July 22nd, 2003 AD – Emiya residence
The scent of Sakura's cooking was filling the Emiya household as Rin and her sister ate lunch. The Second Owner had helped Sakura prepare the meal, and while she held no illusion on her skills compared to the purple-haired girl, she was a little proud that she had at least learned enough over the last months not to be a hindrance at least.
The last night had been embarrassing for both of them, as they went to sleep in the same room after years of separation. It had become even more so when Sakura had half-woken up in the middle of the night and freaked out when she had realized 'Senpai' wasn't near her. Fortunately, they had slept in the same room. Rin had been woken up by her panicking sister, and before she had fully shaken off her sleep she had been hugging Sakura, holding her close and cooing soothing noises into her sister's ear.
After a few minutes, Rin had been fully awake, and completely out of her depth. Thankfully, embracing Sakura had been enough to calm her down eventually.
Later, as they sat together in the darkness, Sakura had told Rin that she and Emiya didn't spend every night together. Sometimes Emiya came home late due to his work for the Fujimura Group, and didn't want to disturb her. But though she had kept it a secret from her lover to avoid making him feel guilty, the truth was that Sakura hated sleeping alone. And so Rin, grateful that the darkness had hidden her blush, had gone back to sleep with her sister hugging her.
It had been … nice, despite the heat of the summer night. They hadn't shared a bed since they had been children, and they had been separated long before such a thing would have become awkward. Another thing they had lost because of Tokiomi Tohsaka's choice to give his youngest daughter away to the Matou family.
It had taken her a long time to fall back asleep, though, which had made getting up in the morning painful. Sakura had teased her about her state when getting out of bed – Rin was not a morning person, even when she hadn't spent the previous night working late on her Magecraft. It was the same reason she had missed Emiya the day before : by the time she had arrived to the Emiya residence, he was long since gone.
After finishing their meal, the two of them discussed their plans for the afternoon while cleaning up.
"I was thinking we could go over the basics of Magecraft one final time," said Rin, "then we can check your progress on the more advanced stuff."
"That sounds fine," answered Sakura, before suddenly turning her head, something between a smile and a frown on her face.
"Senpai ?" she murmured, before putting down the plate she had been cleaning and walking toward the entrance. Rin followed suit.
Seconds later, the front door opened. Sakura must have sensed the new arrival passing through the Bounded Field.
"Senpai !" Sakura beamed. "You are … already … back …"
Sakura's speech stumbled as she took in Emiya's appearance. Rin didn't blame her : her own eyes widened as she saw him.
His face was pale, and there were dark circles around his eyes. He was swaying on his feet, and there was sweat running down his forehead. She had never seen him looking so … so vulnerable.
"H-hey, Sakura, Tohsaka," he greeted them lamely. "I … I am back."
"S-senpai ?!" Snapping out of her shock, Sakura rushed to Emiya's side, fretting over him."What's wrong ?! What happened ?!"
"Fuji-nee sent me home early when I looked like this in the morning," he began to explain, making his way to the main room and almost collapsing next to the table, Sakura standing over him. He took several deep, pained breaths before continuing : "I … I need your help, and probably … Tohsaka's too."
Sakura turned toward Rin, but before her sister could say anything, Rin replied :
"You have it. But I need details, Emiya-kun. What happened to you ?"
He smiled, weakly. "Thanks, Tohsaka. Long story short, there was … there was someone my Yakuza contacts wanted me to find in Kumamoto after they stopped reporting in. It turned out they had been captured by a demon and locked inside a buried temple under a construction site. I destroyed the demon and rescued them, but … I have been in that state ever since."
Rin blinked. Once, twice. Then her mind caught up with the madness Emiya was speaking.
"You what ?!" she almost shrieked.
"I destroyed the demon," he repeated, correctly identifying the part of the whole thing she had the most trouble with. "And I think the method I used to do it may be killing me now."
She blinked again, before shaking herself. "Don't move," she growled, before running her hands across his body, deploying her own Structural Analysis spell as she did so. Her eyes widened in shock as she realized just how much was wrong with Shirou.
"Your Magic Circuits are completely out of alignment, and your core keeps pumping od through them at random. Your body is overheating from the overdose of mana. There is … something inside you that's healing the damage almost as soon as it appears, which is the only reason you are still alive."
