A/N:
Half chapter, here we go!
So like I said in the last chapter, sometimes I'll be releasing half chapters in-between proper releases. This is because I feel as if this particular storyline doesn't quite fit into the flow of the other chapters; right now I have a decent A and B plot going with the Kamijou and Railgang factions, so I don't want to ruin those already quite lengthy chapters (for me at least) with a third storyline.
So here we are. It's also short in length; roughly 4k words as opposed to the usual 7-9k.
One thing I want to explain, that a few people questioned, is "why did Archer give Cu Gae Bolg?"
Because yes, they do in fact not trust each other one bit, this is a Fate law of truth (unless you're in Emiya Gohan, everyone gets along in Emiya Gohan, lol) and there really wasn't anything that was stopping Cu from just skewering the guy.
My line of logic is that Archer wanted to break the ice as much as possible by being openly vulnerable. By being vulnerable— especially by giving Cu his signature weapon, thereby giving Cu the utmost advantage— it shows that he at least has no ill-will or intentions, and at least wants to open the floor to talk. Archer is currently a fish out of water and probably wants someone to open up to: Cu, being a somewhat familiar face and a fellow Heroic Spirit, is his only option for now.
He also could have gone and investigated by himself, but I don't think Archer would want to abandon Rin or the others during the night, when they're most vulnerable.
That's at least my logic. I can 100% understand why some readers think that's a little out of character, however. For the sake of my story, I won't be changing that decision, but just know that I do hear and acknowledge the feedback. Thanks to all who reviewed!
Next question is: why is this set in the Old Testament?
Because yeah, Index is all the way up to the Genesis Testament right now lmao, and most stories I've read that follow the Index timeline happen at least post-Othinus. Well, let's just say I have plans for after Heaven's Fall.
Potentially. Have to finish this story first. Which if I do, will be a first for me, lmao.
I don't really want to open up as to what it is, though; but a certain character that has already shown up might give a hint as to what might come after the 5th Holy Grail War. Who could it be?
We'll find out.
Well, that's all I have to cover here.
Hope you enjoy this one!
Warning: Blood. It's Accelerator, what do you expect? XD
Chapter 3.5: A Certain One-Way Road's Lament
P.O.V.: A Certain Grumpy Babysitter
The day is the twenty-fifth of the ninth month, in the late afternoon of Academy City. The sun is low in the sky, only an hour or two away from twilight, but it's still bright enough for outdoor activities for students.
Of course, he isn't really one to step outside unless he has to.
Yomikawa left to go on her Anti-Skill duties; apparently she was to act as a border check for the week to let foreigners into the city, which left a certain white-haired Esper and his tiny accompaniment alone in the apartment.
Laying on the couch with his arms laying behind his head, he opens one eye every ten or twenty minutes or so to make sure the kid didn't hurt herself. It resulted in him just watching as she slowly put together a brick-building set that he had gotten for her a few days ago; first starting out as a pile of plastic cubes he'd rather not step on, into a decent-looking tower.
Keeping her occupied like that means she's quiet, which means he can get some much-needed rest and relaxation.
After all, nowadays, he was up and about on his feet for quite a lot of the day, and it all started when that Hawaiian shirt guy knocked on the door and gave him a chance to do something good.
'GROUP…' He thinks to himself as he hears the girl on the carpet next to him struggle to pull two misplaced pieces apart. '…What a pain. If it ends up keeping everything safe, though, then…whatever.'
A vibration in his pocket shoots his eyes open. Clicking his tongue in annoyance, the teen pulls out his phone and looks at who it is.
'Speak of the goddamned devil.'
"Oi," He says to the small child on the ground. "I need to take this. Keep doin' whatever you're doing." As he gets up to enter the balcony for some privacy, the girl in question taps him on the back of the shin.
"'Hey, you're not gonna go anywhere tonight, are you?' Misaka Misaka asks, her face forming the shape of a puppy's to coerce you to stay."
