Chapter 3
Rin Tohsaka
BAM! CRASH!
Protea slams her fist into the ground, causing a debris to scatter. Tamamo flies her magic carpet as fast as she can, ducking and dodging the debris in the process. Protea growls and raises her fist. She slams it down just inches from the group, causing them to lose control and topple over.
"I'm big!" Protea says as she stands up, now fully seen as a giant. "You no chance!" She raises her foot and slams it down, causing more debris to scatter and make a huge hole.
Tamamo jumps to her feet and summons her carpet. "Get on!"
Hakuno-chan and Sakura help each other up and hop on the carpet as quickly as possible before Protea slams her foot again. The carpet zips forward, this time much faster. Protea starts walking.
Tamamo looks back and sees that Protea is catching up fast. She needs to slow her down somehow. She turns to Hakuno-chan.
"Husband, drive!" Tamamo jumps on the other side and holds out her hands.
As Protea goes on all fours again and reaches out her hand to grab Hakuno-chan, Tamamo summons a large fireball and shoots it at her. It hits Protea's hand, making it pull back and the Gentle Giant winces at the burning pain on her hand. Though it was a sting, it still hurt.
Tamamo hops back to the front and pushes the carpet to fly faster into the large forest ahead of them. Protea looks over and finds that everyone has vanished.
"Nooooo!" Protea whines. "Why must everyone run away from me!?"
She decides to give up and turn around to head toward wherever she can find and wallow in pity.
Tamamo flies the carpet straight ahead. Her ears twitch a little.
"It seems like she's given up," the fox woman says. "Do you see anything, Husband? Sakura-san?"
The two girls look back.
"Nothing," Hakuno-chan answers.
"I don't see anything," Sakura says.
"Good. We can slow down now," Tamamo says. "Why is she here again?"
"BB transported us here," Hakuno-chan says. "She says she wants to play with us. We have to get to the Sakura Labyrinth in order to move forward….wherever that is."
Just then, a Holo Screen pops up and Hakuno-chan expands it. Thankfully, it's not BB but her own strong servant, Nero.
"Umu! Thank goodness it's working again!" Nero says.
"Saber!" Hakuno-chan says. "How did you get access to the digital world? BB created a virus remember?"
"It's only temporary, Praetor," Nero says. "I won't be able to communicate with you as often, but I will check in when I can."
"Master! Master!" Altera Lily jumps in. "Are you alright!?"
Hakuno-chan smiles a beautiful, reassuring smile. "Yes, Lily. I will be fine. I just have a very important mission to handle. Then, when we get back, we can play together."
"Stay safe!" Altera Lily says.
"Umu!" Nero says. "You can do it, Praetor! BB will be conquered once again!"
The screen becomes staticky and then goes red.
"Oh, no!" Hakuno-chan panics. "Saber! Saber, are you still with me!?"
The sound is off and then the screen transitions to a pink background and then another screen pops up inside.
"Nice try, Sempai~" BB says.
"BB…" Hakuno-chan breathes.
"You did well escaping from my pet," the Moon Cancer says. "Now you will need to get to the Sakura Labyrinth. Here's your location." She shows a picture of a large Cherry Blossom tree with a gate at the bottom of the trunk. "It's more like an arena, really. But I call it a Labyrinth just for the heck of it~"
Sakura steps in. "BB-san…when we win this tournament or whatever, will you truly let us go?"
"Who knows?" BB answers, shrugging. "You still need to go through the challenges before doing anything else. Ah, well would you look at the time~" she giggles. "I better get going. I've been talking for too long. See ya!"
She disappears. Hakuno-chan sighs heavily.
"So it's an arena huh?" Tamamo says. "Sounds like a plan to me."
"Will you be able to survive?" Sakura asks.
"Sure I can!" Tamamo replies. "I'm a Caster! I can overcome…almost anything."
"I wonder if you have to face those Alter Egos again," Hakuno-chan says.
"If it's like that, then the nightmare returns," Tamamo shakes her head in dismay. "Honestly, I would love to have a rematch with Passionlip-san. She needs to be disciplined completely."
Passionlip is one of the Alter Egos created by BB when Hakuno-chan and the others were trying to rescue Sakura. Tamamo and Passionlip fought and the fox woman was struggling to win until Tamamo sacrificed herself just to save her Master. But luckily, Tamamo cast a spell to save herself at the last second.
Just then, a voice calls out to them from their right.
"Hey, you there! Do you need a place to stay?" The voice says.
The magic carpet stops and the girls turn toward a girl with long black hair tied in partial pigtails. She is wearing a red long sleeved shirt, black short frilly skirt and on her legs are black thigh high stockings with black high heels on her feet. She looks at the group and her eyes turn to a certain violet haired woman.
Sakura seems to recognize her as well. "N-Nee-san!?"
"Sakura!?" The dark haired girl gasps.