"Avalon," whispered Sakura. "Senpai got it from his father. It's what he used to heal me after he saved me."
"Sounds about right," groaned Shirou. "I … ugh !"
He started to convulse, and for a moment straight black lines appeared on his skin, while his eyes glowed darkly gold. Rin heard Sakura gasp, and she sensed Emiya's od spike, power radiating from him.
The attack – whatever it was – only lasted for a few seconds, after which Emiya appeared to relax, nearly collapsing before both girls caught him. Rin checked his vitals with another use of Structural Analysis – he was stable, the surge of od had passed.
"Sakura," she asked, "what were those black lines ? I could see you recognized them."
"I … I don't know, but Senpai had them when he saved me. He told me he didn't know what they were either – they just … appeared when he confronted Zouken."
"So that was how you did it," muttered Rin under her breath. "Must be an inhuman inheritance of some kind. As much as I would like to get a sample of your blood for analysis, we may not have that much time."
"N-nee-san ?" Sakura's voice was trembling. "Will Senpai be okay ?"
"I will be fine, Sakura." The target of her question had apparently recovered from his fit. "I …"
"You are not fine, you moron," snapped Rin. "Didn't you hear me ? This stuff inside you, Avalon" -and by the Root, wasn't that the scabbard of King Arthur ?! Where had his father found something like that ?! - "is keeping you alive, but if it stops working, you won't last long. Here, Sakura, help me get this idiot to bed."
"Not bed," the idiot in question murmured. "The … the shed. Get me inside the circle."
"The shed ? Why would you want us to take there ?"
"It's where our Workshop is, Nee-san."
"Your Workshop," Rin repeated, eyebrows twitching. "Your Workshop is in the shed."
"Yes," the two lovers answered at the same time.
"You … you … argh. Nevermind. Let's get you there, then. I need to save you so that I can kill you later."
Together, Rin and Sakura carried Emiya back outside and across the garden as gently as possible. Sakura opened the shed, revealing the Workshop of the Emiya family. Most of it was occupied by mechanical parts, and there was a bookshelf in one corner containing the books Rin had gotten for Sakura's training. A few of the tools were thaumaturgical in nature, but nothing like what the Clocktower families would have expected from the dreaded Magus Killer's heir.
Sakura rolled up the carpet at the center of the shed, revealing a Formalcraft circle of surprising quality. Even Rin herself didn't think she could have traced something more complex.
They laid Emiya down in the circle, which immediately began to glow.
"Are you feeling better ?"
"A bit."
"Alright. Talk to me," Rin ordered. "Tell me what happened to you in as much detail as you can. Starting with that 'demon' you mentioned."
"Yeah. I mean, I think it was a demon … I am not well versed in supernatural creatures." He glanced at Sakura before continuing, a hint of reluctance in his voice : "It had brainwashed the construction crew, and made itself a body out of their corpses. The person I was looking for had been captured, but was protected from the brainwashing by some kind of talisman …"
It took several minutes for Emiya to finish his tale, with Rin asking questions at several points.
"And that's it," he finished, telling them how he had been told by Fujimura-sensei to go home even if the tournament wasn't finished yet. "I thought my condition had stabilized, but if anything, I think it's actually gotten worse since I arrived in Fuyuki."
"The city is built at the conjunction of several powerful ley lines. It would explain why this circle is helping," murmured Rin, still reeling from Emiya's tale. If she hadn't known better, she would have suspected him to have made up the whole thing. Because really, a missing person, an abandoned construction site, a buried temple, an undead monster, a megacorporation with ties to the Moonlit World ?!
And of course Emiya had gotten himself involved into it all just because he had wanted to do a favor for an acquaintance. Of course.
"Out of everything you just told me, I can't believe you were dumb enough to provoke a national conglomerate that apparently dabbles in the Moonlit World on the side. What were you thinking ?!"
"I wasn't really thinking at all," he admitted. "I was still shaken from the fight, and all I could think of was that I couldn't let Sakai-san die, not after everything he had been through."
Rin shook her head. She could wonder about Emiya's abysmal luck and lack of diplomatic skills later, just like she could drill him for details about the Conglomerate's supernatural branch. Right now, she had work to do.
"So," she said. "It looks like I was wrong. Admittedly, I don't know as much as I would like about inhuman bloodlines, but hallucinations like what you described aren't supposed to be a symptom. This sounds a lot more like possession, to be honest."
