A/N:
Yo, I'm here a day early!
There's a reason for that though: Chapter 4 won't be out until November 14th, so I figure I'd surprise everyone pre-emptively releasing Chapter 3. Although I guess that makes the wait longer…oof. Didn't think about that.
Oh well! XD
I do have a solution for that though, which I'll bring up below.
First things first, thank you again for the follows, reviews and favorites. I'm glad people are taking an interest in this story of mine.
I enjoy the theories and pointing out changes of lore, too! Some people noticed that Touma did not lose his memories meeting Index, for example.
I love making these kinds of stories, which are just different enough from canon to bring up certain mysteries. Like I said, everything that happened in the To Aru and Fate timelines happened mostly the same. More details on what changed to be revealed later, lol.
Another quick detail: like some other stories did, I have buffed Misaka's Railgun from Mach 3 to Mach 10. Mach 3 isn't exactly fast enough for Servants (tbh neither is Mach 10 for the above-average ones), but it's fast enough to be considered at least Servant-level.
Oh, also, I got a Spanish review? Heck yeah! I'm amazed that my story is reaching into different languages, too!
One more thing:
I do appreciate the criticisms as well, they're extremely, extremely helpful for bettering my writing as I go on. However, for some criticisms, I will say: have a little patience. I cannot just explain and justify all of my story choices in just one chapter, so reasoning on some story and plot choices will come later. Just give it time.
There's not much else to say this time, from this point forward I'd like for the story to speak more for itself, so sit back and enjoy! I'll see you below.
Warning: Blood and Gore ahead.
Chapter 3: A Certain Conviction
P.O.V.: A Certain Hero of Justice
"I'll kill you all, now. Go and get them, Berserker."
The black beast growls in response, its massive, hulking arms expanding even wider as its body begins to glow red with an unfathomable energy. Within its hands appears an obsidian colored object of pure stone; what could only be described as a sword with the size and weight of a tree trunk, carved raggedly at one edge for crushing or cutting.
It roars, spit and steam emitting from its mouth as the little girl by its side only smiles relentlessly.
Shirou takes a step back, covering his ears at the rumbling decree of war.
He blinks.
The monster is right upon him, their axe of darkness right above Shirou's head. 'I didn't even-!"
He barely had the time to even register the beast had moved, let alone have the instinct to run. The beast slams its weapon down with the force of a great meteor.
"SHIROU!"
A clash of metal sent a shockwave throughout the Academy City streets, the force blasting the redhead backwards as he loses balance and skims across the sidewalk.
Gathering his bearings, it dawned on him; if he was alone, he would have been slaughtered like a calf in less than a half second.
His Servant, however, stood in the way of his death.
The Berserker's scarlet eyes narrowed; his great hammer seeming to be clashing against something imperceivable.
Saber grimaces, her smaller body feeling the full frontal force and weight of the monster's power, crushing her downwards. To get rid of the pressure, she shouts as she swipes her weapon back, forcing the monster to be blown away and open their guard.
Despite her small size, Saber is no mere damsel in distress. Shirou already had an idea of this fact when she had so mercilessly slain that mage from earlier.
And now, she is directing that same blade at the monster in front of her.
Just then, he hears the crackling of electricity to his left, as if a storm cloud found its way to the earth's surface.
He turns his head in time to see Mikoto flashing blue with her Ability. It was then that a very important realization started to dawn on him.
He wasn't one to pay much attention to what wasn't urgently important to him. While he knew the basic concepts of Esper Abilities and AIM Fields, whenever the topic of Level 5s came around, he only ever learned of their nicknames.
Accelerator. Dark Matter. Meltdowner. Mental Out. Crawling Wrench. Attack Crash.
Some of them had completely novel abilities, ones that were unique in their archetype and powerful in their applications.
Others, however, had an ability that was common, but simply excelled in it so much that they surpassed all of their peers.
He recalls a short conversation he overheard between Mikoto and Assassin seconds ago:
"I can fight, too. I'm a Level 5, you know."
The lightning grows invariably stronger by the millisecond as the voltage accelerates from the thousands to the millions.
Seeing her great power, as well as her claim to be a Level 5, Shirou Emiya finally realizes who Mikoto Misaka is.
'The Ace of Tokiwadai…right?
The Railgun.'
The Level 5 Esper releases her power in a torrential blaze of light, blasting the voltage directly into the dark beast's body. It was as if several lightning bolts all struck in the same location, simultaneously, and the sonic booms that reverberated through the air made his ears start to ring painfully.
A dust cloud burst open around the monster, blocking his view temporarily.
"Woah…that was bright!"
