in an eventual End of the World scenario.