Hey~, hello!
So, yeah, here's another chapter! It's kinda my apology gift for being dormant on this for a bit too long.
Anyways, enjoy!
It was a path destined for ruin.
To put an end to all conflict, to bring hope and equality for all who were broken. It was a futile dream, a naive one, and chasing such a thing would only end in tragedy. He knew it well, he'd gone through such a path himself. So, as he stared at her, he told her, pleaded for her to direct her path away.
But she didn't. She went onward, the blood in her hands pooling, becoming heavier and murkier. She didn't stop, her flames roared on with determination.
He watched her fall, watched her rise. He watched her blade come down, watched disgust curl her lips as blood soaked into the soil she stood over. He watched as she smiled, the expression becoming brittle as the world burned around her.
He saw her fall for one last time, as the fires of her soul burned the world.
He saw as the fire she once had turned into embers.
He saw something within her broke, saw a frighteningly familiar expression take hold over her face.
He was too late.
Always too late.
Forever too late.
He couldn't do anything, for he knew that his hands would never hold anything.
"Emiya, are you okay?"
"Hmm?" Emiya blinked, turning to see his sister looking at him oddly. With a smile, he looked at her. "I'm fine." He said, looking at the distant remnants of what used to be a city, its buildings ravaged to the grounds and any traces of life snuffed out. Something in him cracked slightly at the sight.
"I'm fine."
He wasn't really.
Lappland could only watch in worry as her brother walked away, his eyes glued to the destroyed city of Ursus. Ever since he met with Cu, he'd become subdued, quiet. He smiled still, interacted with Rhodes Island with that same humbleness he'd always had, but there was something troubling him, and just like always, he remained quiet about it.
She'd initially wondered if he was just that annoyed at Cu, but Texas began worrying as well, and she knew something wasn't right.
Then, the mission to survey Ursus came, and Emiya looked like he was kicked. Kalt'sit had asked if he was fine with it, but he waved off her concerns. She wasn't convinced, and neither was Kalt'sit, but she simply sighed and let him join, though not before she discreetly told Lappland to keep an eye on him.
She sighed. They had a mission, she could worry as they went on.
The task was simple search-and-destroy. They'd received reports of an old ursus laboratory hidden underneath the ground. The insides were an unknown factor, but if there was some dangerous item that could cause severe damage, they were to neutralize it.
How the place was discovered in the first place was rather suspicious, considering that such a hidden place was discovered just days after Cu met with Emiya.
"Woah, this place's huge!" Exusiai looked around with her usual exuberance, her halo a shining torch as they began their trek into the underground complex. Her voice echoed down the halls, and by her side, Texas tucked her ears down.
"Lower your voice." The lupo said back, and Exusiai simply smiled. Texas sighed, and Croissant and Bison could only look at her with sympathy. Lappland looked at her with amusement, and Emiya remained at their rear, acting as their silent protector.
All they were missing was Cu, and they'd be an entire troupe. Sadly, the cheery lupo was out doing another job for Emperor, so they couldn't do much about it.
The man loved to comment about Emiya constantly working, but that statement was swiftly becoming ironic.
Then, a combat drone appeared, followed by several more, their visors gleaming with red light.
"Oho, combat tim-"
"Don't shoot them." Emiya quickly cut in, and Exusiai stared at him before turning to the drones. Her gun remained pointed at them, but they simply scanned the intruding group before moving on, as if nothing had even happened. Most blinked, surprised that such a threatening thing didn't attack them, and only Emiya remained unfazed.
"...huh." Exusiai finally lowered her gun, before turning to Emiya. "How'd you know?"
"Those are survey drones, used by Ursus Specialists." He began. "Those were Guard-Types. They'll scan any intruding elements before uploading it to the log network. Do nothing, and it'll just pass you by. If you start firing…"
He left the sentence hanging, instead pointing to a blackened spot not too far from where they were. The answer was rather clear.
"Well, yeah, but how'd you know?" She asked again, and Emiya frowned slightly.
"...I'm familiar with them, used several myself while I worked in Ursus." He said, not quite answering the question. Exusiai pursed her lips at the weak answer, but she shrugged, content with knowing that much.
Lappland was different. She narrowed her eyes at him. When did he ever work here? Emiya was many things, but violence and oppression were two things he despised, and Ursus was the perfect embodiment of that. This place was a disgusting mess, with those infected treated lower than dirt.
They walked on, and her brother looked almost wistful as they went. It was an expression like the one he had when they decided to visit Siracusa a year back.
It confused her.
Minutes passed by without much excitement, and they were ready to leave when Emiya suddenly stopped, looked to the wall by his left and frowned. "Emiya?" Texas asked, but Emiya remained silent. Then, with those bright lines shining across his arm, he pressed his hand onto the wall.
Wind blew out as the wall crumbled, the sound of crumbling metal painfully echoing throughout the underground complex. The two other lupo were the one most affected, with Texas shutting her ears and Lappland wincing at the particularly sharp sound.
"Oi, warn us next time." Lappland bit out, and Emiya merely turned to her and smirked. She growled as she watched her brother enter the room he'd opened up, a thousand plans to get back at him brewing in her mind.
The room he'd uncovered was a storage room, with piles after piles of metal crates scattered about. Curiously, Lappland unscrewed one of them and looked at its contents.
To find a familiar weapon stored inside.
"Aren't these the bombs Reunion has been using?"
"Originium detonators." Emiya explained, picking up one of them. "When the husk is torn open, a reactive gas will spill out. It's poisonous, but on contact with any form of Originium, it'll combust and explode."
"The fuck." Lappland could barely restrain a grimace. Bombs that aggressively reacted with originium, and Reunion was using this? "Why the hell were these even made."
"Who knows."
"Don't let her, anyone, use them." He stated simply, glaring at the carnage the soldiers had left in their wake.
The towering man by his side nodded, his hands gripping his spear with righteous fury.
"I. Won't."
"Who knows."