Satsuki drove her fist towards the multi-headed plesiosaurus-like monster driving her hand through skin of the creature and absorbing some of its sweet, sweet DNA. The creature had a split brain that was able to control the different cranial appendages with a dexterity that was unable to be replicated by the human brain. Immediately her body included the DNA and she found her nervous system reworking itself and improving itself.
"Looks like you doing pretty well there Satsu," the tanned Dead Apostle said relaxing on the back of what appeared to be a flying turtle. She wore sunglasses on her face and held an ice-cold glass of lemonade in her hand. Originally when Satsuki had seen her former mentor actually drink something non-alcoholic she had done a double take and had subsequently lost a hand to some sharp toothed eel-like creature. While the hand had partially grown back there were still a few fingers missing so Satsuki took the opportunity to show Sumire one of her fingers that were not missing.
Sumire just burst out laughing. "Not having fun their Satsu," she said chuckling to herself. "Come on you've got to tell me how you feel. How does absorbing all that fresh DNA feel?"
Satsuki's eyes widened. "How did you know?" she said.
"You weren't being very subtle," Sumire said as she set down her lemonade. "You have manifested thirteen different abilities in this five minute fight and all of them have been a weakened form of my creature's abilities. You're not plundering their concepts because quite frankly that is Shirou's domain, so you must be integrating their DNA and doing a very poor job of it."
"What are you talking about," Satsuki said before a painful tremor through her body sent her to her knees.
"That is what I'm talking about," Sumire said standing up. "Did you think that DNA was like Lego? Just take a block on and a block off. Not to mention that your base form is a phantasmal beast and operates on completely different laws of physics." The Dead Apostle Ancestor shook her head in abject disappointment. "That was sloppy Satsu. That was far too sloppy."
The Dead Apostle Ancestor looked to continue her speech when she suddenly grimaced and clicked her fingers manifesting a medium side sack from mid-air. She reached into the bag and withdrew a lime emerald that was brimming with power. In one movement she drained the prana from the gemstone and let out a satisfied breath.
"Honestly what the hell is that magician doing to my poor servant," Sumire said jokingly. "He's flipped into madness mode and that takes a hell of a lot of juice." Sumire paused for another moment and picked up another gemstone draining it of power. "This is going to be a bit of a bitch isn't it?" She idly picked up and drained another gem. "You have too many conflicting sources of DNA at the moment and they don't mesh well with each other and you incorporate the surface changes without taking into account subtle adaptations that allow the creature to survive." She picked out another handful of gems from the bag. "Goddammit Shirou."
Satsuki stood up while feeling the weakness in her muscles and bones. Somewhere in the middle of the fight she had realised that she now had an understanding of the DNA she had absorbed and basic knowledge of how it went together. But the truth behind Sumire's statement had hit her hard. Her body was physically tearing itself apart trying to keep all of the changes. Reluctantly she returned to her base form and felt the Lunarians natural regeneration kick in and restore her hand to normal.
"These creatures are valuable sources of DNA but I'm going to have to beat you with this form," Satsuki said. "Isn't that right Sumire."
"You should at least practice with it for a month before taking it into battle," the Dead Apostle Ancestor said before draining another gem. "Oh well, I guess I won't need these when I'm dead."
Satsuki darted forward at such speeds that she actually created a large wake behind her. Summoning the primordial ooze from her soul she flooded the creatures taking in their DNA but deliberately not integrating it into her body. There were many creatures that either avoided the goo or were not affected by it and Satsuki felt a hail of spikes in her body and a coursing numbness that her body informed was poison and recommended a better filtration system for. Satsuki sighed and swapped out her kidneys and liver for better improved variants. She felt that buzzing while doing that and became aware of the fact that her body was not coping with the additional improvements in structure as well as she originally believed.
"Wow Satsu, you're not doing too well, are you?" Sumire said hypocritically as she was still draining gemstones and popping the drained ones back in her bag. "I feel I should warn you that if you don't beat me soon you will be in a lot of trouble. I mean all this activity should stir some of the big ones up."
Satsuki's eyes widened and she propelled herself through the water as a chill of dread ran through her spine. The creatures she had fought were interesting and had some unique abilities and DNA but for the most part they were no match for the Lunarians physical form. Satsuki had no doubt that her former mentor was not lying about their being bigger creatures beneath the waves that hadn't been stirred up yet.