The carpet lowers so that Sakura can jump off and run into Sakura's big sister's arms. Both girls embrace each other.
"Oh, my God!" Rin says. "I thought you were dead!"
"No!" Sakura sobs with joy. "I'm alright! And I'm glad you are, too!"
Hakuno-chan smiles a gentle smile. She knows the girl, Rin Tohsaka, from school, yet she hasn't heard from her in a long time. Rin looks up at Hakuno-chan and nods.
"Hakuno," she says.
"Hello, Tohsaka," The brunette says and glances at Tamamo. "My servant and I…arrived here."
"You three should come to my place," Rin says. "No one should bother us there."
"What if they figure out where we are?" Sakura asks.
"My magic barrier has my home invisible to everyone," Rin assures her little sister. "So no worries."
Hakuno-chan smiles. "As expected of a high class Mage~"
Tamamo hops off the carpet. "Well what are we waiting for~? Let's go!"
Hakuno-chan steps toward Rin and gives a nod and a smile.
"It's been a while, Tohsaka…" the brunette says softly. "I have so much to tell you…"
"Me too." Rin replies. "Let's head inside first."
Later*
Inside a large cabin, being invisible to people or creatures, Hakuno-chan and the rest are given tea while sitting in the living room. Hakuno-chan explains everything to Rin. Mostly about Sakura. How her life turned upside down just from a simple fake holy grail. How she killed Shinji after changing into a powerful Moon Cancer BB and then how Hakuno-chan and her servants risked their lives to rescue Sakura. Rin is astonished by the story and glances at her little sister, who is sniffling just from thinking about all this stuff.
"So this witch BB has transported you to this world?" Rin asks. "Just to play games?"
"Seems like it," Hakuno-chan says. "She may want to test our strength. Though she did before. Why do it again?"
Sakura scoots close to her big sister on the couch and puts a hand on hers. "Nee-san? What happened to you? Why are YOU in this world?"
"To look for you…" Rin looks down at her tea cup. "You disappeared and I tried everything I could to detect you. But nothing. I transported to 3 different worlds to find you. But nothing. So I decided to stay here for the time being."
"You were…looking for me this whole time…?" Sakura cups a hand to her mouth in shock. Tears sting her eyes. "Oh, Nee-san…!"
"Now that you're back, we can find a way to get out of here," Rin says. "I have enough knowledge to create a portal-"
"We can't…" Hakuno-chan cuts her off.
"What?" Rin frowns. "I am a powerful mage! This is my chance to-"
Hakuno-chan gives Rin a serious look. "We are under BB's control. She makes the rules. She is watching our every move. Even if you successfully create this portal, she will delete it with a snap of her fingers."
"What!? Then all of this was for nothing!?" Rin slams her hands down on the couch. "Damn it! What a little bitch!"
"N-Nee-san…calm down…" Sakura says
Tamamo puts down her tea. "We need to head toward the arena first. Under the Cherry Blossom tree where it's held. If we somehow win some fights, we may be able to get out of this place."
"Sure as hell hope so," Rin crosses her arms and slumps on the couch. "I ain't going anywhere right now. This whole thing is stressing me out because of what happened to my dear little sister."
"We can go when you are ready," Hakuno-chan says. "We need to rest up anyways. It's been a long day."
"Right you are," Tamamo says as she stands up. "Want me to cook you dinner? I am an excellent cook!"
Hakuno-chan nods in agreement. "You will like Caster's food."
Rin nods. "Do what you need to do."
The fox woman giggles and heads toward the kitchen to whip up a big meal for everyone.
Later*
That night, everyone is sleeping in separate futons. However, Sakura couldn't sleep, so she slips next to Rin so she can sleep better. The dark haired girl smiles, pets her little sister and kisses her forehead. She goes to sleep shortly after.
Tamamo moves toward Hakuno's futon to slip in next to her. The brunette turns to see the fox woman giggle and snuggle up next to her.
"It's been a while since we snuggled like this, my husband~" Tamamo whispers. Her fluffy tail wags a bit from excitement. Her ears twitch as well.
"Yeah…it has been," Hakuno-chan replies. She cannot help but hold out her hand and Tamamo eagerly grips it. "Caster…sorry I called on you like this. I don't usually rely on you that much."
"Oh, it's fine, my husband," Tamamo assures her. "You made the right choice. You can rely on me as much as you like. I want to be a good wife to you after all~"
Hakuno-chan pets the fox woman. "You already are. You cook meals for everyone, clean everything up and even put Lily to bed on time. You are doing a fine job as a housewife."
Tamamo squeals quietly at the praise and wags her fluffy tail. "You are too kind. Hehehe~"
Hakuno kisses her on the lips and the two scoot closer to feel each other's warmth. The brunette closes her eyes and falls asleep. Tamamo smiles and kisses her Master.
"Sweet dreams…my darling Husband~" she whispers.
