Shirou was trapped in thought. Literally.
Any effort to try and communicate his thoughts were for nothing. He could feel himself slipping between consciousness. Kelly was of no help. He was a prisoner in his own mind. Luckily, that was exactly the place he needed to be at the moment.
Thorn must have thought that Shirou was just another person who knew nothing of the Moonlit world. And in this mistake, Thorn made a crucial error; Shirou possessed magecraft. A way to combat the poison that he was inflicted with. Using his reinforcement magic on his heart was dangerous, but it was an effective way to combat the poison circulating in his system. Shirou possessed something else that he was also focusing on.
Avalon. The Sheathe of King Arthur, or as Shirou knew her, Artoria. While it could properly be wielded only by Artoria, Shirou had developed a bond with it, one created by a lifetime spent with it inside him.
Focusing his efforts, he estimated that it would only take a few minutes to be battle ready. He wouldn't be 100%, but he couldn't allow those kids to be hurt by Thorn. Not while he had a say in the matter.
Once he could move, he plucked the thorn from his leg. With the numbness fading, he looked at Kelly. The poor woman was comatose, still only being able to follow the orders that Thorn had ordered at her.
Shirou still had some time before he could freely move, so he decided to assess his situation. Those kids who had just came in were all gone, following Thorn and the Di'Angelo's. That girl, Thalia, her and Thorn must have used a very similar, if not identical, spell. They must be from the same family of magecraft. Maybe all of them are related, and Thorn has the family's magic crest. If they came to retrieve it, then… No, Shirou would not allow harm to come to the people here.
Pushing his body one step further, he regained his composure. Pushing Kelly off in one swoop, he started moving to the door. Putting as much distance between him and the school as possible, he started following Thorn's trail. Reinforcing his muscles, he ran at speeds that were inhuman, ignoring the thin tree limbs that he was running into. The only thing that mattered to him at the moment was finding those kids.
Thorn had diverged off his set path a few times. Taking routes that were heavily covered in snow. Shirou wasn't dressed for the cold, only wearing a white button up and black pants. He was going to regret not wearing something heavier. But this was part of the reason he stayed here. The small shack that he was renting had power, but the best part about this area was that it was remote. He could hone his skills in a difficult environment.
Breaking through a line of trees, Shirou found a clearing with a cliffside. The clearing had a noticeably thinner amount of snow on the ground, probably due to wind carrying loose snow off of the cliffside. Near the cliffside he saw three kids and a… lion? This startled him. This creature had the body of a lion, a tail resembling that of a scorpion's, and the face of a man Shirou knew; Dr. Thorn. He must have been performing various experiments on himself, resulting in what was before Shirou now.
Anytime the body is altered, the mind is altered. Shirou knew this all too well. The creature in front of him was no longer human, and he was most likely going to use the children to further develop himself. Shirou and Thorn locked eyes and, for only a moment, he thought that Thorn was eager to fight him.
And Shirou could definitely provide a challenge.
"Hey, if you're going to transform into a chimera, the face is supposed to look uglier, not better!" Shirou yelled while advancing towards Thorn.
"You! I showed mercy by leaving you behind! There will be none this time!" Thorn dropped the kids and flung his tail, sending another barb Shirou's way.
I can't allow myself to get hit by that, but he has opened himself up by dropping the kids.
Raising a hand in front of him, Shirou came to a halt. This would take a bit of mana, but he was confident he could, in the very least, hurt the monster. First step was to stop the monster. Isolate him far enough away from the kids and the cliffside and confine him into a trap. Focusing his mana, he reached within himself.
"I am the bone of my sword! Rho Aias!"
Upon his exclamation, seven layers of flowers formed in front of him. Forming the ultimate shield and deflecting the incoming projectile. Next step was to lure him away from the kids.
"Think of a new trick. You won't sting me twice."
Releasing loud roar, Thorn made his move. Closing the distance between them only took a few seconds, but in that time Shirou prepared his counterattack. With swords ready to go, he waited to Thorn to get comfortable attacking the shield. Letting Thorn think he had the upper hand in his assault, he thought Shirou was incapable of anything else but defense, and his onslaught was making steady process. He was able to remove two layers in a short amount of time.
"You think some cheap mortal magic will be able to keep me from you! I will show you a fate much worse than death!"
That word was weird to Shirou. Mortal. He had no time to dwell on the matter, only time to act. The final step was the hardest, to trap and kill in one fell swoop, and he couldn't afford to let his mind wander.
"I think nothing. But you have underestimated my 'cheap mortal magic.' Sword Barrel: Full Open!"
Upon saying these words, 28 swords appeared all around Thorn, who was astonished. Shirou quickly withdrew his shield and sent all of his swords towards Thorn. Every sword pierced every piece of his body. Leg. Abdomen. Arm. Chest. Head. Groin. Shirou left nothing to chance, curse or no. When the monster was only twitching, Shirou ran towards the cliffside to check on the kids.
"Nico! Bianca! What is going on here? And you, who are you and what do you want with my students?"
The boy with them, with unkempt black hair and a pen in his hand, said nothing for a few seconds. Keeping an eye on the monster behind them, he started to speak, "I'm Percy. What do you mean? You fight like that and don't know anything about Gods?"
Gods? "The Gods? They were tyrants, ruling over humanity and doing whatever they wanted to us. With no care in the world, leaving us to fend for ourselves. Before we discuss further, we1 should move away from the cliff side."
The boy, Percy, looked somewhat distraught, but just decided to drop the conversation. Still keeping an eye on the monster, they started to move away from the cliffside. Before they could move too far, Thorn arose with speed that should be impossible for someone who had just been skewered. Grabbing Percy, Thorn lifted him into the air and threw him back towards the head of the clearing. Shirou grabbed the two siblings and moved them in the direction that Percy was thrown.