Leaping out of the water she twisted her body to avoid the strike of a snake like creature and with one swift kick to the head crushed its skull. Landing on the water she took off with a burst of such speed that Satsuki ran across the surface of the water. She dodged the strikes from tentacles, claws and fangs as she charged Sumire who was still standing on that turtle. Suddenly in front of her a segmented snake-like beast rose from the surface in front of her blocking the way forcing her to jump back and let her body drop beneath the surface. A serrated smile shone in its angular head that was larger than the majority of the beast that came from Sumire's ocean.
The creature suddenly roared and Satsuki was surprised to see the majority of the smaller creatures scatter before it. Immediately an answering roar rose and out of the depths another creature ascended to meet it. This creature had a blunt statue-like face on a human-like with an astonishing amount of eyes upon a narrow body. As Satsuki watched its narrow body cracked and splintered into an uncountable amount of tentacles with the ocular orbs causing it to look like a demented humanish jellyfish.
"Oh my gods, now you've done it now," Sumire said flatly placing her hand on her face. "You're even making me curse like Shirou, Satsu."
Without even looking at Satsuki the two monstrously sized titans started to duke it out amongst each other causing blood and viscera to drop down upon the seas.
"Is that normal," Satsuki asked Sumire, her face deadpan.
"Normal no," Sumire returned with her face equally deadpan. "Expected yes. You see Satsu, animals have instincts. And for many of the largest carnivores these instincts make them incredibly violent towards competitors. They sure are making a lot of noise. It won't be good if this continues."
"Feel like sharing the reason," Satsuki asked with a hint of apprehension in her voice.
"Oh, you'll find out," Sumire said ominously. "Or you'll kill me beforehand. Okay Shirou I've had enough," she yelled out tossing the bag of jewels on the back of the turtle. "Enkidu you're on your own."
"Enkidu?" Satsuki asked.
"My servant," Sumire answered instantly. "Alright you two," she yelled out to the giant monsters. When they didn't answer her Sumire sighed and clapped her hands causing large watery hands to arise from the ocean and grasp the two creatures by the neck dragging them down to Sumire's turtle. "Listen up you two, I brought you here to attack her. Not to attack each other now if you don't attack the…" Sumire paused for a moment. "Wait Satsuki what species are you."
"Lunarian," Satsuki replied ignoring the slightly surreal sight that was playing out in front of her eyes.
"Like in Touhou or Final Fantasy?" Sumire asked. "Nevermind attack the Lunarian or I'll skin both of you."
The threat seemed to stick as both creatures turned and focused on the young Lunarian. Satsuki swallowed and jumped up above the water immediately moving fast enough that she could stay on the surface. Countless tentacles from the second one honed on her flesh and she was caught briefly by a few before she floundered her way out of the mess. However the cuts burnt with poison not unexpectedly and a moment later she felt an impact on her whole body from the tail of the serpent that launched her hundreds of metres backwards and deep beneath the ocean waves.
"Good job guys," Sumire said. "Now what are you waiting for. Get after her." As the two massive sea monsters dove beneath the waves Sumire glanced up at the seas above her and took note of the fact that they were all churning and frothing.
xxx
Satsuki tumbled into the black abyss while feeling the pressure of the ocean above her. She had some experience in underwater fighting due to being friends with both Shirou and Sumire but her skills paled in comparison to those two. She felt a shift in the tides and she darted left to avoid being bitten in two by the serrated jaws of the serpent. Whipping her fist back she planted a heavy punch on the side of the creature's skull causing it to jerk to the side and disappear into the darkness again. Satsuki reached into her Reality Marbled pulling out the primordial ooze again and gasped.
The tentacles from the human-jellyfish creature raked her skin as she dodged them with barely any conscious thought. Her mind was stuck upon the strange DNA from the tentacle creature. It worked and yet it shouldn't. Every creature that Sumire had shown before could have been created by scientists in a lab with enough time and technology but somehow these creatures operated under different laws.
"Phantasmal beasts," the thought went through her head. These are beings that live in fantasy and don't conform to human rules. "That's why I couldn't copy Shirou's body earlier," the Lunarian mused to hersef. "But how can I do a Lunarian? They don't even live on the same planet. Maybe I was already part Lunarian when Roa bit me?" Satsuki shook her head. She was sure that Shirou would have a reason for it already prepared.