The little girl is still in the same position as before, rocking back and forth on her ankles as if she's enjoying what she's seeing. "Will it be enough to hurt Berserker, though…?"
A guttural roar as the dust cloud fades confirms Shirou's fears. "Apparently not~"
A swipe of a massive axe tears the dust away as a hand larger than Shirou's head reaches out for Mikoto.
'No-!'
Shirou's body moves to save her, but the pace at which he's moving would not be fast enough to catch her in time.
The Electromaster's face quickly shifts from anger to dreaded shock as she tries stepping away from the palm; which is likely overshadowing her entire view.
Just before the Berserker's hand reaches her head, he stops.
"I told you to keep your distance…"
A short metal blade swipes at the black beast's hand, forcing him to retract it from sheer instinct.
The crimson eyes of the Berserker and the azure glow of the Assassin's irises stare each other down.
Flipping her knife in her hand, the kimono-wearing Servant wedges herself between Mikoto and the behemoth. Simultaneously, Saber approaches from behind, sandwiching the beast between two opponents.
The Knight with the invisible sword darts forward faster than Shirou can determine, like a flash of lightning akin to Mikoto's ability.
The Berserker turns to face the Knight with his axe. For the second time, a booming shockwave of pure force shakes the District as the two Servants collide their weapons.
Assassin's knife slashes at Berserker from behind, who resolves to block with his forearm alone.
"Heh," The white-haired child smirks at the small weapon with pity, "A small weapon like that cannot possibly—"
A sound of flesh being torn shifts her demeanor in a heartbeat. "What-? That's impossible, how did you…?!"
Shirou sees the Einzbern girl's attention is less directed at Berserker's injury, and more on the woman that had stabbed him.
Specifically, her eyes; which glowed with an ethereal light that even he couldn't describe properly. 'There's something otherworldly about them…something that could scare someone like her…'
Shirou felt an uneasiness about this girl- Illyasviel, was her name. However, the pressure of the woman's eyes was even more glaring, like staring into a boundary of emptiness.
"Those Mystic Eyes…" Illyasviel's hands tightened. "Those must be…Rainbow-tier, at the least if it could harm my Berserker like that…!"
The black beast roars, whipping his left, injured arm to push Assassin away, then immediately turns his hand to crash into Saber's body.
Not expecting to be attacked on two fronts, Saber grimaces as she defends her body with her forearm gauntlet. Her body skids across the concrete and asphalt of the streets, her hands planting her blade in front of her. Despite what she's carrying not being visible, the black asphalt breaks as something drags through it with friction.
Berserker bellows once again as he rushes at Saber with the ferocity and size of a large grizzly. Gritting her teeth, the only thing the smaller Servant can do is lift up her blade in reaction- the sheer difference in speed between the two was becoming glaringly obvious.
"Oh no you don't!"
Electricity envelops the battlefield again, this time reaching out like whips or ropes, crackling at the chains around Berserker's limbs.
The monster grunts, rearing its body to move forward as much as it can, but the pure electromagnetic energy attracting the metal on its body backwards negates his strength.
Gritting her teeth, the Electromaster looks as if she isn't exactly taking it easy, either; Shirou finds his vision starting to be overwhelmed by the white glares of lightning crackles as Mikoto amps up her strength to keep pace with the monster's power.
"Come on…!" Mikoto grunts, "Now's…your…chance-!"
"Stop hurting him!"
The Electromaster's attention turns to the white haired child. Almost inexplicably, a glowing white dove which was made of what seemed like fragile white strings floats by her side. The child's red eyes were ones of rage; at Mikoto specifically.
Shirou's body starts to move, but he's far too slow.
Someone else already jumps to protect before he can.
A knife cuts its way through the bird's body before it makes contact with Mikoto. Instead of breaking apart, the bird simply shatters and disperses into thin air. Illyasviel's expression hardens at Assassin, who only gives her a side-eye.
"You're way out of your league here, kid." Assassin casually comments. The way she spoke was like she was referring to both Illyasviel…and himself, as if she was saying:
"Saber told you to run, so run."
'No…I can't just abandon this whole fight, though.' Shirou inwardly thinks as he continues to observe, 'At the very least I'll watch it to the end.'
"…Berserker…!"
The Assassin sprints toward her, forcing the Einzbern child to form more creatures to defend herself; pulling on her hair as they shift into flying puppets for her to control.
Shirou turns his vision to Saber, who was already rushing into action.
The Knight bursts forth, the winds around her arms starting to accelerate as they disperse- revealing something hiding underneath.
A blade of shining white, if only for a moment, flashes into existence as she points its tip at Berserker's prone body.