The girl, who looked no older than ten or so years old, or possibly even younger, sat cross-legged on the rug floor, not really caring about the modesty of her blue polka-dot dress as she held a half-built kid's brick set in her hands. She had short, chestnut colored hair; resembling that of a certain Level 5. One of her hairs shoots upwards like a crescent, which seemed to perk up when she was excited or dangle when she was sad- kind of like a puppy's tail.
And indeed, her face did start to resemble that of a puppy.
Too bad that he didn't really have much of a soft spot for animals. "Relax, kid. I'm just gonna talk with someone. Now go finish that brick set, or whatever."
The girl huffs as she turns her attention back to her toy, seeming a little dejected. The boy pays her no mind as he picks up his walking cane and gets to his feet.
The girl he lives with, and takes care of, is known as Last Order. Or as she calls herself, Misaka Misaka.
He couldn't exactly figure out why she calls herself that, and something told him he might never will.
As soon as he enters the balcony and slides the door shut behind him, he answers the call, choosing to speak first, "Yeah? What's up now?"
"Woah, someone just wake up or somethin'?" The lighthearted male voice on the other end could detect the annoyance in the Esper's tone— more so than usual. "Relax, just got a small mission for you. Should only take an hour or so, then you'll be back in your apartment."
"If it's not a big deal," The white-haired Esper begins, staring off into the growing twilight darkness of Academy City, "Then why aren't you doing it, Tsuchimikado?"
"Well aside from the fact that I had a feeling you'd be free, knowing your schedule, my plate's kind of full on my end dealing with a mess of my own. Funny enough, what I'm asking you to do has to do with what I'm doing."
The Esper sighs inwardly to himself. Indeed, when duty didn't call, he preferred to be left alone. Getting into this group of underground agents, however, made him more up and about.
"Thought I'd not have to work any more today…fine. What's going on?"
"There's been reports of an illegal person entering Academy City. They're from London- and some underground digging shows that he's a member of the Clock Tower."
"The Clock Tower?" The Esper asks, "The hell's that? Is it named after the Elizabeth Tower, or somethin'?"
"More like the Elizabeth Tower is a cover up for their existence. Listen, all parts of the world have their secrets; Academy City isn't exactly new when it comes to secret organizations."
'No shit, Sherlock.' The white-haired teen thinks. "So, how do I go about this?"
"Aside from killing him, which is off the table, I'll leave that up to you. I'm sending you their reported location now. I will say that he's too dangerous of a target for Anti-Skill to engage, so that leaves the dirty work to us. Figured as the First-Ranked Level 5, you'd find this to be a bit of fun, Accelerator."
The One-Way Road smirks. 'He's strong, huh?
Let's see how true that actually is.'
"Well…you're not wrong about that."
XXXXX
It took him a little while, but he finally coerced Last Order into sleeping about an hour earlier than she's supposed to. After making sure the girl was sound and safe in her room, he practically tiptoes- or as much as one with a cane could tiptoe- out the balcony door again.
He checks his flip-phone, and the GPS estimates that even with the relatively clear traffic at night in Academy City, it would take a good thirty minutes or so to drive from his apartment in District 7 to the Switchyard, in District 17. Apparently, the target had set his base of operations there, and hasn't moved from that spot for a day or two, according to their intel.
The only reason Academy City hasn't moved to apprehend him is his apparent dangerous ability. From the description, he was a pyrokineticist, with the output of a high-tier Level 4.
Something that even Anti-Skill wouldn't easily be able to handle. 'Alright then.'
He steps onto the ledge, and closes his eyes as he steps off. 'Guess it's up to me, then.'
As he falls he presses the button on the choker strapped to his neck, and the glowing green light shifts to red.
A rejuvenating feeling fires throughout his body. Smirking, the Level 5 Esper unleashes a power unrivaled within Academy City.
Four swirling vortexes appear on his back, twisting and twirling with hurricane-force winds. They halt his descent rather fast as he boosts himself up into the air- past the city skyline and up into the clouds.
It'd be much easier to get a car, but he'd rather not leave the kid alone for too long.
His Ability mode lasts thirty minutes.
'I only need five.'
P.O.V.: A Certain Vengeful Magus
He is this close.
This close to achieving the first step to surpass her.
