Shirou's eyes opened as suddenly he re-joined the realm of wakefulness. Light shone through the blinds on his window indicating that the time was somewhere in the middle of the afternoon. Trying to stretch out he found that his arms were pinned to his side. Blinking the sleep from his eyes he turned his head to the left to find that Arcueid had attached himself to his left side. She was facing him and was clearly in deep sleep. Sighing internally Shirou realised that he had absolutely zero chance of waking her up at this time and to get out he would have to teleport.
Turning his head to the other side, he became aware of the presence of Ishtar his servant. Unlike his vampire lover she clung to his arm but her eyes were open and she regarded him as he lay there. Almost unconsciously he began to surge prana through his command seals and then he stopped. Rider had already proven that she had no ulterior motives for him when she took care of him while he was injured. Despite her reputation Shirou had decided to treat her as an ally based on the strength of her actions.
"I suppose it would be superfluous of me to ask you why you are in my bed, Ishtar," he said with a note of weary acceptance in his voice.
"Oh," the goddess said coquettishly. "I was standing outside the room protecting you in your fragile state. After all, 'your sister' that violent redhead decided to stay in your house with the rest of the group last night and you still hadn't recovered. Then Arcueid decided to come in and cuddle you while you when you were sleeping. I resisted the urge to do so as well but then I noticed you were talking in your sleep Master." She suddenly scrutinized Shirou's face intently. "Tell me Shirou, how long have you been having dreams of my life?"
"What makes you think I've been having dreams of your life," Shirou replied back warily.
"Really, Shirou," the Babylonian goddess giggled. "I don't care about your voyeuristic tendencies there is no need to get so defensive. But you mumbling the name of my servant in your dream is a definite clue." She smiled then but there was a hint of discomfort in her smile. "So which portion of my life was it?" At his hesitation she started cajoling. "Come on Shirou. I don't mind you watching but you can at least tell me what you saw. Did you enjoy it," she finished off seductively.
"You were on a boat," Shirou began. "You were carrying something I think but I couldn't see what it was. Your servant was with you and she was fighting off massive sea-monsters that attacked you."
"They weren't sea-monsters," Ishtar said absentmindedly. "That was an earlier portion of my life. I remember exactly what I stole." She paused to think for a moment. "Well actually I have a feeling the person I took it from wanted me to take it," she said smiling at Shirou. "He seemed pretty happy with me afterwards.
She hugged him tighter pressing his arm deeper into her breasts. "Any more dirty dreams you had of me," she said. "Come on I won't tell."
Shirou thought for a moment but then ultimately decided to tell her as it was ultimately her life that was on display. "I've had a few," he said. "The first one you looked young and you were looking for a function. You went to complain that you had none and you were told that you didn't need one assigned to you and that you should find your own."
"Yes. I remember that," the goddess smiled nearly causing Shirou to lose his breath at her beauty. "I was so young back then. I took that statement as a personal challenge." She laughed with more than a hint of nostalgia in her voice. "I gained more and more power until I was among the strongest of the gods of Babylonia." She shook her head. "So which ones are next?"
Shirou looked at her contemplating how he could describe the next dream. Some of his hesitation must have shown on his face as the goddess patted him on his shoulder. "It's okay," she said. "You don't have to tell me if it makes you feel uncomfortable."
Shirou took a deep breath. "You were relaxing under a palm tree," he began.
"You don't have to finish that story Shirou," Ishtar said. "I know how that tale goes. Don't worry I'm over it."
"How can you be so flippant about something so awful happening," Shirou asked slightly stunned.
The goddess just shrugged. "It was pretty bad," she said. "That kind of thing is pretty much the worst thing that can happen to a woman. But it was a long time ago. I'm no longer bear strong feelings about it. I got my revenge and moved on."
Shirou simply nodded at that statement. While he couldn't empathise with that kind of situation, she obviously did not want to make a big deal about it and so he would abide by her wishes.
"The third dream I had was a continuation of the second where you were petitioning for the location of the person," Shirou said practically spitting out the word person. "You were told the location and you went off to exact justice."
Ishtar nodded recalling the scene.
"The fourth dream was you escaping from what I believe was the underworld. There was another person who escaped along with you and you met up with somebody else outside."
Ishtar winced. "That was not one of my best deeds," she said defensively. "I'm pretty sure you saw me getting chewed out as well."
"Pretty gentle for a chewing out," Shirou replied. "You nearly doomed the world and all you got was that lecture."
"Indeed," Ishtar said and there was a trace of bitterness in her voice that almost instantly faded. "What was the next one," she said.
"The next one was the one I just woke up from," Shirou said.
The silence between the two stretched although it wasn't very uncomfortable Shirou felt compelled to break it. "I'm going to make food," he said. "Anything you want."