The Blonde Knight shouts, and her power unleashes.
The nearby windows shatter and the very earth itself trembles as a dazzling blaze of light cuts through the black monster like tissue paper, careening its energy into the atmosphere and parting the very clouds.
The glimpse of victory vanishes as soon as it had appeared, warping into obscurity as the winds wrap around its blade once again.
But the damage is done.
The Berserker collapses; its body almost bifurcated at the left shoulder. Falling to its knees, the scarlet eyes fade into sunken holes as the obsidian weapon drops like a massive barbell.
"Berserker…" The Einzbern child mutters, her bangs covering her eyes as her fists tremble. The Assassin stops attacking- probably out of respect for her Servant being killed.
"Hmph." The lightning around Mikoto vanishes as she crosses her arms at the child. "It was a three-versus-two. I don't blame you for losing."
The petite magus continues to stand there, unabated by her words. "Berserker…
…Stand back up."
Saber's expression of relief changes into sudden stress as the black beast's body begins to move again. Its eyes shimmer into scarlet once more as a red glow forms around his torn shoulder, stitching itself back together from the lower abdomen, to the chest, all the way up back to the shoulder. In seconds, it was as if no damage had even occurred.
An immortal Goliath.
The Berserker roars, its focus diverted away from the Knight as it turns back-
And makes eye contact directly with Mikoto.
There is about twenty or so meters between her and the Beast. If he moves now, then he'll close the distance in less than a second.
He had to move before the Beast even twitches his muscle to move; otherwise he'd be too late like twice before. And so, the redheaded teenager sprints at the fastest pace he can muster.
A roar to his right confirms his calculations. Mikoto barely seems to even register what's going on as Shirou plants his hand on her shoulder.
And shoves her as hard as he can out of the way.
"MIKOTO—!"
An overwhelming force crashes into his right.
A searing pain tears into the teenager's abdomen.
His vision blurs and darkens as his body careens through the air, crashing helplessly and limply into the hard, cold pavement.
He hears the faded cries of his name as a figure kneels beside him. Something wet falls on his cheek.
His body is too weak to respond, and his tiredness overcomes his willpower as he loses consciousness.
P.O.V.: A Certain Scientific Railgun
Horrified.
Horrified, is what Mikoto felt and is feeling as she watches the scene before her eyes
The black monster, after coming back to life like some sort of gargantuan zombie, charged her with the force of a freight train, and the ferociousness of a wild rhinoceros.
Being an Esper gave her enhanced senses; being able to react to fast-moving objects as if time had slowed down around her. She needed to have these heightened senses, after all; her ability is electromagnetism, and she needs to at least somewhat track where her ability is shooting toward.
But this…
One moment, the Berserker was several paces away, far enough for her to feel like she's safe.
Then next, it's right on top of her. She had nearly no time to think or protect herself.
Which is why it was a miracle— or perhaps, a horrid curse, that she was pushed away at the last second.
And had to watch someone else take the full force of the blow.
"SHIROU!"
A redheaded body flies through the air, their arm bent and flailing the wrong way entirely. Something…pinkish is flying out of their body, long and coiling like a snake alongside a massive splash of thick, red liquid.
The body of Shirou Emiya skids across the ground several meters, before tumbling and coming to a gruesome stop.
A pool of blood red liquid forms around his body.
The Esper isn't even paying attention to the behemoth behind her anymore, as she electrically grabs hold of a nearby street lamp to whip her forward.
Mikoto lands next to Shirou practically in a flash.
"No, no no nonono…what…why…?!"
'I barely knew you…why…?! Why?!'
"Please, stay with me…holy crap, that's so much blood…" She turns him over, to see if the wound is able to at least be seared closed with the heat from her electricity.
Her eyes widen and her body petrifies. 'So much blood…it's like…it's like…!
…My…Sisters…!'
A massive gash is torn into Shirou's stomach, completely exposing his intestinal tract, which in of itself is damaged; some of it spread across the floor before her.
She touches the boy's chest; a gentle, but very slight, rising and falling of the chest tells her he's at least still alive.
Upon looking at his eyes…she shudders as she sees the light beginning to fade from behind it.
"…How disappointing, Onii-chan."
Mikoto's teary-eyed face spins around, to make eye contact with that damned white-haired girl, who was sitting on the shoulder of her massive bodyguard.
She hadn't been paying attention, but in the confusion, apparently the Berserker had reached her Master and protected her from being attacked by Assassin.
The white haired girl's eyes…Mikoto could find no emotion in them.
A heartless, cold, and cruel face. "…I was expecting more…this is no fun."
