12—Tohsaka Rin's Day Off
Exhausted, Rin struggles to move through that nebulous gulf between sleep and wakefulness, back into a state of deep and restful slumber. Despite her efforts, her mind buzzes both consciously and unconsciously with thoughts stirred by the previous night.
Though less the previous night and more the morning of just a few hours past now, when she'd summoned her Servant, Archer.
Naturally, that very act confirmed her role as a Master in the coming conflict, the Holy Grail War.
Some would call that conflict an intricate ritual, but the term is a tad romantic and misleading.
It started that way, certainly.
Seven magi working together to summon a relic of unknown origin, hoping to share in its power.
So when it was discovered that power couldn't be shared, those humans, being what they are, did what humans do best when it comes to extremely scarce yet highly coveted resources.
They warred.
As civil as wars can be, they agreed to using the relic's power in equal measure to summon forth powerful familiars called "Servants".
Using that power to summon those familiars was one thing.
The truest power of the relic was in its ability to grant the heart's desire of whoever fully possessed it, and it was for that reason there could be no peace.
It may be for the relic's power that it came to be called the Holy Grail. Again, a tad grandiose a title, given what it is, a powerful magical artifact capable of granting one person whatever they may wish, and what it most certainly is not: a chalice said to have held wine shared between a man and his fellows the night before his death.
But time flows like a river, and though the initial battle was fought to its conclusion hundreds of years ago, the results having been forgotten, at least to Rin, the conflict has repeated itself many times.
The first time set the precedent.
Though the form has shifted and varied, the core principles remain consistent.
Seven magi selected as Masters, and gifted by the Grail one Servant each, to contest with the others until only one remains, securing the right to use the Grail's power as they see fit.
Regardless if one aspires to the role of Master or not, it is at the Grail's discretion that one is assigned the role. And when one is selected, they are provided a twofold proof. The first, being their Servant, and the second, a red glyph.
A locus of magical energy appearing on the back of one of their hands.
A Command Spell, with three uses, though two now for Rin.
Even recalling that causes her sleeping face to wince sharply with discontent. But it's not uncommon for a Servant to be unruly, so she counts herself fortunate it only cost her one usage of the Command Spell to bring Archer into a more agreeable state.
For a Master such as she, guarding the final use of the Command Spell is paramount, second only to their actual life. There will always be another war, but it can only be fought as long as one is alive. So to forfeit their life needlessly is to throw away any future chance at claiming the prize.
Besides that, dying does kind of suck.
Mmm… Damn it. I can't just keep sleeping in like this. Missing school is one thing, but the remaining two Masters should be appearing soon… I have to be ready for that.
Subject to the gravity well of wakefulness, Rin can no longer resist its pull. Begrudgingly, she yields, blinking up at the canopy of her four poster. She then looks over at the windows, the yellow blackout curtains pulled aside, to see the sun pouring its light into her room, and over her red carpet, her bedspread, and her sleepy, yawning, face.
"Mm… And it is morning, already…"
Sighing, she rubs her eyes, then stretches toward the head of her bed.
She sits up, staring blankly out the window, the haze of exhaustion still hanging thick over her mind. Already, it's late enough in the day for the sun to be up fully, and for the birds to be sounding their chirps and tweets.
Uh… oh crap…
Realizing this, she looks over at her clock.
She has to blink a few times to focus on its face. Once she's able, she seizes it from the bed stand and stares at it more closely.
And like yesterday, the clock's face projects no illusion.
"It's past nine already! I'm way beyond being late…"
Tossing the clock down, she sighs and flops back in her bed, concluding that attending school today would be pointless, given how late she already is.
"I'm so tired… And my body feels like it's entombed in cement. It's like he drained half my life force overnight…"
Complaining, she blinks at the wall before sitting up and taking in a deep breath.
It's not just the normal 'I hate mornings' draining her spirit. Her mind drifts back to something Archer had said yesterday, about how a Master tends to lose consciousness after summoning their Servant. So naturally, even if that didn't happen, the Master would be in no condition to function normally for some time.