At Ishtar's rejection he teleported out of the two girls' grasp and landed on his feet in the bedroom. Noticing that the pain from yesterday's adventure had disappeared entirely, he headed for the doorway when he was stopped one last time by Ishtar's voice.
"Shirou," she said seriously. He turned back to see Ishtar had fallen into the grasp of Arcueid creating quite a comical sight. "Do you have any way to stop those memories from going through?"
"Not without severing the contract," he replied. It was as good as a refusal. Dissolving the contract was something that neither of them had any desire to do.
Ishtar groaned. "Those memories don't have a happy ending Shirou," she beseeched him.
"I'm sorry," Shirou replied to the goddess. She just nodded and he left the room for the kitchen.
xxx
Satsuki sat on the floor of her room staring at the dagger that Sumire had given her. While her betrayal still stung slightly it had been mitigated by time and the discussion that she had with Shirou and Arcueid last night. Both of them had comforted her but she had got this persistent feeling that she was the one that was worst hit by the whole situation by far.
In fact Shirou had seemed vaguely smug that by creating backup grails he had got one over the crafty vampire and Arcueid didn't seem to bear her any ill will merely stating that she would not go easy on her.
"Tell me Caster," she addressed her servant asking for advice despite her better judgement. "Am I wrong for feeling betrayed about this?"
"Betrayal is utter poison to all. It turns all sweet times sour and reduces men to mindless beasts in search of vengeance. When a dog bites his master or the master whips his dog it fractures the bond between them and slices deep into the other. Your reaction is nothing more or less than entirely human. "
Satsuki frowned as that explanation failed to sooth her at all. Taking a moment to digest his words she decided to change the subject. "What do you think I should do about the problems with my Reality Marble," she said to her servant. "
"It is not the job of the author to provide advice to his characters," Anderson said in his infuriating way.
"That would be the job of the side characters wouldn't it?" This was said by Shirou as he stepped into the room.
"What are you doing here?" Satsuki blurted out slightly self-conscious at him overhearing her musing.
"I was coming here to ask if you wanted anything to eat," Shirou said calmly. "Now however I am more curious about these so-called problems with your Reality Marble." When Satsuki made no move to inform him he sighed. "I'm not going to judge you or call you weak," he said. "And I'm not going to betray you Satsuki," he continued striking a nerve. "But you need to consider the fact that others may have unique knowledge or perspectives that could help you with your problem."
"Well unless you have done any research on Reality Marbles and how they change I do not think you will be able to help me here," Satsuki said shrugging her shoulders. Shirou's face then morphed into the smuggest smile she had ever seen from him. "No," she said. "There is absolutely no way you can tell me that you've done research on this phenomenon."
"Okay," Shirou said his smile only growing wider. "I won't tell you." He reached into his jacket and pulled out a collection of notes. On the front page the title read "On Reality Marbles and their impermanency" by Shirou Inke. Satsuki just looked up from the book and regarded Shirou whose smug smile had faded and was replaced by a calm look of triumph.
"Where did you even get subjects for your research," Satsuki asked with honest confusion. "I have never discussed Reality Marble's with you. You also said you had no idea about Sumire's Reality Marble," she stated suspiciously.
"And I didn't," Shirou replied. "But you're forgetting one other person in who lives under this roof who has a Reality Marble. Nine inherited his Reality Marble from Nrvnqsr Chaos. However when he activated it, there were large differences between the two. I studied those differences and extrapolated a rough theory of psyche-marble correlation."
Satsuki opened up the book and flipped through it skimming the pages. A few of the terms went over her head which said less about her lack of aptitude on magecraft and more about Shirou's absolute immersion in it. She picked up multiple references in the book to other theories that were most likely invented by the magician.
Her eyes fell upon a certain few words that resounded in her head and she glanced down at the dagger that Sumire had given her.
"Did I ever tell you the story of how I defeated a demon," Shirou spoke up causing the final pieces of the puzzle to click neatly together.
Satsuki raised the dagger to eye level inspecting it before nodding to herself. "You did," she confirmed. "Thank you. Now I will use the same method to defeat my own weakness. Observing the reality will help bring it about the book says. Are you replacing Sumire as my teacher now?"
Shirou just shook his head answering negative to the question. "Before you undertake that incredibly dangerous thing you are thinking of doing hear me out," Shirou said his voice grave and he stepped closer to Satsuki stooping to gaze into her eyes. "I don't just talk because I like hearing myself speak and while I may not be as good as Hans over there at analysing people I have known you for a long time now."