She pats the black monster on the cheek. "Let's go, Berserker. This game isn't fun anymore."
'…A game?'
Flashes of dead bodies identical to her's pass through her mind.
The body of Shirou Emiya lay in front of her.
With trembling fingers, she pulls a coin from her pocket. "A game? You think…that all of this…is a game?!"
The Einzbern girl's eyes perk up, her attention now on Mikoto. 'Good.'
"Misaka!" Assassin yells at her, "Stop! Let's retreat for now—!"
'No. NO!'
Electric blue sparks burn around the Level 5 as she accelerates the Lorentz force around her arm. "You think…that the taking of lives…slaughtering them like animals…is a game…?"
She flicks her thumb, the coin flipping up into the air.
Mikoto Misaka aims her crosshairs between the little girl's eyes.
Of course, she fully expected the attack to be defended by the girl's Servant.
But she didn't care.
With a travel velocity of Mach 10, it's bound to at least hurt the damn thing!
"…That's your damn excuse…for MURDER?!"
The coin falls between her crosshairs.
A massive streaking flash flares across the battlefield. A loud crack of the air rumbles the atmosphere as the Level 5's signature attack blazes forward at its target.
An unstoppable strike that can flip cars, tear down walls, and annihilate small buildings.
It strikes true.
A huge plume of dirt and rubble caused by the battle is picked up, obscuring their view. Mikoto's eyes harden as she tries to find if her Railgun did any damage.
"…What a shame. From the information I know about Academy City…you're supposed to be a Level 5, right, Railgun?"
Her hope is crushed in a heartbeat.
"Didn't that tickle, Berserker?"
The smoke fades, to reveal the white-haired child; uninjured, and still with her arrogant, yet lifeless stare.
In front of her is the massive arm of her Servant. A small black, smoking point indicates where her Railgun made contact.
No indent. No tears in the flesh.
Nothing.
"It was cute." The girl smiles patronizingly. "Equivalent to a C rank…B if one really wants to be generous…certainly not enough to even affect Berserker in the slightest. That Assassin over there is far more of a threat than you are."
Misaka breath hitches, then unhealthily speeds up. Her lungs hyperventilate. Her heart is beating out of her chest.
All the while, she can't take her eyes off of the girl as she and the giant monster turn and jump away into the darkness.
Her legs become jelly.
Before she falls a firm yet thin arm catches her. "Easy there, young one." A soft kimono embraces her body and holds her steady. "Head up. We have to go."
She looks up, and spots a silver and blue knight kneeling where she used to be. In the confusion, Misaka hadn't even noticed that Saber was at Shirou's side, holding his hand.
For some strange reason…she spots a green, gentle glow on what was a fatal wound…as it starts to close up.
'…What is…
…going on…?'
Flashes of a white-haired Esper burn in her mind, and how he had only stood there as her attacks did nothing to scratch him.
'…I'm a Level 5, and yet…and yet…'
Assassin jumps into the air, and the Railgun curses to herself in frustration.
'…and yet I feel utterly powerless…again.'
P.O.V.: A Certain Head of the Tohsaka
It didn't take a horribly long amount of time to explain the basics to Kamijou.
When Rin told him that they would start with the basics, she meant it— and fortunately, the young man seemed to keep up with most of what she was saying.
'It's clearly not his first time dealing with magical conflicts,' She thinks as she lays out the basics.
"Seven Classes: Saber, Archer, Lancer, Rider, Caster, Assassin, Berserker." Rin points at a diagram that she had Index illustrate for her; a symbol for each class, and a stick figure representing each Master, "Sometimes there's an eighth class that acts as Overseer depending on the War and circumstance, but this Holy Grail War doesn't seem to have that, so don't worry about it. I myself have Archer, and your friend Tsuchimikado-kun has Caster."
Kamijou seems to understand, and nods his head astutely, "Right. Another question: how powerful are Servants, exactly?"
Index raises her hand, "I can answer that one! Think of them as familiars, like magical bodyguards. They range greatly in power, but…mostly, humans can't fight them without buffing themselves up like craaazy."
"Basically, humans can really only fight defensive battles, and that's only if they're adept at Magecraft, like me." Rin affirms. "You know the eight Level 5s in the City?"
Kamijou nods, "Yeah…I actually know one of them, personally."
"An average Servant is probably about that strong."
The spiky-haired teen shudders a little bit at Rin's comment. "What? It's true."
"Yeah, well…" Kamijou mutters, "Fighting multiple Biri-Biri-level opponents sounds like something that I'd rather not do, but…"
"What's a Biri-biri?" Rin asks.