Remembering that brings with it another less than ideal tidbit.
"Right…" She sighs, frowning and hugging her legs, still covered by her bedspread, to her chest. "I summoned Archer last night. Not Saber…"
Despite not wanting to remember that fact, disremembering it won't change the reality of it. In this game, there are no mulligans once the cards have been dealt.
She presses her forehead into her legs, trying to gauge her state.
"Feels like it'll be about a day before I've fully recovered. I guess today will just be getting used to Archer and his abilities."
Slowly, she turns on her bed, freeing herself from her blanket and sheets, and lowering her feet to the floor.
There's some impulse to pull her feet back up and climb back into bed, but she fights against it.
It's a quick bout, as it has to be.
Letting the desire linger would cause it to fester, and she knows she'd be right back in bed, loving the sight of the back of her eyelids.
Finally, she's fully upright, and making her way to the mirror mounted on the wall to confirm her self-diagnosis. As far as she can tell, there's nothing physically wrong, and that she's just running on a half-tank.
"Well, seems like there should be no problems."
Satisfied, she smiles at her reflection and her oddly sunny expression. At least, when compared to what greeted her yesterday morning.
She turns toward her bedroom door.
"If I'm skipping school, I guess I can wait to get dressed…"
She looks down at her pajamas, then nods.
"This should be fine… And I shouldn't waste time. I need to go see what Archer is doing…"
She frowns, remembering their first meeting. His complete lack of manners, even for her, his Master, the one who summoned him.
And worse, he doesn't even know who he is. My head hurts already…
She sighs, pulling the door open and stepping into the hall. Fortunately, her delay in getting out of bed has let the sun do its job more effectively, so the air in her house is far warmer now than it was when she woke up yesterday.
"If he doesn't know who he is, it means he won't know what his Noble Phantasm is, either." As she walks toward the stairs, she muses quietly over the circumstances. "Until he remembers, there's no way for him to use it. We'll have to make do without it."
It's the worst kind of handicap for a Master and a Servant.
If the Command Spell is a Master's trump card, then a Servant's Noble Phantasm would be theirs. One extremely powerful 'secret move'. But as it's tied so closely to their identity, if they don't have an identity, or can't recall it, then it's like someone called 'No Trump', and they can't use it.
She stops at the top of the stairs, staring down the lit stairwell, sighs and shrugs.
"Well, I think it's at least partly my fault. All we can do is what we can."
There's no telling how long it will be until Archer's tangled mess of memories becomes unwoven. They're in the same boat in that regard, and it's looking like the seas ahead are going to be quite choppy.
Once downstairs, she arrives in her living room and naturally sits down in one of her comfortable chairs.
Though it seems much like any other morning, something quickly feels out of place. It takes a second for her to figure out what.
She stands up, looking around, frowning and prodding her chin.
Then she realizes it.
Right… This place looked like a bomb went off after I botched his summoning, but I couldn't even tell!
The more she examines the room, the more she can feel her eyes widening with surprise. Everything is exactly as it should be. Even the massive, unfinished skylight in her ceiling is gone, replaced with… well, her ceiling.
"Wow…" She sighs, smiling with relief. "Maybe he's not so bad?"
At best, she expected he'd clear up the rubble. So that he went out of his way to fully repair all the damage slightly improves her opinion of him.
Maybe he felt bad for the mess? I can't imagine why else he'd go to such lengths. It's hard to form a steady opinion of him, but right now I want to say maybe he's admirable, or a nice guy?
"The sun's up already." From the kitchen, she can hear his voice, thick with exasperation, as he steps from there into the living room. "You're pretty easy going, aren't you?"
Frowning, she looks over, seeing him dressed exactly as he was when he'd arrived.
