Hello again! It would be an extremely long chapter, so I divided it into two parts. I hope You'll enjoy. Don't hesitate to comment or contact me.
13: 'Operation Sakura' part I
"What will you do, shining hero? Will you burn the entire district to the ground with your holy sword?"
Tokiomi could not believe his own eyes.
He came to the church to speak with Risei Kotomine, to finally find out if the old priest sided with Kirei or remained unaware of his son's machinations. If the supervisor was trustworthy, there was still a chance to bring the situation back to normal and increase Tohsaka's chances of winning.
The red magus realized that something is wrong as soon as he stepped over the threshold. His magical shield raised automatically, so he proceeded with caution. The metallic smell in the air was that of blood, no doubt. Also the silence around the place, abnormally deep, was more than disturbing.
He did not know how to react when he finally saw Risei Kotomine lying dead on the floor in the pool of his own blood.
Who could have done such thing in the middle of the Grail War? It was an unforgivable violation of the rules!
At this moment Tokiomi finally realized the sad truth about this war. No one respected his beloved rules anymore. Some of the participants ignored them from the very beginning.
He clenched his fists in frustration. He was not used to operate in such chaos. He, protector of these lands, had been fooled by almost everyone, and did not like this feeling in the slightest.
Tokiomi glanced involuntarily at his own hand. The shining red circles of Command Spells have never made him so angry before. It was not a blessing, but a curse, to have such powerful, disobedient Servant. He should get rid of Gilgamesh, right here and now, using all his spells to achieve this goal.
But he will lose the last advantage in his so-called alliance with Kiritsugu Emiya, won't he? Strange as it might seem, Master of Lancer did not betray Tokiomi… yet. How much longer would their forced cooperation last? With Risei dead, who will stop Kiritsugu from beheading his servantless rival later?
No, such thoughts were not acceptable for Tokiomi. He will never give up. He must make the teamwork last to the very end. Maybe a geas would be enough for both sides to respect the contract?
After all he had some very useful information – about spells, Fuyuki lay lines and, of course, Kirei Kotomine – to trade for his own safety.
"So even that disgusting worm couldn't help me survive for much longer?"
Kariya knew he was dying. He was aware of this fact from the very beginning of the War, yet simply ignored it, focused on his unreachable goal. Later he began to share the madness of his Servant. Actually, it was a blessing – to forget about everything, just fight, fight, fight, jump forward, into to the deepest pits of hell.
Sometimes, though, he used to wake up from this delirium and suffer even more. During rare moments of partial sanity, his own mortality hit him harder than ever.
"Berserker is strong", he kept repeating, trying to convince himself about it. "Other Servants are afraid of him!"
But sometimes the weakest part of his mind asked some unwanted questions. What if other parties just ignored him, because he's not a threat? What if his Black Knight is not strong enough?
And the most important one: what happens to Sakura if he won't make it?
Kariya shivered, frightened. He had never thought about it before.
She will be left alone at the mercy of Zouken.
No, she's not alone! Even if he wouldn't be able to protect her, the girl still had a family. She had grandparents, not Tohsaka but Zenjou family can take care of her. How could he forget about it - he, who spent half of his childhood in Zenjou's house?
Kariya felt ashamed. In his madness he had stopped caring for Sakura. His jealously and thirst for vengeance on the elegant red magus, who had taken the love of Kariya's life for himself, blinded him.
What a brilliant idea you had, Kariya! You thought you could win Aoi by delivering Sakura to her. You thought that getting rid of that cursed Tohsaka would make you steal his family and live happily ever after. You thought you love Sakura and Rin, but you wanted only to please their mother. You thought you want to save the girl, but in the end you forgot about her, you gave in to your greed and sick ambition…
Kariya shook his head, trying to banish such ugly thoughts from his weary mind. He had no time to take pity on himself. It could be the last moment to correct his mistakes.
He could barely move and had to focus all his energy on remembering the phone number. He tried to crawl but couldn't catch a breath. It was truly pathetic.
"Berserker… damn you. Just help me one last time."
The black Servant materialized near him obediently, waiting for orders, and Kariya gave them.
That was a really stupid way to use a Command Spell. The battered magus couldn't hold a smile at his own thought. But when the last red mark vanished from his hand, he felt nothing but relief.
Aoi Tohsaka glanced nervously at her watch for the hundredth time during last few minutes. She sighed, trying to remain calm and focus on the road. There was no turning back now, she should drive fast but also carefully, having such important companion in her car.