"Don't worry about it." Touma huffs and changes the topic, "So that makes it, what, five other Servants with five enemy Masters?"
"Yeah, well, that's the issue." Rin sighed, leaning back a little and thinking back to earlier that night, "What bothers me…"
She asks Index for the pen, and draws an identical skull next to the one already representing the Assassin. "…is that earlier today, Archer and I encountered two Assassins."
"Strange," Tsuchimikado says, "ya think someone's cheating and summoned more than one Servant?"
"Possibly," Rin replies, "That, or there's multiple Masters with multiple Assassins…either way, it wreaks of foul play. If someone's rigging themselves to win this War, then I suggest we at least form a truce until we can figure out who's behind all this."
"Fine by me," Tsuchimikado shrugs, pushing away his finished ramen bowl, "That was my goal in this Grail War anyway; to make sure whoever gets the Grail doesn't end up recreating what happened ten years ago."
Rin and the rest of them seemed to nod; including Archer.
A detail that Tohsaka caught rather quickly- and suspiciously. "Hey, Archer."
"What?" The red bowman asks.
"How do you know what happened ten years ago?" Rin tilts her head, "I never told you about any of that."
The Archer crosses his arms, appearing to stay relatively cool about his Master's accusations. "The Grail gives knowledge of recent events, so I got it from that."
"Oh really?" Rin narrows her eyes, "The same Grail that forgot to tell you that Academy City existed?"
"Eh?" Touma blinks, suddenly interested in the conversation, "Wait, from what Tohsaka told me…all Servants should get information about modern-day from the Grail, right? Even down to making you guys all speak the same language."
Caster nods, "Right you are, kid. My original tongue definitely ain't Japanese, but here we are. And speaking of…" Caster narrows his eyes at Archer, "The Grail gave me information about Academy City. And if I had to hazard a guess, I'm sure the other Servants in the War did, as well."
"A city with technology three decades ahead of its time wouldn't easily be missed by the Grail." Tsuchimikado agreed.
In response to all of the suspicion, Archer just sighs and shrugs, as if nonchalant about this apparent discrepancy, "What can I say? I guess the Grail may not be as omnipotent as they claim it to be. More importantly," he gestures back to the paper on the table, with the diagram of all the Servants and Masters, "I'm pretty sure my memory problems are the least of our issues right now, Master."
Rin huffed, still bothered by Archer's blasé attitude and potential deception, but had to agree— for now, it was a waste of time. "Fine, then. There's two Assassins out there, and that means potentially two rotten cheaters. I'd suggest one or both of our Servants go out and do some reconnaissance to see if we can find any suspicious activities."
"Fine by me," Tsuchimikado shrugs, turning to Caster, "Wanna take up that offer, Caster?"
The blue-haired Servant smirked, opening his palm to reveal a large wooden object resembling some sort of staff, with runic symbols engraved into its flesh. "Leave it to me. I can probably scout the whole city in one night."
"Hold it, Caster." Rin says, "You sure you don't want Archer to come along, too? Partnering up seems like the best idea."
Archer clicks his tongue, "I'd rather not. On top of it not being wise to leave you all alone without a Servant to protect you all…"
His eyes narrow back at Caster, "…He's not exactly someone I can get along with. Us fighting together would just make us weaker as a whole."
"Tsk, you got that right. Scout missions are better worked alone." Caster slides open the balcony door and hops onto the railing. "I'll be back at daybreak. Don't worry; I'm not so weak as to kick it this damn early on."
Without another word, Tsuchimikado's Servant hops into the darkness of Academy City.
Archer closes his eyes, his body starting to glitter into blue translucent light, "Rin, I suggest we just stay here for the night. It'll be easier for me to guard you all if you're all in the same place."
Rin nods, "Alright. Kamijou, have a bed I can borrow?"
The Level 0 sighs defeatedly, "Kind of. If you wanna share that single-bed in the corner with Index. Don't worry; I'll just sleep in the bathtub, like I normally do."
Rin blinks, 'Wait, doesn't he own this place?'
"Why…do you sleep in a bathtub?"
"Because Nuns need their beauty sleep!" Index states quite loudly, "Plus Touma here is just kind enough to give it to me!"
"More like I don't feel like dealing with a cranky bite-prone Index every morning, but sure…" Kamijou sighs as he starts to pick up the bowls and set them in the kitchen sink. "You can stay here, though; space is limited, but it's better than being separated, like Archer said."
'I really feel like Index is freeloading a little too much, here. What do you think, Archer?
…Archer?'
She pivots her head around the room, but realizes her Servant had gone and vanished without telling her. The fact that he wasn't responding meant that he was probably too far for the telepathic link to work.