Red coat and waist cape over his dark leather chest piece and pants, his fully white hair slicked back. His remarks quickly have her irritated, and she feels the wind swept from beneath her wings
And it's gone. I take it all back. He doesn't even deserve praise in my thoughts. Shameless lout…
"Yes, fine. And good morning to you as well." She sighs, sitting back in her comfortable armchair again. "And what about you? You seem pretty relaxed, and already made yourself at home as well, I see."
"Well, it is the room I spent the night in. I've pretty much figured out where everything is." He glances over his shoulder, back into the kitchen. "Oh, and since I was cleaning anyway, I figured I'd clean up in there, too. I was expecting more of a mess, but there was actually not much that needed doing. That was quite impressive, considering you live alone in this huge, Western-style house."
Rin's eyes narrow sharply, and she kneads her forehead, staring down at the floor.
It was going away, but he's bringing my headache roaring back. Why is my Servant checking how clean my place is? I thought they only cared about fighting. Is he broken, somehow?
"It seems you're not doing well this morning." Archer looks down at her, frowning thoughtfully. "Though you seemed well last night, sleeping must have allowed your body to better assess its condition."
He turns toward the kitchen.
"I'll get you something to drink, if tea's okay?"
Not waiting for her answer, he enters to the kitchen, then returns with a silver tray. On the tray, a porcelain teapot steams from the spout, sitting next to a matching teacup on a saucer. He sets the tray down, the saucer and cup in front of Rin, then pours into the cup from the pot a fine, rose-colored liquid.
As Rin watches him work, her mind buzzes with all sorts of things she wants to say, yet anything she could say would interrupt him, which she's surprised to find she doesn't feel like doing.
Each of his subtle motions feels efficient, refined, and again, it seems he's showing a measure of consideration.
Finished with pouring the tea, he steps back, holding his arms folded and smirking as she stares down at the cup filled with steaming liquid.
"Well, it's true I am tired. And you did go to the trouble, so I guess I will, thanks."
Slowly, steadily, she lifts the cup and takes a small sip to avoid burning her lips and tongue.
Her eyes widen sharply as she lets it rest on her palate.
This is good…
The tea he'd selected to brew is one of her exotic Chinese blends. The best part of her favorite leaf, and one over which she'd be irritated if someone screwed it up, or even used it without her permission. Yet as it's been done so well, she finds no cause for complaint, and is all too happy simply to sip on and enjoy the fine drink.
Archer's smirk widens, and he chuckles at her reaction and expression. His small laugh sours the taste, and she glares up at him.
"Hey, what are you laughing about?"
"Well, I was going to ask your thoughts on it, but the face you made answered before I could."
"Gh—!" She grinds her teeth, then slams the cup down, causing some of its contents to slosh over the side and onto the saucer.
"Hey, don't waste it," Archer says, frowning. "You should enjoy it while it's still hot. If I'm distracting you, I'll go."
She sighs, staring down at the cup, then shakes her head.
"No, it's fine. And I didn't become a Master just so someone could brew me tea, besides. There's no need for you to do things without my saying so."
"I see. Certainly, and I feel similar. I did not form a contract to brew tea or clean up after you." Archer frowns, nodding thoughtfully. "If this is how you prefer it, I'll try to be more careful from now on."
"Right. What I need is a powerful familiar." Rin takes another long sip from the cup, then holds it forward. "I've never heard of a Servant who does housework, and I've no need for such a thing."
"Hm?" Archer's frown smooths into a simple line as he stares down at her. "What do you mean, no need for such a thing?"
"Nevermind. But more importantly…" She sets the cup down empty, then turns to look at him fully. "Do you remember who you are, yet?"
He meets her gaze, frowning deeply, and shakes his head. Rin mirrors his heavy frown and pressed brow, and sighs.
I didn't think he would. This is bad. If he can't remember after one night, it's not going to come back easily. Even if I do get a sense for his abilities today, this is still a serious problem…
"All right." She stares down at the cup on the saucer, then turns it in place. "I'll work out what to do about your memory. You should get ready. Since you were just summoned, you shouldn't know your way around yet, right? I'll show you around town."