"That's also what I thought," said Shirou. "It was already there when I rescued Sakura. Without it, I wouldn't have been able to destroy Zouken."
Given what he had told her of Zouken's nature at the time, it seemed that whatever was inside Emiya had a particular antipathy for unnatural entities. That was … good ? Probably ?
"Do you have any idea how it could have happened ?"
"The Fire," he replied. "It had to be in the Fire. Dad told me once that even with Avalon implanted inside me, he had been surprised by how quickly and well I recovered from it."
Rin shivered. Possession was a nasty, nasty business, made even worse by the fact that in Emiya's case, it had likely been ongoing for years. How much of the lovable goof-ball she knew was really 'Shirou Emiya', and how much of it was the influence of whatever had found its way inside the body of a traumatized, heavily injured child ?
The fact that the spirit had reacted badly to Emiya touching a gun of all things was even more bizarre. Perhaps the spirit hailed from the wars of the Sengoku Period, where firearms had become more widespread. Had Fuyuki been the site of a battle during that time ? Given the amount of magical energy that had been unleashed at the catastrophic end of the Fourth Grail War, it was possible that such a spirit would have been awakened … though not how that spirit had been powerful enough to possess Emiya and grant him the kind of power the boy had displayed. A gestalt, then, composed of a great many soldiers, perhaps coalesced around an older spirit ?
Rin's mind rushed through her history lessons, trying to find a match for the scene Shirou had described to her – a battle fought on black sands with guns and swords, where one side's reinforcements had betrayed their allies at the last moment. There couldn't be that many of those, but she couldn't think of any. Maybe a trip to the library for some history books …
Aaargh ! She didn't have enough information. All she could come up with were half-cooked theories, and those weren't what Emiya needed right now. Anathema to the way of the Magus as this might be, she had to figure out how to fix the problem before thinking about finding out why it had happened.
She spent a few more moments examining him, adding every new piece of information to her mental picture, all while furiously thinking. After half an hour of scans, prods and tests, an idea began to crystallize in her mind. As it became clearer, her face turned more and more red, until she suddenly stood up, stepping back from the circle.
"I need to speak with Sakura in private, Emiya-kun," she declared. "Will you be fine on your own for five minutes ?"
"I didmake it home on my own, Tohsaka." When Rin glared at him, he sighed. "Yes, I will be fine. The circle is helping."
"Come along, Sakura. Don't worry, this won't take long."
Sakura followed her sister outside of the Workshop, closing the doors behind them. Rin didn't go far, turning around to face her in the middle of the garden. She was blushing, and looked distinctly uncomfortable.
"There … there mightbe a way to help Emiya-kun," she said, sounding as if she really didn't want to say it out loud.
"Really ?!"
Sakura made no effort to hide her joy. Seeing Senpai in his current state had been hard – knowing that he might die from it … No. She stopped herself from thinking about it. She refused to even consider the possibility.
"Y-yes," answered Rin, taken aback by the intensity of her sister's reaction. "When I was examining his Magic Circuits, I realized that a fresh infusion of prana from someone who isn't going through whatever he is experiencing right now might help stabilize his core."
Sakura nodded. "How do we do that ?"
"Well, we couldhave him drink blood, but given that we don't know the nature of the spirit with which he has been paired, that could be extremely dangerous. Which, with how little time we have, leaves us with only one option."
"Which is ?" pressed Sakura. Rin muttered something under her breath. "I didn't hear you, Nee-san."
"I said … I said a tantric ritual !" shouted Rin, her face completely red. Sakura blinked, and then blushed as well as she remembered what that word meant.
"An infusion of prana might solve the issue, but in order to make it a permanent fix, we need to establish a bond – a contract of sort." Speaking about the technical aspect of her idea did not lessen the blush on Rin's face in the slightest. "That way, if he needs to use that weird 'power' of his again, he won't immediately be in the same situation afterwards. I think. Maybe."
"So … I need to have sex with Senpai ?"
Rin winced, before bravely forging on :
"No. We will need to both participate in order for this to have the best chance of working. I am an Average One : my prana will help balance the elements within Emiya's body. And your own Imaginary Element should help 'bleed off' the excess energy, for lack of a better term."
"… are you sureabout that ?" asked Sakura. "It sounds plausible, but also … far-fetched."