A tall male figure, wearing a long crimson coat and top hat, checks the diagram listed in the book as he scrawls runes made of chalk on the ground.
It was difficult to not stand out within this dastardly city of science, so he was forced to find a low-populous place where little eyes are on him. After placing a Bounded Field, he was set.
All he had to do was finish the ritual.
'Just you wait, Aozaki.'
He grits his teeth as he remembers back to the events of six years ago, within that paradox spiral of a hotel…where he had encountered his once-closest friend…and now, bitter rival.
'I'll reach the Spiral…and I'll finally outrank you!'
His name is Cornelius Alba. A high-ranking Mage within the Mages' Association, and was one of the most respected Mages within the Clock Tower.
Was.
After his utter defeat at the hands of Touko Aozaki, who he thought was utterly murdered by Souren Araya…she had appeared before him again, as if nothing had ever happened. To his luck, he withheld saying her most hated nickname, which allowed him to barely escape with his life.
However, it was still an unequivocal fact that he ran away with his tail between his legs, like a coward. Upon returning to London, no one took him seriously anymore.
And apparently, ending the Scarred Red's life wasn't even a novel achievement; others had done it before, but she always would appear again like an unkillable monster.
'Her damn Puppets…!'
He would show her.
He would receive the Holy Grail, and grab hold of its true power.
He even managed to procure one of the most powerful catalysts: a fragment of a shield of the greatest warrior of the Trojan War.
As he finishes the magic circle, he looks upon it in glee as he places the catalyst in the middle.
"Finally…"
He was also terribly lucky that the next Holy Grail War- which was supposed to happen fifty years from now- decided to occur in his lifetime.
The mage produces a knife, aiming to use his own blood as liquid for the ritual. It wasn't required- but only served to strengthen the summoning.
From what he heard, there were three classes left: Saber, Archer, and Rider. Fortunately, the Trojan War was chock full of many heroes that qualified for those classes; he'd be guaranteed a win no matter who it was, from Hektor to Odysseus!
"Now…For the elements, iron and-"
"Oi."
An impossibly strong gale-force wind slams into his back, sending his careening into the ground. He shouts out in pain as he tumbles through the pavement and gravel, before skidding to a stop nearby a shipment crate.
'What…? What the hell…WAS THAT?!'
His shock turns into anger as he turns his vision up to whoever had just humiliated him like that!
"Well well well, what do we have here?"
A raspy, merciless voice speaks from the dust cloud made from the winds. A high pitched screech sharply rings out, and the debris clears almost instantaneously.
And in the center…
"…A kid…?"
The Clock Tower Mage stands to his feet, puzzled as a scrawny, almost emaciated-looking teenager walks forward toward him, with snow-white, scraggly hair.
"Damn, from that expensive coat to that stupid top-hat, you definitely come off as a pompous asshole." The boy cocks his head, seeming confused by the man's choice of clothing.
"How did you find my location?!" Cornelius shouts in absolute bewilderment, ignoring the potshots about his wardrobe. He was sure his Bounded Fields blocked where his location was…!
The summoning circle behind the boy still had intact chalk drawings. As long as he took care of this little miscreant, he'd be able to still move forward with his plan.
The boy blinks at him, then sighs as if he was giving pity to him. "You outsiders really don't know much about Academy City, huh? They have eyes and ears everywhere, probably even when you're taking a dump."
The Magus grimaces, and his hands glow with an azure flame. There was something about the kid that pissed him off- and he wasn't going to waste time dealing with non-Mage trash.
Besides- witnesses had to be purged, and he was no exception.
"Be gone, shadows.
In face of all things, thy defeat is certain!"
In two lines and less than two seconds, Cornelius Alba releases a torrent of flame at the teen who dares talk back to him.
He shouts, "Repeat!"
The ocean of flames, which reach temperatures of a thousand degrees Celsius, roar out harshly as he burns him endlessly.
"Repeat! Repeat! Repeat!"
His frustration is showing through, but he lost his composure long ago when he had lost soundly to Aozaki; both in rank, and in combat.