Rin was sitting in silence on the backseat, watching carefully her magic compass. To be honest, Tokiomi's gift can be useful for them sooner than expected, as well as Rin's natural abilities to detect traces of magical energy.
Aoi sighed again, doubting her own decision to take Rin to Fuyuki, but she truly had no other choice. The girl was smart and stubborn, she would follow her mother anyway. Coming together seemed a much better option than losing sight of Rin even for a moment or letting her wander this dangerous city alone.
Kariya's voice was still ringing in Aoi's head. She didn't even know that he had come back to his family, not to mention his current state – hallucinations, probably a fever, maybe something worse. He sounded like a drugged or very sick person who can die any moment.
Well, even if all he had said through the phone was really a madman's babbling, the part about Sakura in danger in Matou's household hit the spot. Aoi believed Kariya in this matter, such pure despair in his voice couldn't be pretended. She had no possibility to contact Tokiomi – the man would rather die than use a normal phone – or hope that he would help. Aoi acted now against her husband's will... and did not feel sorry about it, not even for a moment.
But – honestly – what she's going to do? Knock to the old Zouken's door and say that she came to take Sakura back home?
Well, maybe that was everything she could do, but she will try anyway.
"I think we should sneak in and launch a surprise attack," Archer said, glancing at the dark walls of Matou's residence. In his opinion this house really gave some extremely unfriendly, cold vibes, like a typical vampire castle from fairy tales. "But how do we get in?"
Saber ignored Archer's question and advices. He looked carefully at the front door, then suddenly hit them with one of his metal-gloved hands.
"It's open," he said innocently, when the door shattered into tiny pieces of wood, and drew his sword.
"Well, that ends the 'surprise' part." Archer sighed. "No wonder that you and Rider understand each other perfectly."
"You really think that they don't know about our intrusion?" Siegfried did not even look at Robin, only showed him an ugly bug with a glowing red eye, staring at them from the wall. It looked like a magical version of security camera.
"Nah… It was rather a bad habit of mine - to be invisible as long as possible. Forget about it."
"Sure," Saber answered blankly, already stepping in and looking around in the gloomy corridor.
"Man, you entered the dragon's cave like THAT too?" Robin was not so eager to carelessly march forward into the enemy's nest; he proceeded carefully after Saber, like his animated shadow.
"Exactly."
"How reckless."
"I know. But it was the only way back then."
"Did you hear that? In the basement?"
"Yes." Siegfried was already coming down the stairs, but Archer stopped on the corridor, not sure what to do. He noticed a commotion on the first floor, they must have woken someone up while destroying the entrance. Maybe it was Sakura? Maybe he should take her to a safe place first?
Freeing the girl without getting rid of the vampire first would do no good, Archer thought. And if there's a real threat in the basement, the big guy may not be able to make it alone. I promised to guard his back.
Sighing all the way down, Robin followed Saber to the basement and froze immediately when he finally got there.
It was a dungeon of one's worst nightmares, with thousands of bugs crawling deep inside the cold stone abyss. Just watching them, just listening to the sound of their countless chitinous legs, made him want to vomit.
"What in the…"
Saber, as shocked as his companion, tightened the grip on his sword. Probably he was planning to burn the entire place with Balmung's light.
"She was forced to spend so many nights in here?" His voice was cold and full of anger. "Unforgivable."
Robin swallowed but couldn't disagree. What's more, he did not intend to stop Siegfried from destroying this terrible place.
"What do you think you're doing?" Some worms separated from the rest, forming a figure of an old, bald man. Both Servants tensed, knowing that he's the monster they've been searching for. "What a disgraceful sight! Disobedient puppets of incompetent Masters should be kept on short leashes."
Siegfried could hardly withstand the presence of this… entity. His blood boiled, as always when he faced an evil creature. Such strong urge to kill it immediately was hard to suppress.
"Are you surprised? Or annoyed? Did you know who invented the Master-Servant system for this war? The Matou family." Zouken's lips formed a thin, cruel smile. "You are nothing but tools. Powerful ones, indeed, but only tools."
Saber was about to attack, but Archer was faster this time. His arrow hit the target between Zouken's eyes… Or it seemed so.
The old magus was still smiling, when useless missile fell on the floor and his body made of worms formed anew.
"I see… So he's yours." Archer must have been truly angry to sound so cold and ruthless. "Wash that insolent smile from his ugly face for me."