"No ! No, I am not sure ! I am making this up as I go along, Sakura !" Rin knew she was ranting now, but she couldn't stop herself. "There is no precedent for this that I know of ! I mean, Incarnations are already stupidly rare, but to have one that's been possessed by an unidentified spirit for Root knows how long ?! And thenadd into that an Average One's prana and your own Element, which as far as fath- as far as I know, is even rarer, and how all of those might interact with one another ?!" She took a deep breath to calm herself down. "But … it mightwork. And Magecraft is all about belief, about imposing our own will on the rules of Gaia because we know – not just believe, but know –that our spells will work."
"… Alright." Sakura nodded to herself, her expression determined. "You are right, Nee-san. We need to try something, and we don't have any other ideas. Let's get back in and tell Senpai."
"Huh ? I … I can't help but notice that you didn't say anything about me having sex with Emiya-kun, Sakura."
"Oh." The younger girl blinked. "I am fine with that, Nee-san."
"How can you be 'fine' with that, Sakura ?! I know you love the moron !"
"I do," she admitted without a hint of the shame that had once all but consumed her. "And I know just how great Senpai is, so it's normal that other women would fall for him."
"That's … there is a difference between that and letting someone else have sex with your lover, Sakura."
"Hmm. I suppose that would be the case for normal people," Sakura admitted. "But neither Senpai nor I are 'normal', Nee-san. I know that Senpai loves me. That he will never, ever abandon me. So I don't mind if he takes other women as his own – I know that I will always have a place in his heart."
The sheer trust and devotion in her sister's words amazed and unnerved Rin. She had known that Sakura loved Emiya – that, after all she had gone through, she was dependant on the boy to a frankly unhealthy degree. She had been getting better since her rescue from the Matou family, but there was no denying that Emiya was always going to be the center of her existence.
She doesn't think of Emiya as "hers", Rin realized. She thinks of herself as "his".
It made Rin glad that Emiya wasn't a Magus. The thought of someone with a typical Clocktower mindset having such a hold on her sister was disturbing to say the least.
"Also," Sakura continued, a strange smile on her lips that slightly worried Rin, "it would piss off Father immensely to see both his daughters giving themselves wantonly to someone like Senpai."
"I am not wanton," protested Rin. "And I didn't 'fall' for him," she added weakly, finally processing Sakura's first comment.
"Yes you did, and you would be if Senpai wanted you to," pointed out Sakura. To her horror, Rin found that she couldn't honestly deny it.
It didn't stop her from trying, though judging from Sakura's smile, her attempts at persuasion were less than effective.
In the end, they did it together. It took a lot of effort to convince Emiya that yes, this was the only way to keep him alive, and no, he couldn't refuse out of concern for Rin. The fact that even explaining that she was willing to have sex with him wasn't enough for the blockhead to understand her feelings was enough to make Rin want to scream.
The three of them embraced one another on the cold floor of the shed Emiya dared call a Workshop, within the magic circle, to make sure that no amount of energy was wasted. Rin forced herself to ignore her embarrassment, focusing entirely on performing the ritual with the same single-mindedness that was required to perform even the slightest of Magecraft.
Even if she hadn't loved Emiya, she knew she would still have done this. She couldn't let her sister's savior – the man she loved more than life itself – die, not in addition to all the other ways she had already failed her.
Performing a tantric ritual with just two participants was difficult enough. Both needed to climax at the same time in order to lower their defenses and allow the connection between their cores to be established, something anyone with even a modicum of experience would know was easier said than done. With three participants, it was even more difficult, but Sakura and Emiya were fortunately intimately familiar with each other's body. After several tries, they learned Rin's own weak spots, and eventually succeeded in completing the ritual.
It wasn't how Rin had imagined her first time, but she had to admit to herself – and to no one else – that it hadn't been a bad experience. Not at all.
Power flooded from the connection they had forged and into Rin and Sakura's own od reserves as the pressure in Emiya's Magic Circuits equalized. The Formalcraft circle glowed even brighter as their bodies overflowed with energy.
The tumult of energy within Emiya's body abated. He fell back, exhaustion finally catching up with him – despite his state, he had stubbornly insisted on doing his part in the ritual.
Rin managed to catch his head before it hit the hard floor. He was already asleep.
"It worked," she whispered.