"Huh, wonder where he went…" Rin trails off, then gets to her feet and walks over to the sink, shooing Kamijou to the side, "Hey, I'll do the dishes. Don't worry about it."
"You sure about that?" Kamijou asks.
"No big deal to me," Rin shrugs, smiling kindly, "It's the least I can do after you cooked that for us. In turn, you have to tell me what the recipe was. It's quite good."
The spiky-haired boy chuckles, "It's not much, really. Just threw some ingredients in a pot, but if you really want to know, I can write it down…"
As they're talking, Rin sees Tsuchimikado get up from the kotatsu and make his way to the front door. "Call me if anything happens," he says.
As soon as he leaves, Rin asks, "So where does he live?"
"Oh, he's actually a neighbor, so don't worry about him." Kamijou responds as he dries up the dishes Rin had finished washing. "So, past all of the who and and what of this uh…Holy Grail War, I've been meaning to ask."
"What is it?"
"…Why are you in this Grail War, Tohsaka?"
There are, of course, a multitude of reasons. Some that she can't exactly put into words herself, quite yet.
"…So this is where you go nowadays, huh? At least they put you in a safe place."
That was part of the reason. Though of course, it was only one more part of a greater whole.
"…Let's just say I know people in this city that I don't want to get hurt." Rin puts together a reasonable response, "Ten years ago…I certainly don't want what happened to happen again."
Kamijou nods, "Yeah, I can get behind that. It's mainly why I feel the need to get involved in this, too…that disaster ten years ago? Happened the same day that I moved into Academy City, you see."
"Woah, talk about bad luck."
"Yeah. Tell me about it."
Tohsaka finished washing the dishes in record time, and the two of them began working together to tidy up the living room while, unsurprisingly to Rin, at this point- Index sits at the kotatsu, excitedly watching television.
"A question for you, Kamijou-kun," Rin asks as she clears out the clutter on the counter, "What…exactly does that right hand of yours, do? What it did to that Servant…it was like you temporarily cut off their connection to their Master, or disrupted the very magical energy they're made of."
"Oh, right." Touma stares at his right hand just as he puts away a clean bowl, "It's called Imagine Breaker. It can cancel out any supernatural or magical thing it touches, you see. Apparently, Servants are no exception to that."
Rin tilts her head, quizzically. 'Imagine Breaker?
…Never heard of anything like that…'
"Where'd you get it from?" Rin asks, "Something that powerful, to the point where it can negate Mystery like that…you didn't just wake up one day and have it, right?"
'It sounds like something the Atlas Institute would have developed,' Rin thinks, 'But…no, they're not allowed to leave the premises, either. Certainly not to go halfway across the globe to a place like Academy City.'
"That's the thing…" Touma laughs a little sheepishly, "That's kind of what happened. Or maybe I've had it since I was born, and only just knew of its existence when I encountered some Espers in Academy City…though I never learned of its actual name until some mage friends of mine told me."
Rin blinks, inwardly flabbergasted.
'He's an enigma, for sure.'
"Well in any case," the twin tailed girl continues, just finishing with the clean-up, "thank you again for the food, Kamijou-kun."
"No problem! I'll c'ya in the morning." The teen flashes her a grin, and she can't help but smile back as she makes her way to the bathroom to get washed up.
'He has a positivity to him, too…can't exactly criticize that.'
Just then, a flash of blue appears in the corner of Rin's eyes just as she's about to open the door to the bathroom.
"Oh, there you are, Archer."
"Apologies," the red bowman says, "Just scouted the local area to have an idea of all the nooks and crannies. I'll be sitting on the rooftop for most of the night."
Shrugging, Rin lets Archer go as he turns invisible again, an intangible force jumping from the balcony up into the air.
XXXXX
One thing that totally crossed the young mage's mind when she agreed to stay in the Kamijou residence that night was the fact that she…did not have a change of clothes.
Unfortunately, that realization also came in the middle of her taking a shower. Stepping out, she cracks open the door and beckons over Index.
"Yeah?" The young nun asks, "What's up?"
"…Can I borrow any clothes of yours? We aren't the same size, but if it's just to sleep, then…"
"Oh uh…I don't have any?"
"…Eh?"
"This Nun habit is basically all that I wear. It's divine, so it keeps itself clean!"
"Yeah, that's not…what my concern is…" Rin sighs, realizing she only has one option left if she wants to sleep in something fresh.
"Hey, Kamijou?"
The boy in question is sitting at the table, passively flipping through TV channels when she asks her question, "Need clothes? Yeah, I guess you can borrow a shirt or somethin'."