"Pride is the greatest weakness of Heroic Souls," Zouken said and activated his only Command Spell. "But there are many ways to crush it."
"Wait, he's a Master too?"
"Watch out!"
Siegfried stepped back in the last possible moment, avoiding a black mass that had attacked him. Berserker growled and look around to find something he could use as a weapon against Saber's ridiculously large sword.
"I thought that Master of Berserker…"
"It's not important now!" Robin reloaded his crossbow and fired at Berserker. "Look, the vampire is running away!"
They both knew it's a good sign – the Matou magus would not bother to flee if they couldn't really harm him. But it was a hopeless situation. Before his defeat, Berserker would buy his so-called Master enough time to hide. They might never be able to find Zouken again.
"Go, destroy that bastard." Archer jumped on the stairs to a more favorable position for a sniper. "I will stop Berserker."
Something in his gaze or tone must have alarmed Siegfried, because he frowned meaningfully. But he said nothing in the end, only nodded.
"Just remember that you promised to speak with Illya later," he said already in the run, chasing after the disgusting figure made of worms.
"Of course. I would be a complete failure if I couldn't defeat at least one Servant, don't you think, big guy?"
Not sure if Saber had heard him, Robin smiled to himself. He was determined to take down Berserker before he'll vanish for good from the material world.
"Mom, Mom! Look, the compass!"
Aoi looked at Rin and held her breath. The compass, that usually hanged on Rin's neck, now was floating in the air. Its needle went mad, circling like crazy, and the raging energy , stronger than wind, moved Rin's hair.
What the hell is going on in this city?
"Uh, it stopped?" The little girl seemed disappointed when everything around her calmed down almost immediately. "But it still shows the way. Should we go and take a look, Mom?"
"No way!" Aoi grabbed her daughter's hand and gently caressed her hair, mostly to hide her own fear. Tokiomi was right, they shouldn't stay in Fuyuki during the Grail War.
But Sakura was here, trapped in the gloomy residence, in the centre of this magical hurricane the compass had showed them just a moment ago. It was enough for her mother to keep going.
"Come, Rin, we're almost here."
And then a mix of blue and golden energy, which looked like it was coming from a giant, round lamp, lightened up the sky two streets further.
"Tch." Siegfried clenched his teeth, suspecting that all his effort is useless against this fiend. Following Zouken was easy enough, but Saber quickly realized that he won't be able to harm the vampire without using his Noble Phantasm.
Knowing this, the old magus lured his pursuer into an inhabited area.
"What will you do, shining hero? Will you burn the entire district to the ground with your holy sword?"
Zouken laughed. His voice – and harmless bites of the insects - was coming from every direction, to mock already enraged Saber and make him give up the pursuit.
"I can help!" Suddenly Siegfried heard Illya's voice inside his head. The girl was very excited, like she had just won a walnut counting contest or learned a new trick. "I'll make a barrier! Sella told me how!"
"M-mas… Illya, you can do it from such distance?"
"Um. Because I'm a champion and we are so well connected!" In response she just casted the spell. Siegfried and the mass of bugs were now trapped inside the huge bubble. "See?" The girl laughed cheerfully, proud of her own achievement. "Who's the strongest magical princess in town?"
"You are, Illya."
"Good. Show me your Noble Phantasm at last, Saber! Show everyone how strong you are! No ugly bug will sneak out now."
For less than a second, Siegfried hesitated. If the barrier is strong enough to withstand Balmung's blast, the energy will be reflected and Saber will end up hit by his own Noble Phantasm. If Illya's magic is still too weak to stop the ray of energy, the nearest houses will be destroyed, their innocent inhabitants killed in explosion...
There was nothing to fear, Saber realized. Despite the fact that Illyasviel was still a little girl, Siegfried believed in his Master.
"The evil dragon will fall…" He smiled gently and touched the jewel on the hilt to activate its magic. A ray of blue and golden light raised into the air inside Illya's barrier.
The flying worms kept hitting the surface of a magical bubble but couldn't break through it. Zouken, more and more desperate with every passing second, half-materialized before Siegfried.
"What are you doing, idiot? You want to destroy us both?"
Saber had never considered the possibility of being hit by his own Noble Phantasm, so he wasn't sure how badly damaged he would be after such blow. As long as he survives it's not important. The evil creature must be annihilated, that's all that matters right now.
"Fall – Balmung!"
With his eyes closed, Siegfried clung his back to the barrier and focused on enduring the blue and golden inferno he himself had unleashed.