She could feel the connection between them, even now that the initial rush of prana – and God, there had been a lot of magical energy – had stopped. Her own od was flowing into Emiya's Magic Circuits, stabilizing his core, while Sakura was drawing the excess.
Rin had underestimated just how much power Emiya had been producing out of seemingly nowhere, but she had also underestimated how much of it Sakura would be able to absorb. Her miscalculations had thankfully cancelled each other, and left her more than a little in awe of the two other Magecraft users' abilities.
"Thank you, Nee-san," said Sakura softly, gently stroking Emiya's hair.
The two girls got up and cleaned themselves using the towels and water left in the Workshop to clean after any experimental mishap. Rin moved slowly, her muscles aching in unusual places.
"My back hurts," Sakura casually mentioned. "We should make sure to do it on a bed next time."
Rin turned toward her, face reddening once more.
"That … that was a one-time thing only !" she spluttered.
"Well, of course," replied Sakura, still smiling, the enjoyment she was taking in teasing Rin obvious. "It would be difficult to lose your virginity twi-"
The two girls froze at the same time. Here, in the Workshop that served as the anchor for the Bounded Field surrounding the Emiya residence, both of them could sense the alarms going off, like a carillon of bells warning that someone with a lot of active prana had crossed the threshold.
A moment ago
Bazett Fraga McRemitz looked at the house of her target. The Enforcer, wearing her usual suit and gloves, stood on the slanted roof of a neighbouring house, having already hypnotized the owners so that they wouldn't notice her.
Her journey to Japan had been long and uncomfortable. In her opinion, the Archibalds had been cautious to the point of paranoia – but then again, given the reputation of the Magus Killer and what he had done to the last Lord of their family, she couldn't really blame them. She could blame them for being cheap bastards who had only paid for second-class train tickets and a smuggling boat that she had been surewas going to sink halfway to Japan.
And after all of that, she had found out that her target wasn't even in the city anymore.
Kirei had actually looked embarrassedwhen she had arrived to Fuyuki only to learn that Shirou Emiya had left the city on a school trip that would last several days. As a matter of fact, he had left that very morning. It had been the first time she saw the former Executor flustered, and the sight almost made the entire trip worth it. As an apology, he had provided her with the funds to secure food and lodgings until her target's return.
Bazett hadn't wanted to waste the time until then by playing tourist, however. She had scouted ahead, taking note of the police officers patrolling the streets near her target's residence and of the men in suits that came to quietly speak with them at dusk. Yakuza, she had recognized – organized criminals who had bargained with the authorities for some degree of leeway in exchange for keeping their activities to an acceptable level.
Once her initial scouting of the area had been complete, she had started her watch, pausing only for short breaks to eat. Her training allowed her to remain in such a position for days without any loss of her fighting strength.
She had watched as Rin Tohsaka entered the Emiya residence, welcomed by Sakura Matou. Neither girl had gone out since. That was fine : it was best to know where all the players were before she made her move.
Her vigil had been rewarded when Emiya had returned just as she came back from a brief lunch break. She had almost missed him, but he hadn't seemed in top condition from that brief glimpse before he had gone inside. In fact, he had looked outright sick.
The Bounded Field around the residence kept her from sensing what was happening within, but she had still seen the Matou and Tohsaka girls carry Emiya outside and into a smaller structure in the garden. A few moments later, despite the wards, she sensed a spike of energy, and made her decision.
Now was the best time to strike. Whatever the three of them were doing in that shed, such a peak of energy would leave them drained of od. Even if they had been performing a spell to heal Emiya, it couldn't have been instant – and even if it was, she would rather face Emiya restored and the girls drained than have to fight and hurt the girls themselves.
In a single leap, she jumped from her observation post, across the street and over the wall, and landed right in front of the shed. She sensed the Bounded Field wash over her, and tensed as her suit's defenses turned aside the single layer of defenses – something to keep unwanted visitors away, she reckoned. Weird. She would have expected better from the Magus Killer's own home.
Seconds after her landing, the door of the shed slammed open, and the Tohsaka and Matou girls emerged. They didn't look drained of magical power; indeed, if anything, they seemed to … overflow with barely contained energy. Interesting. And, potentially, worrying.