He took a breath to slow down the situation and then spoke. "When you first got your power your Reality Marble manifested almost immediately," he said. "In fact within just a day after you became a vampire you were already unconsciously draining mana from the environment. However the strength that allowed you to obtain your Reality Marble so soon also became your weakness. You were just a girl who had been thrown into a wider world of magic and monsters. Thus your Reality Marble formed in an attempt to drain the supernatural and make other beings weaker, closer to your level. But you changed, you grew strong, you obtained knowledge and you lost your fear. Depletion Garden is the safety blanket of Satsuki Yumizuka that was bitten by a vampire on that fateful night and it no longer suits you. Your new Marble will make you stronger and not everybody else weaker. Good luck Satsuki," he said as he stepped backwards standing next to Caster.
Satsuki nodded her mouth suddenly dry. She picked up the dagger that Sumire had given her and with one swift movement plunged it into her heart. In the very next second she was sucked into the dagger disappearing from the room and causing the dagger to fall onto the cover of the bed.
The room was silent for a moment. "Did she really have to stab herself in her heart," Shirou said. "I know it has lots of dramatic effect but surely for practical purposes the hand or a non-vital area would have been just as good. Or maybe just a tiny pinprick or maybe just hold it close. Anderson are you making everything pointlessly dramatic."
"Not everything," the acclaimed author replied. "If I was writing this scene I would have written a decent speech and not that excrement that you were spewing."
"There was nothing wrong with my speech," Shirou said. "And don't think I didn't notice the compulsion to actually enter Satsuki's room. You somehow wrote me into this scene."
"Do you actually object," Anderson said. "Your grievances have all the weight of worthlessly barking dogs. You had the knowledge and you were rapturous to divulge it."
"Well I'm not really that upset," Shirou admitted. "I'll forgive you completely if you write me appearing in the nick of time in a future scene."
"That's not how my Noble Phantasm works," Anderson stated. "But I will make an attempt."
xxx
Satsuki woke up on the floor to the sight and feel of icy mist surrounding her. Her chest ached and burned causing her to silently resolve never to do that again. Putting her hands on the floor to push herself up she realised that she lay upon crumbling cold dirt. Standing upright she noticed that she was surrounded on all sides by the cold semi-condensate substance that chilled her bones. Reaching out to gather mana and use a light spell she realised to her embarrassment that there was not a drop of mana in the surrounding area.
"Obviously there is no mana," she thought to herself. "This is the Depletion Garden." She took a step forward and was forced to jump backwards as the ground crumbled revealing blackness beneath the space where her foot was. "Or what's left of it," she thought to herself silently ignoring the irony of depletion garden running out of juice.
She could feel the world decaying around her as she trudged through the empty world breathing in the freezing air. "Let me think," she said. "My original power was based on my self-image as a helpless newcomer to the world. Its function was to weaken those around me to make everybody feebler."
She walked forward as for the first time in a long while she contemplated herself. "I no longer see the world that way," she said even as the world continued to further fall apart. "My goal for such a long time has been to obtain strength so that I could stand next to Arcueid and Shirou… or Sumire," she said her voice momentarily weakening due to the freshness of the wound. I wouldn't accept a power that made everybody weak." The entire world trembled and Satsuki easily maintained her footing. "But what attracted me to them," she contemplated. "I think… I think it was because they represented everything I wasn't at the time. Strong and powerful but also free. They didn't have to drink blood and kill. They ruled their instincts and I was the opposite."
She stared at her hands. "I've always been told I have potential," she whispered to herself. "But I've never been able to match the three of them."
"That's the thing with potential," a voice suddenly called out through the mist. "It is a lot like money. No matter how much you have it is utterly useless until you use it. For all your latent power you have not chosen a direction in which to develop it."
From the fog another version of Satsuki stepped out. She wore her old school uniform and had blood red eyes causing Satsuki to instantly go on her guard. "Good instincts," the doppelganger said displaying fangs in her mouth. "It's pointless though since I lack the ability to harm you."
"What are you," the original Satsuki said showing understandable wariness towards her vampiric doppelganger.
At this the doppelganger laughed, "What am I," she said. "We're in your Reality Marble. What do you think I am?"
"Some remnant of the virus that Shirou wasn't able to eliminate," Satsuki answered back with no hesitation. "Whatever you are I want no part of you."
"Oh, don't you," Doppelganger Satsuki said. "You say that even as you partake in the advantages that come from me."
"Advantages," Satsuki queried not losing her guard.
"Yes Shirou removed the bloodlust and weakness to water and brought you closer to humanity in the operation. However you still had enhanced strength and speed that stuck despite being weakened. Why do you think that was?"
"You," Satsuki replied coolly analysing the situation. "So I absorbed some of the traits from you that doesn't mean I am an apostle."
"No it doesn't," the twin admitted. "Due to Shirou's surgery you were able to isolate the Dead Apostle and contain it. But it was only due to your innate power that you were still able to take on only your preferred attributes.
"Is that my Reality Marble," Satsuki asked trying to steer the conversation towards her objective.