He wouldn't let some scrawny kid who was in the wrong place and wrong time get the better of him.
"REPEAT!"
He unleashes one more devastating wave of flame, engulfing the boy in what must have been a minute or more of endless conflagrations.
It was far more than enough to turn any human into nothing but ash and bones.
"Heh…"
'…What?'
The mage's eyes widen in horror.
The flames subside.
"Heh…haha, HAHAHA!"
He wasn't fighting a human.
He was fighting a monster.
"That was good, really good! Burned off the stains on my shirt with all of that heat…thanks, you just saved me a trip to the laundromat, congratulations!"
Alba takes a step back. "Wh-what the hell are you?!"
No one should be able to take his flames, head on, and just laugh it off like nothing! Even the Assistant Director would be injured!
"Oh, me?"
P.O.V.: A Certain Scientific Accelerator
Accelerator lifts up his handgun— not at the red-wearing man, but right at his own temple. The man seems confused- or rather, more horrified at what he was doing.
"I'm a real goddamn villain."
He pulls the trigger.
The man cries out in pain as his left hand explodes in a splash of blood and tendons as something fast and sharp pierces into it. Grimacing, the enemy retaliates, lifting up his one good arm and lighting that one on fire.
Accelerator sighs as his vision becomes clouded by a wall of burning flame.
He, however, feels nothing.
His Ability was Vector Manipulation, after all.
Moving the heat's vectors away from himself was an effortless feat for him, like breathing.
"Didn't you learn the first time that that's useless?" The Esper sighs, walking through the flames like it was a casual Sunday night. "They said you were strong…this is just pathetic for you, and humiliating for me."
He taps on the ground, and a shockwave rumbles through the earth and towards that man. The fires die down as Accelerator spots the man prone on the floor, his body trembling and shaking from the massive tremor he had forced into the local area.
The once top-hatted man peers up to him, his eyes full of nothing but utter fear.
"You…I know you…now…I remember…reading about…this City's…people…!"
The Esper grins.
"…You're…Accelerator…!"
"Would you like a cookie for figuring it out, Third-String?" The Level 5 Esper scoffs, "It's over and done, now. Anti-Skill's already on the way to apprehend and deport you. Consider your time here in this city done. Go back to wherever the hell you came from."
The red-coated man lifts his hands up, as if pleading to him. Accelerator's hardened expression softens for just a moment.
"Please, hear me out—!"
"Yeah, shut it."
The man loses eye contact with him, now looking at something a little below Accelerator's vision. "Wh-what is-?! Why are the Command Spells going to you, of all peopl-?!"
"I said shut it!" Accelerator shouts, but takes his hand off the trigger.
'Poor bastard's already crapping himself,' He concludes, 'Don't have to go any further.'
The man leans against the wall, his words choppy between sharp breaths and weeps of pain. "N-No…you already…have it…I…"
"Listen you," Accelerator grimaces, "I have someone back home that I need to keep an eye on. I'd much rather not go back there in a bad mood, and you probably don't want your other hand to be blown off, so this will go better for you and for me if you just shut the hell up."
Just then, a flashing white light behind the Esper catches his attention.
"Huh-?"
He turns, and a tall, masculine figure starts to weave itself into existence right before his eyes.
Standing over a head taller than him, he was easily even taller than the man he was holding at gunpoint, and with twice the muscle mass. As the light fades, he can make out more details: a black outfit, with ancient-looking, silver armor, with shoulder guards and chest plate, as well as black gloves.
In his hand is a long black polearm with a silver edge. His short, spiky dry green hair seems to glow in the twilight, with one bang coming down to frame the side of his face. An orange sash wraps around his body across one shoulder, flowing gently behind him in the wind.
He turns over to Accelerator, looking at him with a quizzical yet confident expression. "Yo. You must be my Master. Rider, at your service."
'…Master?' Accelerator thought.
The Level 5, First-Ranked Esper only had three words in response.
"What the fu—?"
XXXXX
"And that is how I met Accelerator, kid!"
A lighthearted female laughter fills the jovial night air of Academy City as three unlikely people walk close-knit to each other.