"I am Bazett Fraga McRemitz," she called out clearly, "Enforcer of Magus Association. The Clocktower has questions for Shirou Emiya, Sixth Head of the House of Emiya, regarding the murder of the Matou Head and the destruction of the Matou lineage."
"Oh ?" Bazett had to give Tohsaka credit : she didn't sound worried at all about facing off against an Enforcer. "I wasn't aware that the Association had sent someone here. As Second Owner, your presence here without my permission is illegal, Enforcer. If you remove yourself from my city at once, I will ignore this brazen transgression against my authority."
"Miss Tohsaka, while your authority over Fuyuki isn't in question, your judgement in that particular case was considered compromised." Bazett's gaze flicked to the purple-haired girl before returning to the Second Owner. "I am aware of your relationship with Miss Matou. If you cooperate, I will guarantee your and your sister's safety. I assure you that I can protect you from whatever threats Shirou Emiya has been using to ensure your obedience since he killed her adoptive family and took her under his wing."
"What are you … Of course. Kirei told you that, didn't he ? Meddlesome fake priest," she spat. "Regardless, if you think I am going to let you just waltz in and kidnap Emiya-kun, you are mistaken. My sister is not being used against her will to force me to go along with Emiya-kun's demands. Shirou Emiya has not done anything that threatens the secrecy of Magecraft, nor has he committed any crimes against the laws of the Association. Whatever you have been told, there is no legal excuse for your presence here tonight, Miss McRemitz. Leave. Now."
"I can't do that. I have been given a mission, and we Enforcers always finish our tasks. An ancient Magus lineage has been slain, with its last heir captured by the killer, and you, Miss Tohsaka, covered it up, before investigating another such lineage at the behest of that same killer. Yes, your research into the Einzbern wasn't as subtle as you thought. Whether you admit it or not – whether you realize it or not – the Association has more than enough reason to want to ask Shirou Emiya questions."
"I made sure that the Association knew that what happened between Emiya-kun and the Matou Head was a personal feud," retorted Rin, "and me investigating another family with ties to my territory is hardly illegal. Don't take me for an idiot, Miss McRemitz. The only reason you would be here is that someone higher up the food chain wants to take a swing at Emiya-kun. Who was it ?"
"The Archibalds," Bazett admitted without hesitation. "They worry that the son of the Magus Killer has succeeded his father, and taken a more proactive approach to securing victory when the next Grail War starts. With the last Matou under his control and the last Tohsaka under his influence, it seems he now has turned his gaze toward the Einzbern family. Given what happened to their Lord in the last Grail War, the Archibalds are keen to prevent another family from going through the same thing."
"How caring of them," said Sakura Matou, speaking for the first time, her head down, her face hidden behind her hair. "So. You have come here to capture Senpai and bring him to the Magi of the Clocktower so that they can cut him apart because they are jealous of him, or because of what his father did to them. How noble of you."
The sheer venom in the young girl's voice was making even her sister uncomfortable. She raised her head, revealing eyes that gleamed with prana and cold fury.
"I am here for Shirou Emiya only," Bazett tried one last time. "If you don't want to get hurt, move."
"You will not take him," said Sakura, and for a moment Bazett thought that the girl's shadow had just twitched.
She sighed. "Very well."
She swung the long, cylindrical container she had been carrying on her back to the ground, and raised her fists.
"Have it your way."
It was the Tohsaka girl who made the first move. Her left arm jerked up, and a blast of black energy erupted from her extended finger, straight at Bazett. The Enforcer punched it aside, the runes on her glove glowing as she channelled her od inside them.
Rin Tohsaka let loose curse after curse, her Magic Crest pulsating with impressive power as she channelled her od through it. Bazett recognized them : Gandr curses, something which was a staple of the Edelfelt family. Where had the girl learned it from ?
Pouring prana into her feet's Reinforcement, Bazett jumped from side to side, dodging more of the black orbs while slowly closing the distance. The Matou girl joined in the onslaught, conjuring spears of shadows and throwing them at Bazett. Unlike Tohsaka's Gandr, the Enforcer didn't recognize that particular spell, but while she was confident her runes-layered suit could withstand them, it was best not to risk it.
The girls were good – unlike most Magi she knew, they had obviously practiced with battle situations in mind – but she was better. Within moments, she had reached them, and before either of them could react she had her hands around their throats and was holding them up effortlessly.