"Get ready?" He eyes her up and down, then shakes his head. "There's no need for that. At least, not for me. I'm ready to go right now."
"Hey, you're going to walk around in that?" Again, she mirrors him, eyeing him over and frowning. "It hardly looks normal…?"
Her voice trails.
It's impossible, in part because of the outlandish nature, but also because of the color, not to draw the comparison between what Archer is wearing, and what Sakura's little friend was dressed in yesterday.
She sighs, dropping her stare from Archer back down to the saucer, and the small amount of tea still sitting in it, now having cooled for being spread thin.
"Anyway, other Masters would be able to tell you're a servant right away, wouldn't they? I don't plan to announce my presence as a Master to everyone, you know."
"Oh, so that's what you meant." Archer nods thoughtfully. "Then it's not a problem. I'll need to change when I take form, but only during that time. Since we're spirits, we usually persist in that form when not in battle to reduce the burden on our Masters."
"Oh, yeah…" She looks back up again. "Even if you've been summoned into a body, you're still a heroic spirit. Since it's my magical energy which gives you form, if that's cut off…"
He nods. "Naturally, we lose our form and return to being spirits. A Servant in that state is more like a guardian spirit. We cannot be observed by anyone except for the Master with whom we are connected by the leyline. Well, scouting is no problem though, since we can still talk."
"That's really convenient for us, but…" She sighs, looking back down at her cup, spinning it idly on the saucer. "It'll make it difficult to search for other Masters."
"Not really." Archer shakes his head. "Like can sense like, yes? Like you magi can sense other magi, we Servants can sense other Servants. Skilled Servants with powerful magic, or other abilities, can sense other Servants even from great distances."
Rin nods, quietly digesting Archer's words.
It's exactly like he's said.
Masters are usually powerful magi with vast quantities of magical energy. The way dense objects with strong gravitational fields are drawn toward each other, so too are magi sensitive to each other, proportional to the relative strengths of their magical energy.
But as far as I know, no one in town has that kind of power…
"So what about you?" She eyes Archer from the side. "Can you tell where the other Servants are?"
He frowns, shaking his head. "Master, have you forgotten my class designation? Sensing enemies from a distance is not a job for a knight."
She smirks, then nods again.
No, I didn't think so. He's far stronger than any human magus, for certain, but his magical energy must be lacking compared to a servant like Caster. That Servant would probably have no problem with such a thing. They'd probably be the only servant capable of reliably doing such a thing.
"All right." She stands, then stretches. "I'll go get changed, then show you this brave new world that has such people in it."
"I don't think it will be that new for me. But aren't you forgetting something important, Master?"
"Hmmm—m?" She finishes her long stretch, then turns, eyeing him and tilting her head. "What do you mean, something important?"
"… Geez." He shakes his head, then drops his gaze down and away. "You're still half-asleep, aren't you? We haven't even exchanged the most important piece of our contract."
"The most important…?"
Rin stares up at the ceiling, prodding her chin.
What's he saying? Some sort of reward? The Servant's reward is to fight for the Grail. What else is necessary?
Frowning, folding his arms, Archer exhales through his nose.
"You're really not a morning person, are you?"
Rin drops her gaze from the ceiling, frowning at his sarcastic comment, about to reply in kind before she realizes something.
Wait… He hasn't even addressed me by name yet.
Her sharp glare eases. "—Ah, crap… Names."
Archer nods. "Yes, names. Glad you've realized. So, Master, what is your name? How should I address you from now on?" he asks, sulking.
That it's taken this long to reach this point seems to have drained his zest.
Rin stares at him, blinking in surprise
Damn it. My opinion of him is changing again.
There's no reason for an exchange of names, after all. For normal contracts with normal familiars, the exchange of names is critically important, but there's no need for such a thing between a Master and a Servant, who are bound by the Command Spell.