A little girl sits on the shoulders of a tall, lean but muscular green-haired man as he regales her with the story of their meeting a night ago.
"'Woah! Did you two valiantly beat up the guy and leave him for Anti-Skill?!' Misaka Misaka asks, excited about Rider's amazing story of heroism!"
"Nnnnope." Rider chuckles, patting the kid on the head as they continue towards Accelerator's apartment. "Guy was already defeated by the time I got there. Accelerator just wasn't really surprised to see me, I guess, even though I was his backup."
It was the twenty-sixth of the ninth month. After a day of walking around with this so-called Servant, he- extremely begrudgingly- got used to his existence.
While his "Servant" didn't offer Accelerator an actual name to call him, he did say that calling him Rider would suffice.
To be honest, Accelerator didn't really know what Rider was. Firstly, he had appeared from nothing- according to Rider himself, it was the weird-ass circle on the ground that that tall hat guy made that brought him there. He was supposed to be the Servant of that bumbling idiot, but instead Rider got stuck with himself.
Or depending on how their relationship would develop, Accelerator would get stuck with him.
He was, however, good at one thing: keeping Last Order entertained. The man had a charmful charisma that Accelerator couldn't replicate himself, so he lets the two have their fun as he silently walks a few paces ahead of them.
Last night, after seeing to it that Alba was arrested, he immediately called Tsuchimikado to ask just what the hell was going on, and why he had someone calling himself a Servant.
"Well, I will say, you're not the first person to be suspicious that it's some sort of fetish thing." Motoharu had said.
All he said was to keep Rider around, and to try and get to know and get information out of him.
'Well, I guess I can do that.'
The One-Way Road sighs as they continue on through the streets.
Just as he's about to turn a corner toward Yomikawa's apartment, he spots something from the corner of his eye.
'…Did that shadow just move?'
He looks in the distance. He swore he just saw someone or something standing there, but he couldn't tell if it actually was there or not.
'Are my eyes playing tricks on me?'
He turns to Rider and Last Order, and while the little girl is still happily laughing along, Rider gives him the same semi-confused expression.
"Did you see that too, Master?"
'…Yeah.'
He also learned that in short to medium distances, they could speak telepathically to each other.
They both gaze at the sidewalk a few dozen meters away, where they had thought they saw something standing.
Still nothing.
"'What're you two staring at?' Misaka Misaka asks, curious about what's going on and goes to look, herself."
"It's nothing!" Accelerator says, and clicks his tongue as he continues walking. "Let's just get home so we can have some dinner, finally…"
'It's probably just some teleport Esper playing a prank on us, or something. Wouldn't be the first time.'
The three of them walk off.
Rider takes one last look, but sighs as he escorts his Master and what he's concluded to be a child he's babysitting, back to the apartment.
…As they leave, something in the darkness moves quickly, slinking deeper into the void.
Man, writing Last Order is kind of cool, she describes what she's doing for me so I don't have to repeat myself, lol.
Oh and btw, just to clarify again: Yes, Magecraft and Espers are incompatible, just like in Index. But this happened anyway…I wonder how? Hmmmmm…
In any case, between this chapter and the last, I…have not worked on anything. Oof. It's not laziness, I swear! I'm just wrapped up in other things at the moment!
I am pretty far ahead, though: Chapter 3.5 marks the halfway-ish point of Act I, so we have several more chapters to go before we reach the end of the Act. How many? Not spoiling, but there's enough finished chapters to schedule all the way up to the New Year, so don't worry— I've gotten pretty ahead of the release dates.
Also: Thank you all for 69 review- oh wait it became 70 by the time I wrote this.
Dammit, I was going to celebrate 69 reviews! 5had0wHand, I'm calling you out. You know what you did…
I'm joking. Thank you!
In any case, hope you enjoyed; both Accelerator, and the cameo Mage he was fighting. I'm sure if you know who Saten's Assassin is, you know who that guy is lol
Chapter 4 in a few days! It's the longest chapter so far, nearing 12k words. I'll see you all then.
Next Chapter Release: "A Certain Lilac Flower" (November 14th)