"All of you are the same! I will take what is needed and eat what is left! For I am…" and before he could finish his sentence, Thorn was struck with lightning. Literal lightning. The crack of thunder and the smell of ozone was enough to convince Shirou of that. Thalia ran from behind Shirou with a spear and shield in hand. Thorn kept them at a distance, shedding the rest of the swords from his body and hurtling thorns towards them. Shirou called Rho Aios back once more to protect the teens. Thalia used her shield.
In what Shirou could only call pure foolishness, Percy ran past Shirou and Thalia towards Thorn and the cliff. Percy took his pen and removed the cap, revealing a sword. Shirou was caught off guard looking at it. He could read it. He quickly traced it, trying to learn of these people through their weapons. But that sword… something was wrong with it. As if the sword had too much to tell him. Its history was muddled. Shirou saw many a man who wield it. But there was a girl as well. As if it was a repressed memory. More questions than answers here, but Shirou learned one thing. The sword could put an end to Thorn.
Shirou quickly decided to give Percy the chance to push forward. Thorn was poised at the cliffside with more barbs to shoot at the group. Repealing his shield and bringing forth a copy of Archer's bow, he needed something to hurt this thing. Something that could slow down a monster. And he had just the sword in mind.
Starting a trace and pulling the string on the bow back, Shirou started concentrating.
"I am the bone of my sword. Let this sword carve a path, Hrunting!"
The sword of Beowulf, hungry for blood. He used this sword to fight the dragon Grendl. The way Shirou looked at it the sword would have made a passerby think he was crazy. This was what he needed. If it is good enough for a dragon, it can take down a Chimera.
With a speed faster than a bullet, the modified sword shot passed over the clearing, over Percy's head, and then through the chest of Thorn. Before the monster could even recognize what was happening, Hrunting came back around to hit it's target again. And again. And again. Shirou finally let Hrunting fade after four consecutive hits. With each hit, Percy closed the distance. Right before Percy reached cliffside, Thalia hit Thorn with another round of lightning. When he got within a sword's distance, Percy made a move up cut the beast's head off.
The sword, however, never made its arc.
Thorn rolled his body over, and grabbed the boy. From beneath the cliffside rose a helicopter, with armed personnel. Five men immediately jumped off and formed a defensive line behind Thorn. This country really did have too many guns.
Government? Or are they a private military group? Doesn't matter. We have been taken by the element of surprise. I am out of options for taking on this many people. Maybe I can stall them.
"What, couldn't beat a few kids and a teacher so you had to cheat? I've had better fights with literal dead bodies. Can't a lion-man do better?" Just egg Thorn on. Need to find a way out.
"This is not a fight between men and monsters, this is one between the monsters and the Gods! If the mortals want to interfere, then be my guest, but expect nothing from me!"
"You say that, but you are putting on a show here. A battle with Gods? I see no Gods here, only us and the men behind you. For a fight with Gods, you clearly are fighting fake opponents. Is that why you're fighting children, to have an easier fight? Mr. Big Lion Man can't find his Gods, so the next best thing would be kids? Sorry, I should say Dr. Big Lion Man. Or Woman. I don't judge."
With every word, Shirou saw him getting restless, but there was something else. Footsteps appearing out of nowhere in the cliffside beside Thorn. Eye of the mind be damned! Someone was sneaking up on Thorn. Cut the head off the snake and it will wither. Cut the head off the lion and the backup will run.
"Enough, nothing you say will change my victory! We will first see how Poseidon reacts I eat his spawn's head."
Shirou was dead on his feet, the poison had done its work. And while he was by no means out of practice, his mana was getting too low to be of much use. Thorn raised Percy up and moved his mouth around the boy's head. The men behind him started moving in on the kids. Right when Shirou saw no way to save all of kids, a silver arrow popped through the shoulder of one of Thorn's goons.
Many young girls started to emerge from the woods into the clearing, all wearing silver parkas and wielding silver bows. All bows were drawn on Thorn and his men. Thorn, being confused for a moment, growled in pain as he was stabbed by a dagger in the back. The person who had been sneaking up on Thorn had made their move. The monster lunged from side-to-side, throwing Percy to the ground as he tried to wrestle the weight of the assailant off of him. The men Thorn had been quickly sorted out by these girls, most retreating to the helicopter before it flew off. With their main targets gone, one of the girls decided to take a shot at Thorn.
"No!" Shirou yelled at her, but it was too late. The arrow had left the string with a force too strong to have possibly came from a short bow and landed right in the monster's chest. The force from the arrow was enough to send Thorn off the cliff. Before he went off, Shirou could see a blonde-haired girl on Thorn's back.
Percy had just gotten back to his when he saw Annabeth fall off of the cliff with the monster. He ran to the edge of the cliff, and seeing no sign of either of them. Shirou felt for the boy, guessing he must have a crush on her. Percy reached down and picked up a Yankee's hat off the ground.
Feeling that he wasn't out of the woods yet, Shirou looked towards Nico and Bianca. The siblings looked no worse for wear, with Nico possibly looking even happier than before.
"You two okay? What is going on here?"
"Mr. Emiya, we really don't know. This is all new to us." Bianca was the one to answer.
"Just call me Shirou for now, I hate formalities and I think we are passed them for the moment. Just don't do anything until I know that these people are friendly, okay?"
Nodding their heads, Shirou turned to the silver clad girls. Thalia seemed to be put off by them, but Percy knew none of these people. While he was glad to receive the help, the enemy of my enemy is not always my friend. Usually just another enemy. But Shirou wasn't in a position to fight all of these people. He knew that much. As his bow faded, the girls in front of him lowered their bows.
"Do you ladies by chance have some water? I've been poisoned recently and I'm very dehydrated."
1Cliff Side?Unclear Setting