Finally, she sighs, then smiles, realizing what's changing her mind about him again.
But Archer still feels like this is important. It's a proof of trust that we'll be fighting alongside each other, even without the command spell. He's sarcastic, rude, obnoxious, and a jerk…
"I'm Tohsaka Rin." She looks back down at her cup, then sits again and resumes spinning it idly on the saucer. "You can call me whatever you like."
But despite all that, I really think he might be a good person.
Tiring of that, she reaches for the pot of lukewarm tea and freshens her cup.
I say that, but it would probably be easier for me if he'd just address me in some reserved manner. Like 'you' or 'Master'. He probably would, but this seems important to him, and it's a minor concession I'm willing to make.
As she takes a sip from her fresh cup, she eyes him from the side as he mutters her name to himself.
"Then I shall call you Rin." His mouth turns up in a broad, full-faced smile. "Yes, the name suits you well."
For suddenly being addressed with so much familiarity, Rin can feel her face glowing red, and she has to set the cup down before she chokes.
Archer looks down.
"Rin? What's wrong?" He tilts his head. "You don't look normal."
"S-Shut up!" Flustered and frowning, she buries her face deep into her hands. "Let's just…?"
Again, her voice trails. She still needs to go upstairs and change, but this exchange has trappings of another that happened yesterday.
I wonder…
Slowly, she lowers her hands and looks up. "Say, Archer…"
"Yes?" He eyes her in a more relaxed fashion.
"Do you know anything about creatures from other worlds?"
It's hard for her to hold a straight face as she asks. Archer's eyes widen with some surprise, but then relax again as he smirks, trying not to snicker.
"What, do you mean like little gray men from other planets?"
"Well…" She stares down at her cup, then takes another sip from it. "Little, sure… but no, nothing like that. I mean… I was just wondering, in case you did."
He sighs, then shakes his head and folds his arms. "It's a strange thing to ask. I'm aware of them as a concept, like in works of fiction, but as for if they are a real thing, I do not have knowledge on the subject either way."
"Really…" She takes another sip. "Alright. Sorry for asking something weird. I was just wondering. I need to change. We don't have time to relax like this."
Archer shrugs, then watches as Rin stands and heads out of the room. He looks down at the cup, saucer, tea, pot, and tray, then sighs, collecting them and carrying them out to the kitchen.
As Rin slips into her school uniform, white button-down dress shirt, beige vest and long, dark-grey skirt, she goes over the entire thing from downstairs in her mind.
Their personalities couldn't be less similar, but there's still some overlap.
That little guy said something too… About my name… Wait.
She fastens the top button, then pauses, considering something.
If he's really from some other world… Then he just looks like a child, right? I mean, he can't really be a child. How would he even get here if he were? But if he's not a child… Something about what happened…?
Staring at the mirror, she grinds her hands into her head, trying to recall. Getting nothing for it, she pulls up her skirt, then her long black stockings. As she looks up at the mirror again, she catches sight of her own eyes, and blinks at herself.
'I just thought they were pretty, you know?'
She blinks again, remembering the casually spoken, sincere words of a child.
Right… That's what it was. He said something weird… Wait, though…
Except they weren't the words of a child. They were the casually spoken, sincere words of someone who looked like a child. Yesterday, it was the first time in her life she'd heard something like that from someone, without picking up on some obvious underlying motive.
But they were from a child, so she'd simply brushed them off.
But he wasn't… Then…
She frowns at her reflection, which frowns back at her.
"What is this? Something feels weird about this. He wasn't flirting. He was just being sincere. Then he got all flustered… So… Kh…" Glaring at herself, she bites down on her thumbnail. "This is dumb. I'm just thinking in circles over nothing. I mean, better here than outside where it would distract me, or downstairs where Archer could make fun of me for it."
She sighs, shaking her head and clapping her face, trying to push whatever thought refuses to form properly from her mind.
I have more important things to worry about.
