Fate/Kaleid Liner Prisma Taylor
As I sipped an exotic blend with a name that I couldn't pronounce, all I could think of was that Mister Saito could brew a really good cup of tea.
"Is all of this really necessary?" It had been a little bit since Lung had been defeated, about a week and a half. Opal and I were currently visiting with Mister Saito, who'd cut his hair back to its original length but hadn't dyed it black yet. Well, I was visiting with Mister Saito.
Opal was running I don't even know how many diagnostic scans on Mister Saito.
"Mister Saito," she explained in response to the man's question, "you used quite a lot of projection magecraft. Ignoring how absolutely inefficient projection magecraft is, this entire reality is saturated with an anti-magic effect. My princess is only able to work spells at all because as a device infused with the Second Sorcery I can transcend such limits."
"I just figured I was a parahuman," Saito admitted with a shrug, Opal's laser light scanner tracing a grid across his face. "My father kept insisting that I was something different, but I didn't know what else I could be."
"Well, you're most certainly not a Parahuman," Opal stated with certainty. "Not a trace of those brain tumors that they've got. You do, however, have 27 magic circuits of a quality suggesting regular use."
"Are those the extra nerves?" Mister Saito asked. "When I was first learning to use my powers, I was running some kind of energy through my nervous system but feedback from A.V.A.L.O.N. said it was bypassing some pseudo-neurons that I have but most people don't."
"That is a drastic over-simplification," Opal explained, "but yes, that would be what I'm referring to..." she stopped scanning him. "Now, you bear a certain physical resemblance to a few individuals in my databanks, would you mind answering a few questions?"
"I suppose that's why we're here," Mister Saito said good-naturedly.
"First: Are you now or have you ever been affiliated with an Emiya Kiritsugu or the Emiya family?"
"No," Mister Saito replied. "I've never heard of them."
"What about the Ainsworth family?"
"No," Mister Saito answered again.
"...The Einzberns?"
"I think Gesellschaft has someone by that name working for them, but I've never met that person and I'd honestly prefer not to," the man said.
"...Who are Gesellschaft?"
"An international gang of parahuman terrorists and Neonazis, based in Europe," Mister Saito answered. "I've seen in the news that Taylor's had some conflict with the young woman working for Empire Eighty-Eight: Gesellschaft is their parent organization."
"...Well, that's concerning," Opal said after a moment. "Now, what about the Holy Grail War?"
"I know that the cup that Jesus of Nazareth and his disciples drank from during the Last Supper is believed by some Christians to have miraculous properties, but I've never heard of it being involved in a war."
Opal hummed. "Are you familiar with the phrase 'Unlimited Blade Works?' Do you know what a Noble Phantasm is? Is your body made of blades? Are you now or have you ever been the bone of your sword?"
Mister Saito blinked. "No offense, but that last bit sounded like someone with English as a second language was trying too hard to make an emotionally deep poem. No. I have no idea what any of that means. There are blades in my body but it's made of flesh and blood like almost everyone else's."
"Okay then," Opal said.
She floated back toward me and placed one of her wings on her rim and leaned, miming someone leaning their head against their hand in thought. "Princess, Include the Saber Card."
"Why?"
"Because I have a hunch," Opal said with a shrug.
I fished Saber out from my card holster and touched it to Opal, who transformed into Arondight. "Mister Saito, if you could analyze and attempt to replicate this blade."
"I can't," Mister Saito replied. He was squinting. "Just looking at that sword gives me a migraine."
Opal ejected the card, which I caught and reholstered.
"Well, that's the last thing I could think of," Opal admitted. "This is, however, still very strange."
"Yeah," I continued, "Mister Saito, you're literally the only other person who uses magic that I've met."
"No," Opal interrupted, "what I mean is… comparing dates the Anti-Magic anomaly came into full effect roughly when Parahumans became to appear en mass and back when we attempted to heal Victoria her unusual magic resistance caused problems… I think that Parahumans might have something to do with the lack of magic in this world but Mister Saito is utterly unaffected despite having a parahuman-made creation in his body for over a decade at least. Also, he has an elemental affinity-an alignment as a Magus-that's almost Sword but I can't tell how it's different and that's irritating."
"...What's my alignment as a Magus?" I asked, curious about it now that I knew it was a thing.
"It's difficult to describe it in words," Opal began. "At first I thought you were an average one, someone with affinities to the five traditional elements of Earth, Wind, Fire, Water, and Ether-but with more exposure to the flow of mana in your body, I think it's a bit more complicated than that. Though, suffice it to say, whatever term is eventually used to describe your alignment that it perfectly suits being a magical girl."
"A little over 17 years," Mister Saito corrected. " A.V.A.L.O.N. has been part of my body for over 17 years. For as long as I can remember in fact." He took a sip from his own cup of tea. "After keeping my origins secret for so long, it's nice to finally tell the truth."
"Well," I said, "if you want to share I'm here to listen."
"My story starts in 1994," He began. "I was a child. My earliest memory was being caught in a fire in the city of Fuyuki. I don't remember much before the fire… All I know is that I was the only survivor." He paused for a minute. "The only thing I recall clearly is that I was on the ground and an armored man with six swords on his person was looming over me. Then I blacked out. When I awoke I was recovering from surgery in Muramasa's lab."