"Make it an extra-large one." Rin says, already feeling her face starting to flush red a little.
'I can't believe I have to wear a guy's clothes…ahhhh, whatever!'
A moment later, Touma tosses her a white t-shirt. "It should be a size or two too large for ya. I use it as an undershirt, so should be fine."
Rin inwardly thanks the Level 0 boy as she quickly changes.
'…Just don't think about it, Rin.
You're better than this.'
She steps out of the bathroom with a shirt just barely reaching to her thighs. The length made her uncomfortable- especially since she wasn't wearing any shorts underneath- but as long as no one decides to be a perv, she would have no problem.
And besides: Kamijou isn't a perv. Right?
'Although I did kind of get those vibes from his Hawaiian Shirt friend of his…Tsuchimikado, right?'
She made a mental note to at least keep an arm's length away from their supposed 'ally' as she slips under the covers of the bed.
Soon after, Kamijou says goodnight to them once again as he heads into the bathroom to wash up and…sleep.
'I still think that this setup is inherently wrong. Especially if he's paying rent.'
As she ponders to herself, she nudges herself toward the wall as Index squeezes next to her.
And- something furry and warm hops onto the bed and on top of her sleeping partner. "Sphynx! There you are!"
"Eh?" Rin mutters. "You have a cat?"
"Yeah…" Index whispers, "Sphynx is shy when there's a lot of people and well…there were a lot of people earlier. Looks like he's taken a liking to you, at least!"
Rin peers over to the small kitten; it's tiny enough to fit in her arms like a baby if she were to hold it. It gives her a curious look, before turning itself into a sleeping position.
"Well!" Index rolls over, holding the cat like a teddy bear. "Good night!"
"…Hey, Index?"
"Yeah?"
Tohsaka rolls over to face the Nun, and finds that she was also turned as well. "…You guys seem so calm about all this."
"Well…" The Nun takes a moment to ponder on Rin's words, petting Sphynx in her hands as she hums lightly, "Stuff like this happens on a weekly basis for us. Just a few days ago, Touma and I got a free trip to Italy, and then ended up having to fight a bunch of Nuns and destroy a ship."
"Woah, really?"
"Mhm!" The young Nun nods in excitement. "We did a lot of stuff before that, too. Although most of it is Touma…honestly, I'm not even sure what he gets up to most of the time. For all I know, he could be going on crazy adventures without me!"
Rin couldn't help but notice that Index's tirade got gradually more aggressive when she was talking about Kamijou.
"But at the end of the day…" Index settles down, laying back on the shared pillow they have, "…He always comes home. Sometimes in the hospital, but he always gets better. I worry about him, but he's always pulled through in the end. That's why I'm always not too worried when he leaves…I'm honestly more worried about running out of food when he's gone than him not coming back. 'Cause he always does."
"He always runs out of food, or always comes back?"
"…Yes."
Rin laughs lightly, enjoying the nun's enthusiasm and optimism. "Well, if this Grail War goes well, I could teach you how to cook when he's not here."
"Wha- really?!" Index's eyes light up. "You'll do that?"
Rin chuckles, "Sure, I could give it a shot…although I myself don't know how good you are in the kitchen, so I might have to start from the basics…we'll see."
The young mage sighs, settling back in the bed as the main reason for keeping them awake dawns on her again.
"…The reason why I ask is because…well…this is my first time being in something so major."
Rin Tohsaka has been a mage for eleven years, starting at the ripe young age of six.
While she's had a decent magus education, she's never had to do anything that requires great sacrifice or effort. She watched on the sidelines as her father dove into the trenches himself…then never returned.
There was one stint with a local serial kidnapper that she dealt with herself when she was seven, but he wasn't a mage, nor did he have anything to do with magic at all.
"This Holy Grail War…I've been waiting for my chance to be in it practically all my life, you see."
She lifts her hand up, so both her and Index can see her two Command Spells, glimmering faintly in the moonlit room. "…This is what my entire life, and my training, has been building up to. I can't…I can't screw this up. Not only do I want to prevent what happened ten years ago from repeating itself, but I want to win the Grail myself."
"Really?" Index asks.
"Of course. That's why I have these Command Seals."
"What're you gonna wish for when you win?"
"…That's the thing," Rin muses, "I don't really have any urgent desire other than wanting the Grail itself. I need to do it, as the last bloodline of the Tohsaka."
"I see." Index nods to herself, smiling gently, "Well…we'll help you get it. If anything, Touma will be there to help you. Helping is kind of his thing."