Now fully dressed and mentally prepared, Rin seals her residence and departs with Archer close by, invisible for being in spirit form. As they walk through the residential district, they get further and further into town. There're few sidewalks, and the road they walk is the same one Shirou, Sakura and Taiasu walked last night.
That road paved with concentric, red brick arches.
Despite it being warmer now, she still wears her long red dress coat.
They'll be out all day, and it will get dark and cool before they return.
With no one around, she's free to explain the particulars. Caring little, Archer simply nods along unseen and unspeaking as she talks about the city, Fuyuki, basically being two towns—the one where she lives, Miyama, being more residential with older houses and traditional buildings, and the one across the river, Shinto, where more modern development is taking place.
"Miyama can be split again, basically. Here, where I live, most houses are Western-styled." She points a few of them out. "Most of the immigrants from foreign countries live in this area."
For not stopping, they lose no time stopping as she points out the other side of the town, where the houses are all Japanese-styled, which well match the mountain backdrop.
"Since both sections of the town are on hills, they're practically suburbs. And in between those suburbs, most of the houses are pretty ordinary."
As they reach the intersection of Miyama City, the one Shirou passes on his way to school each day, she points out to a few of the more modest houses nearby, then up the hill from where they came.
"And that's where the houses like mine are."
She points out a few more directions. Toward the Ryuudou Temple, the bridge leading to the neighboring town of Shinto, the school and the shopping district. She can't tell, since she can't see, but she fully suspects Archer is paying little attention.
But since there's no proof, all she can do is frown and sigh.
"I hope you're getting the layout well enough, Archer," she mutters.
In her head, she gets a distinct affirmative sensation, which lifts her frown into a smile.
Eventually, they reach the bridge connecting the two towns.
A massive bridge, supported by a masterfully engineered arch, with several lanes for traffic coming from either side elevated over walking paths for pedestrians to travel safely. They inspect it from afar from the park nearby. A park with a few bushes, bare trees, and places for sitting, but mostly it's just flat brick walkways.
"A few years ago, they built a large bus terminal on the other side." She points across the river. "After that, it expanded pretty quickly. The towns are the same city, but they really stopped being similar after that."
As they continue the tour, Rin talks about the meaning of the city's name, Fuyuki, or 'Winter Tree', coming from the fact that the winters are longer than usual.
"I'd say they got that right, though February here is about as warm as December everywhere else." She goes on as they cross the bridge. "You'd probably find a few hot springs, or other geothermal features if you went digging around."
Frowning, she slows her pace.
Well, even if they did, the winters here are too weak to draw a crowd of hot-spring seekers. You can't really even tell when winter ends and spring begins around April, since it barely changes.
Their tour takes them deep into the town's modern business district.
"Shinto is like this all over." Rin gestures to one enormous, modern skyscraper. "Everything looks cold and unnatural since they started rushing to get all these tall buildings put up. All of this went up in just the last ten years."
She stares up at the building, then down the street. "From what I've heard, the massive fire they had here ten years ago laid waste to the entire residential district. Since the land was unused, they built these office buildings there."
By the time they've stopped to rest near a natural park, the sun has started to set.
Calling it a park is generous. The place is an absolute mess. Large patches of ground are overrun with brown, dead grass, and what little green there is begs plaintively for the gentle touch of a professional landscaper.
The ground seems to reject water, since it pools on the surface in stagnant puddles, and even the trees which have fallen reject the natural order, refusing to break down and decompose. Though many trees still stand, most seem little more than massive trunks with countless sticks jutting out at odd angles, and even they seem to struggle in producing just a few buds and leaves.
It's more like a giant swamp than a place where people would gather to play or go on picnics.
Despite the unwelcoming atmosphere, there are plenty of walkways, composed of wood planks buried flush with the ground, flanked by tall grass in desperate need of a trim, and lighted by street lamps which have switched on for the time of day and the sun's descent.
Still, they do little to drive back the unease the place heaps upon its visitors, none of whom stick around for very long.