"Not yet," false Satsuki said. "To take in the traits of other beings and store them while still being you. It is the ultimate expression of potential, nothing less than the ability to have all the abilities. A Reality Marble reflects its bearer's madness. If you want to recreate your Reality Marble like this then two things must be required," the double said inspecting Satsuki.
"First you will never stop improving yourself. Every second of every day you will be stricken with a desire to improve yourself. You will desire to grow and evolve. Your current state of being will be a transient image. Your future will be an ideal you will never stop chasing."
"The second is that you will stop being human. I can already hear your thoughts screaming out to me stating that you haven't been human for a long time. This you know is a lie. If you choose to undertake this you will eventually forget how humans think and you will lose the ability to gain any human acquaintances. Humanity will become a stranger to you."
The red-eyed Satsuki stepped back and smiled. "These are the two charges that you would suffer for obtaining this power. Choose," she said folding her arms over her chest.
Satsuki opened her mouth to accept and paused. The power that lay in front of her was enormous but the costs were equally as great. If she chose this power, would she forever be a machine seeking to change herself every day? Would all her relationships suffer, by taking this choice she was already fated to lose her connection to humanity, but would the day come when Shirou, Arcueid and Sumire would give up on her. She gritted her teeth feeling the enamel grinding. She wanted power but was the loss of freedom worth it. How terrible would it be to have to go through life dealing with those instincts every day?
Her hands dropped to her side as she had an epiphany. "You bastard," she yelled at her clone. "Those costs are not that strenuous." This was true. Satsuki had been dealing with both of these for the past few years as she tried to attain strength each day while maintaining her connection to humanity.
"If Arcueid can resist drinking blood then I can resist the madness," she said. "Life is not only comprised of absolutes. I can be more than my Reality Marble. Do it," she said staring at her doppelganger.
Clap, clap, clap. The noise resounded throughout the misty expanse as her doppelganger clapped her hands enthusiastically together. After about ten seconds she stopped clapping. "Well done," she said. "You showed some good resolve and despite inconveniencing me that is something that I can appreciate."
"What about my new Reality Marble," Satsuki said still staring at the other her.
"Why are you asking me," the doppelganger said. "Look around you." To Satsuki's mild surprise she started to notice the changes. "Patches of grass had sprung out from the dirt, the air began to warm slightly and the mist began to thin. "Your determination is what creates your Reality Marble, not me. You have accepted who you are and what it means. Look over there."
A wiry thin tree stem grew out from the soil. Somehow despite its young appearance Satsuki got a sense of its importance. As she set eyes on it however a sharp jolt of pain rocked her chest and reverberated through her insides sending her to her knees.
"The centre of your Reality Marble is that tree," the doppelganger said not paying Satsuki any attention. "You know this is the last time I will ever be able to contact you once your Reality Marble is awake." The girl clicked her fingers and smiled let me give you a present before I go away for good. She looked back and noticed Satsuki kneeling in pain. "Changing the layout of your entire soul may hurt a bit," she said in response to Satsuki's unspoken question. "It's not rocket science."
At those last words she walked up to the still growing stem crouched down over it and in one movement slit her throat. Satsuki's eyes widened as she took in the violent sight in front of her and she could suddenly feel the tree lapping up the blood eagerly.
Suddenly the body of the other Satsuki fell down to the ground and her lifeblood continued to leak into the earth around the tree.
"Well this is the end of the road for me," she said to the horrified Satsuki, somehow managing to talk with her throat slit. "You now properly possess my blood. I saw something special in you and I know you will do countless spectacular things. Under other circumstance I would have been happy to give you the name of Brunestud."
With that last sentence the corpse fell silent to the floor and Satsuki soon joined it.
xxx
Within an instant of Satsuki reappearing in her bedroom Shirou had discarded his light meal and was holding her unconscious form and analysing her from top to bottom.
"Huh," he said after about thirty seconds of scanning and rescanning. "That is different. Nine," he said calling out to his servant.
"Yes, Master," his servant replied appearing by his side.
"Watch over her as she sleeps," Shirou said taking a look outside at the dusk light. "Please call me when she wakes. "I'm willing to bet she has some spectacular stories to tell."
Author Note: Happy Easter or equivalent holiday everybody.
stevesgaming87: That is the problem with doing it by yourself. It is very hard to edit your own work and determine whether something is correct or not. If enough people complain I will attempt to get a beta reader but until then I can only try to make less mistakes.
Albertrojas: Len is somewhere about keeping her usual low profile. The problem with Len at the moment is that there is no conceivable job she can do. Shirou doesn't want her to interfere with his dreams. He is taking advantage of the dream cycle. Even this chapter when Ishtar warned him about it he decided against asking for her help.
adislt: Yes Shirou did but he also recovered his memories when he was ten. The problem with that situation is that it was not a debate. Instead it was two angry people taking frustrations out on each other.