"It's over," said Bazett in a cool, collected tone. "Give up, girls. You can't beat me. I have been holding back all this time, but I won't if you don't stop."
"Give up ?" whispered the purple-haired girl, and Bazett couldn't help but pause. "He didn't give up, and neither will I."
Something moved in the girl's shadow, and Bazett let go and leapt backward just in time to dodge the two-dimensional ribbons of all things that burst from it. Even then, she couldn't avoid it completely, and it caught the cuff of her suit – cutting right through the Rune-warded fabric without even slowing down.
Bazett suppressed a shiver. If that had caught her body, she would have died – no two ways about it. She had thought the Tohsaka girl was the more dangerous, but it seemed that the Matou heir also had teeth – and was willing to bare them in defense of her kidnapper.
As she landed, she felt the power that radiated from the girl. It was huge, it was coming entirely from within the girl herself, and Bazett could feel the raw malevolence within it. Whatever hold Emiya had on the girl, whatever means he had employed to make her follow her family's murderer, at that moment, the girl hated Bazett with an intensity the Enforcer had never encountered.
Even her sister was taken aback at Sakura's transformation. Her hair had turned white, her eyes were burning red, and straight lines of black and red ran over her face and exposed skin.
"Sakura ?" The Tohsaka Head called out tentatively, keeping an eye on Bazett despite her obvious shock. "What are you doing ?"
"This is … Senpai's power," whispered Sakura Matou, looking at her own hands in adoration, before glaring at Bazett, her eyes glowing. "You will not take him !"
"So he did experiment on you, then," Bazett frowned. "Don't think that trick will be -"
She was cut off as a bombardment of black spears and flowing ribbons was unleashed in her direction. She dodged, and the ground where she had stood was obliterated.
"Fine," sighed the Enforcer. "Then I guess I will have to beat you up until you are unconscious, and then deal with my actual target."
Sakura fired her strange Magecraft again and again – was there no end to the girl's od reserves ? Bazett kept dodging, keeping her distances, measuring how much time passed between each volley, and -
There.
Bazett's entire body glowed as she infused it with prana, and she charged forward, holding her arms before her face. Her every step left deep marks in the ground, and she heard the air around her crack while her vision swam as she neared the sound barrier. She slammed into a stop right in front of the Matou girl, whose scarlet eyes widened in shock at her sudden proximity.
Before she could react, Bazett punched her in the guts, pouring almost all of her strength into the blow. She felt something crack, before Sakura was briefly sent flying, crashing into the shed with enough strength to make the entire structure shake.
"SAKURA !" screamed the Tohsaka girl, running to her sister's side. Bazett let her, her attention fully focused on her downed opponent.
The red and black lines on Sakura's skin faded, along with the glow of her eyes. Her hair returned to its purple color, and she slid to the ground, groaning.
"Stay down," snarled the Enforcer.
Inside the shed, within a circle that had been drawn almost a decade ago by the King of Knights acting at the behest of an Einzbern homonculus, a pair of golden eyes snapped open.
AN : There is nothing like spending hours writing a long monologue for Bazett explaining her circumstances and motivations before realizing that it serves no purpose at that point in the story and cutting it out. A thousand words, gone up in smoke, just like that. Hopefully I can recycle some of it later on, and writing that blob of text at least made the situation clear in my mind.
Rin has been added to Shirou's harem. Considering the source material, I believe a tantric ritual to save Shirou's life is an appropriate way for the Tsundere to acknowledge her feelings and take the final step.
To clarify : Sakura hasn't gone full Dark Sakura like she does in the Heaven's Feel route. When Shirou saved her, her connection to the Grail was completely severed. It's just - I had written the tantric ritual and was struggling with the fight scene, and then I realized ... Sakura had a lot of power she had gotten from Shirou still inside her. Considering the origins of that power, I think that her physical transformation makes sense. Even the hair changing color - it's not her original one, after all. More details about her transformation will be given in following chapters.
I had to invent combat spells for Sakura - after what she went through, I can't imagine she didn't want to learn how to defend herself when Rin taught her Magecraft. On that note, reading the description for the Imaginary Numbers trait certainly was ... inspiring. I will make sure to develop on that later on.
Next chapter will probably be shorter, so hopefully I can get it done quickly - I know full well that cliffhangers are annoying. After that, I will need to do some research.
Zahariel out.