"This is Shinto's park." Rin stops for a moment and examines the place. "So that's every important location. What are your thoughts, Archer?"
"It's quite a large park." There's no one around to hear, so he speaks freely, commenting on the fact. Rin glances over at him as he speaks. "But is there some reason no one is here?"
"So you noticed, huh?" She looks forward again. "This place has a bit of history to it."
Casually, she lets her gaze roam the ruined landscape. Further back are trees bearing actual foliage, red and gold, which only make the trees in the park stick out more for their being so barren.
Much of it's in disrepair, sure, but there are still places where kids could come to play during the week. So it's strange, it's always so empty.
She sighs, continuing to keep an eye out.
The few people around don't stay for long, and as they depart, their absence adds to the desolate feeling hanging heavy in the air.
"It was about ten years ago." She goes on, explaining the place's history. "There was this terrible fire. It burned for a day, then went out just as it started raining. The town was rebuilt, but not this place. They left it as is, and eventually turned it into this park, since it was nothing but a burned out ruin."
Archer doesn't reply, but their link is sound enough that Rin can tell he's feeling something powerful about this place.
"So you noticed that, too." She sighs, then resumes her stroll through the park, making use of the pathways. "This is where the final battle of the last Holy Grail War was fought. I don't know everything, but the War ended here, and this place has been empty like this ever since."
As she pauses her history lesson, her stroll slows to a stop.
"I see. That explains why this place is so filled with malice."
"Hmm?" Rin turns, looking behind her at where Archer stands, still unseen, and widens her eyes. "You can sense things like that?"
"Servants are spirits. We have a certain similarity to grudges and formed obsessions. It's only natural we would be sensitive to powerful, emotional remnants like those sorts of things." He pauses for a moment, as if considering something, and Rin turns her gaze back over the park. "There were many places in town filled with such things. Grudges, regrets, powerful emotional attachments, but nothing comes close to what I'm feeling here."
He then says something which catches her completely off guard.
"For any of us, we'd say this place feels much like a Reality Marble."
She snaps her head over toward his voice, her eyes growing wider.
A Reality Marble…?! How would he even—!
Not the sort of thing spoken of casually, even by the most gifted and powerful of magi. It is considered the pinnacle achievement of those able to produce them. The line that exists between magic and sorcery is definite, but a Reality Marble straddles that line, blurring it into almost non-existence.
In the simplest of terms possible, they are incredibly advanced and unfathomably complex versions of the more traditional 'boundary fields' set up by magi as protection. Basically, a boundary field is a magical security system, like the one she sets up each day before she leaves her house. But it simply changes something that already exists, transforming it into something else, like melting ice into water.
Comparing a boundary field to a Reality Marble is like comparing magic to sorcery. A reality marble can make real what does not exist, based on what the magus creating it imagines. If a boundary field were changing reality by melting ice into water, a Reality Marble would be changing reality by melting ice into magma.
"Rin? What, are you lost in your thoughts?"
At her side, Archer speaks up again, shaking her loose.
It's not the sort of thing any proper mage expects to come up in any discussion.
"Eh…?" She looks forward again, shaking her head before resuming their walk. "No… Well, sort of. Mostly, I was just surprised that an Archer would be familiar with the term 'Reality Marble'."
"What, is it so strange for me to know of it?"
He chuckles, and she nods.
"Of course. It's taboo even among the taboo. The false bottom hidden in the false bottom. It makes no sense that an Archer would know of it."
Archer sighs heavily as their walk comes to another intermission before what could be a pond, if a pond were just another bunch of stagnant, shallow puddles.
"Rin, a 'Heroic Spirit' must excel both in martial and magical arts. It's fine if you want to think that an Archer is limited only to bows, but if you…?" His voice trails for a moment, then he goes on. "If you take such a simplistic view of other Servants, you do so at your own peril, so please be careful."