"Muramasa, Miyazaki Eijirou, saved my life. I was on death's door and would have died without the nanomachines he implanted in my body. And then," Mister Saito continued, "as I had no one and nowhere to go he took me in and became my father."
"I suppose you could say that, as I don't remember my life before the fire, that the me I was before died and the me I am now was born at that time… Though, having all of my childhood firsts-first snow, first look at the ocean, and such-at seven instead of two, three, four, or five made things a bit awkward."
"Really?" I asked. "It doesn't seem that odd to me. My Mom used to tell stories about when she was a kid. Most of hers were at that age. I spent most of my time at home until then, too."
"Maybe it's just more common in the United States?" Mister Saito asked with a shrug. I shrugged back. "Most of what I told you before is true. Except that until I came to America, my name was Miyazaki Shirou, and that before my father died I lived in Fuyuki, not Kobe. My father was my favorite hero growing up because he was my father, but I was truthful when I said that I admired him for his dedication to save as many people as possible and keep saving everyone in spite of his belief that he was cursed." Mister Saito smiled fondly. "And I don't have anything to compare to, but I think that he was a good father."
"For as long as I can remember, I wanted to help people like my father did," he continued, "at first it was out of admiration, but over time I came to realize that I was at my happiest when I was making other people happy-it's why I do home and appliance repair. It's work that needs doing and people appreciate it."
"After my father died-after Leviathan sank Kyushuu and the resulting waves flooded Fuyuki, I had to go into hiding. He had enemies. I had nightmares about tofu for a month after learning about one particularly heated battle he found himself involved in. But even in hiding, I kept practicing. My powers. My swordsmanship. My archery. After I became an adult, I moved to America because it's more open to independent heroes and there's less risk of being kidnapped and brainwashed by the CUI. I came to Brockton Bay because it seemed like it could use one more hero… But then Lung was here." Mister Saito twitched, just a bit. "And I had to keep my head down, as I wasn't sure that I'd be able to defeat him… Now that he's gone, though..."
"We should go fight Nazis together sometime," I offered. "Considering how Rune reacted to Lancer's spear and use of runic magic, she'll probably come after you for being an Asian man with a power similar to Allfather's, and to be honest she's irritating enough that I could use some help bringing her in."
Luckily I'd already given Mister Saito's home and business the same wards and protections I'd given my own home, Lisa and Brian's apartments, and New Wave. It'd been scary how fast they'd all agreed to have magic wards that electrocuted the crap out of anyone who entered the home with intent to harm the residences before I remembered what happened to Vicky's aunt.
"I'll consider it, but right now I'm still considering my options," Mister Saito said neutrally. "The Protectorate gave me an offer but I'm not sure I want to tie myself to a bureaucracy and I'm not sure if they'd let me keep the sho-"
Mister Saito was interrupted by a loud noise.
A noise that we'd drilled every so often.
A noise that meant that everyone in the city was in serious danger.
Immediately, Mister Saito got up and went into another room of his apartment.
"Princess, what's going on?"
"The Endbringer siren," I said as I stood up. "One of the Endbringers is coming. We need to get ready."
"You said that term a while ago," Opal questioned, "what's an Endbringer?"
Well, there's a question I never expected I'd have to answer. "One of three giant monsters that rampage and attacks a city every three or four months. One's a sea monster with macro-hydrokinesis, one's a living mountain with energy powers, and the last is an angel with psychic powers and a song that drives you crazy."
"Oh, that's what you call them," Opal replied. "I just assumed they were Types."
"Types?" I asked.
"Genocidal alien monsters invited to Earth to destroy humanity by a vengeful Gaea. Mostly dormant and there are plans for dealing with them but, well, if they get set off early bad things will happen." Opal was far too casual about that. "To give an example, Type Mercury, or ORT, is a vampiric spider from Mercury that's been lying dormant in South America for a while. My creator has a plan to deal with it though timing is key."
"...you know," I said with my head cocked, "Scion killed a giant spider-thing with weird crystal powers in South America back in the 80s," I answered with a bit of trivia. "If that was a Type I don't think that's what the Endbringers are. All he can do is drive them off."
"...I'm sorry," Opal said after a moment. "...I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing. I need time to process this. So, how about we go and hide in our heavily fortified basement until this all blows over and-"
"No, Opal," I said. "You know what happens when an Endbringer attacks? All the heroes and villains in a city put aside their differences and call a Truce to prevent as much damage and loss of life as possible. Heroes from out of town come in to help." I took a breath. "Remember when I beat Lung. Armsmaster called me Trump 10. That means I'm powerful and potentially incredibly dangerous too. I've got to be there."
"No," Opal said, "it's too dangerous."
"Opal, as a superhero I have a responsibility to help," I replied. "What kind of magical girl would I be if I didn't try to save as many people as I could?"
"Darn it," was Opal's only reply. I grabbed her and transformed.
"We'll call my Dad as soon as we get to the pre-battle meeting. Make sure he knows where I'm at, make sure he's safe." He'd probably either be making sure the Dockworkers and their families got to shelters or letting neighbors hide in our basement, since with Caster and Lancer's magic the house was practically indestructible.
Mister Saito came back. He'd changed from his work clothes into slacks and an open red jacket over a tank-top and had his bow at his back. "I keep up with Endbringer attacks," he said subtly. "It's likely that Leviathan is the one coming. I can't help but feel it appropriate that my first major outing is against the monster my father died trying to save people from."