Rin agrees, remembering back to how he had absolutely punched that Servant to literal non-existence. "…Yeah, I learned that the moment I met the guy."
"Hey!" They both hear a muffled voice from the bathroom. "You two talking about me out there?"
"N-No!" Index protests, turning to Rin. "…We should probably sleep."
"Yep."
P.O.V.: A Certain Red Bowman
"I really feel like Index is freeloading a little too much, here. What do you think, Archer?
…Archer?"
Truth is, he did hear his Master call out to him, but chose not to respond as he rushed through the streets of this City of Science— towards the other Servant who had just recently left.
He hops high into the air, getting a good view of the City.
Filled with skyscrapers, with the tallest being a certain large, windowless one near the center of the City. It's also riddled with windmills, which constantly turn thanks to the gentle winds that flow through this area of Japan.
Archer lands on a skyscraper rooftop, nearing his target as his eyes narrow.
'…None of this is familiar to me.
…Alaya, what the hell is going on?'
Suddenly, he senses his target double-back toward him, and he chooses to stay on the rooftop as the Servant he was following hops onto the concrete in just a few seconds. Despite his Caster class, it seems that Ireland's Child of Light hadn't faltered when it came to pure agility.
"What do you want, Archer?" Caster asks, de-summoning his staff and crossing his arms. "I thought you said you'd stay behind and watch the—"
"…Trace, on."
Caster's eyes widen as a blue flash appears in Archer's hands, forming and coalescing into a long polearm.
A crimson polearm, with a sharp, barbed tip. Archer sees the Caster's surprised expression, and smirks. "Here."
He throws Caster the weapon: a perfectly traced spear, carved from the bones of a great dragon: Gae Bolg.
Caster catches it effortlessly, flipping and flourishing it in his hands as if it's his…because it is.
"…Archer, what the hell are you?" The blue Servant raises a brow in clear suspicion. "I appreciate the gesture, but the mere fact that you know this weapon is associated with me means you're completely aware of my True Name."
Archer nods. "…That I am, Child of Light…Cu Chulainn."
Caster's eyes harden, and he immediately gets into a stance. The spear immediately burns a crimson aura as the veins around the rat tailed Servant's face bulge. "I'm assuming you also know what this spear can do, Archer?"
"I do."
"So why give it to someone who can strike you down where you stand?" The Caster announces. "With just two words, I can render this Grail War one less Servant."
"Kill me if you wish, Caster." Archer replies, not intimidated by Caster's Noble Phantasm— or rather, the Noble Phantasm of his Lancer variant.
'The one I'm familiar with.'
"…However, before you do that, I would like you to hear me out."
"…"
The Caster seems hesitant, but Archer makes it clear that he doesn't intend to fight, nor run, by showing no spike in his mana, nor any opportunity to pull out any weapons.
Sighing, Caster flips the spear up into a neutral position, and stands tall instead of crouched. "What is it?"
"…My True Name is—"
The Child of Light raises a brow at Archer's announcement of his True Name.
"…The hell kinda True Name is that?" Caster asks, completely befuzzled at its simplicity. "Never heard of a Heroic Spirit like that in the Throne."
Archer shakes his head, "Because I'm not in the Throne like the rest of the Heroes are. I'm in a special part…one that is reserved specifically for souls who are cursed to guard the World from threats."
Cu's expression starts to show a degree of understanding. "…You're a Counter Guardian, aren't you?"
Archer doesn't say a word, instead only continues to talk, "…I thought it was strange that I never knew about Academy City…but I figured that it was only a glitch in the Grail, and that all Servants don't know about it…but no…I'm the only one that doesn't. And I feel like I should…considering that I'm a Heroic Spirit from this time period."
He can see Caster start to put the pieces together in his head.
"…Right." Caster nods. "I think I understand what you mean, Archer."
"If there's one thing I need you to know, Caster, as a Heroic Spirit with no connection to this current reality…
…is that there's something about this City…that shouldn't be."
Hope you enjoyed!
Act I is now finished! WOOHOO! Act II writing will probably begin mid-November, I'm just giving myself time to focus on school and other things (like FGO…there's so much happening in FGO right now…)
Chapter 4 will be coming out November 14th, like I said. However, to stave off the relatively longer wait, I have a half chapter planned to release.
Basically, half chapters (also a thing called Interludes, which I'll explain later) are parts of the story that I believe don't quite fit into the main A and B plots, but are still relevant to the overarching story.
So, Chapter 3.5 will be releasing between here and the Chapter 4 release. I hope you will enjoy it, and liked this chapter as well.
I'll see you in the next one!
Next Chapter Release: "A Certain One-Way Road's Lament" (November 9th)