"Ugh—!" She frowns, dropping her stare down to the ground. "F-Fine, I understand," she mutters. "It was a careless thing to say. I'll be more careful from now on, so it's fine, right?"
"Rin, I will be honest with you. You are a skilled mage, but it seems for that reason, you've formed a habit of underestimating others. If you wish to continue growing as a magus, you should work to break that habit."
"Y-You—!" Her hair flails as she snaps her head, glaring in his direction. "You're being quite rude! You're talking like I'm some sort of ill-tempered mare!"
"Oh, excuse me. I didn't mean to make it sound like you're a disobedient horse." He chuckles. "I just spoke such, since I thought it suited your image."
"Hey—!" She jabs her finger at the air. "That's even worse—ow!?"
Before she can go on berating him, she clutches her right arm, grinding her teeth against some sudden searing pain.
"Rin?"
"Just be quiet for a second, Archer." She looks down at the marking on the back of her right hand. Two strokes now, the innermost of the two concentric circles, and the line which points toward her wrist. The outermost circle is little more than a faded red shadow.
It's radiating up from my Command Spell. Some kind of warning?
"We're being watched. Well, I'm being watched, anyway."
She lowers her hand, then glances around furtively. She lets her eyes slip closed, holding her other hand up now, spreading her fingers and searching the surroundings with her mind.
A simple process, requiring no intoned words of power.
Threads of her consciousness spread through the park, searching their surroundings.
She frowns, deeply furrowing her brow. The threads receive no tug or twitch of anything caught in their web, and she lets out a frustrated sigh.
"Whoever they are, I can't find them. Can you sense anything, Archer?"
"Nothing, really. I can't even feel their stare."
She closes her hand and lets it drop to her side, then lets her eyes drift open.
"If you can't, then it must be a Master watching."
She glares at the ground.
It's discomforting, knowing they're being watched, yet not by whom, or from where. Rules about the conflict are in place, yet there's nothing stopping one of the other four Masters from engaging in open hostilities right here, and right now.
Seems like whoever's watching is thinking that, but…
"If your Command Spell is reacting to that of another Master, you should be able to recognize them when you see them." Despite their situation, Archer speaks calmly. "Then you should be able to identify them as well, yes?"
"In theory." Rin continues surveying their surroundings. "But in practice, it's not so simple. A skilled magus can suppress their magical energy. Command Spells react to each other, but they operate on the same principle. If the Master forces their Magic Circuit closed, finding them will be difficult."
"That's a problem, then. It means we're basically broadcasting our location."
"That's right."
Though they are being watched, and implicitly threatened, she does well in maintaining her composure. It helps that there's a super-powerful, invisible ally nearby who could likely shred the foe to pieces the second they dared show themselves.
"Well, I could probably find something at home that could conceal my magical energy, if I cared to look."
"But you don't care to?"
She nods, smirking.
"Of course not. If I don't hide, they'll come to us, right? It saves us the trouble of going to find them."
Archer heaves out another deep sigh, following it up with silence.
"What?" She looks over at where he's standing. "You want to say something like 'Don't be overconfident'?"
It was only a few seconds ago he'd said something similar.
"You being overconfident is impossible," he says. "You're at your best when you're like this. It's fine to let the small fry follow us around…?"
His voice trails again, leaving Rin feeling disconcerted.
'Rin, please turn around and take two steps back from where you are currently standing.' She startles at the sudden break in verbal communication, and also at hearing Archer's voice directly in her mind. 'It seems I spoke too soon. About seeing no one, that is. I believe we have an uninvited guest. Small, dressed in black. Assassin, if I had to guess.'
Seeing, and sensing, nothing, even from her Command Spell, Archer's cryptic warning causes the hairs on her arms and neck to stand on end.
'Right. I'll leave it to you then, Archer. Just don't miss.'
Slowly, she turns and does just like Archer said.
Before her second footfall, Archer has fully materialized, bow in hand and fully drawn with a simple arrow knocked and aimed at something she can't see.