Dodging the assembled tentacles she shot forward through the water collecting a bunch of whatever substituted for DNA for phantasmal beasts for later study. She struck the statue-like face causing it to crack. Her instincts warned her and she dove avoiding the serpentine head that failed to stop in time and impacted the other creature and the fight between the two of them resumed.
Satsuki watched the two fighting for a few seconds before she remembered the ultimate objective. She kicked powerfully ignoring the fighting from the two enormous creatures below that painted the water red. In just a few moments she had ascended back up to the surface and she took a breath of the salty air.
"This kind of feels like being a cartoon villain," the voice of Sumire announced her presence from behind Satsuki causing the Lunarian to swivel to face the Dead Apostle Ancestor. "You know the kind with the incompetent minions. I'm actually slightly embarrassed," Sumire admitted. "I haven't had this Reality Marble enough to nail down the unthinking obedience."
Sumire strode forward on her turtle and she kicked off her flip-flops leaving her in only her bikini and sunglasses. Stretching she raised her hands towards the sea and a second later the two enormous creatures were suspended above the waves in a gargantuan pair of hands. The two creatures struggled and squirmed but they were unable to get free.
"What are you going to do to them?" Satsuki asked inquisitively unknowingly slipping into her apprentice manner of speaking.
Sumire smiled and pointed up towards the ocean that covered the sky. The entire surface of the water was choppy and dark and when the waves lowered Satsuki could see something underneath. It was something that dwarfed the two creatures that Sumire held aloft.
"They're going to be dinner," Sumire said smiling. Immediately the pair of hands ascended and held the pair of writhing creatures aloft. Satsuki watched horrified as a pair of giant crystalline claws arose from the water and grasped the two creatures dragging them into the depths. "You see Satsu. This side has a large variety of dangerous creatures but that side only holds one but it is far more dangerous than all of these combined." Sumire smiled nostalgically. "Did I ever tell you about the time that Shirou and I were almost killed by ORT?" At Satsuki's blank look Sumire continued. "Shirou was curious about the crystals in the valley and I was once friends with a Dead Apostle Ancestor that ORT had killed. Anyway the story is rather disappointing. We arrived, took some crystals. Shirou saw the creature and lost half his body before he could teleport away. I followed immediately after and Nine waltzed out of there with the other half." Sumire shook her head. "Say what you like about old Nrvnqsr. The essence of Chaos is damn hard to destroy. I don't even think the spider bothered."
Sumire shook her head at the absurdity of the memory. "Anyway we split the crystals and I cultivated that from them," She said pointing upwards at the sea that was sprouting more and more crab-like claws.
"What did Shirou create with his crystals," Satsuki asked. She was still on autopilot as she took in the scale of the creature. Just judging by the spacing of the beast it was at least one mile long.
"No idea," Sumire shrugged. "You know Shirou, he'll reveal his findings when it is suitably dramatic. Anyway the awakening of this creature is actually a limitation on me." Sumire smiled embarrassedly. "I am absolutely unable to control it. The only way I can even get rid of it is to leave my Reality Marble."
"You're not going to fight me with it," Satsuki said.
"What can you actually do towards it," Sumire asked inquisitively. "I can promise you that the creature has no DNA for you to steal."
Satsuki frowned. She still didn't fully understand her ability but she had a feeling it wasn't entirely reliant upon DNA.
"So where do we go from here," she asked the Dead Apostle Ancestor.
"I was just going to leave for tonight," Sumire said offhandedly. "We can meet tomorrow and settle our score. Think of it as putting off the rest of a gaming session for later."
"No," Satsuki said. "Not just that," she amended. "I do not want to have to kill you Sumire," she admitted. "I've thought about it and despite my betrayal you are my best friend. I don't want to… I don't want you to die." Despite her resolve tears still dripped from the Lunarians eyes and Sumire's face contorted in a pained experession.
"I'm sorry Satsuki," Sumire said with her voice barely above a whisper. "I was happy," she said giving a half-smiled. "These years I spent with you were the best since I first became a vampire long ago." Sumire's smile changed slightly and a bittersweet look appeared upon her face. "But it's my time," she said resolutely. "I want to pass on."
"Then why me?" Satsuki yelled out. "Why not Shirou or Arcueid? Those two would easily be able to put you out of your apparent misery."
"Because if you beat me Satsuki," Sumire said slowly drawing out every word. "Then it means you are strong enough to survive in this world. That is the only thing tethering me to the world at the moment."
Satsuki was struck speechless. She opened her mouth to say something. To say anything but the moment passed and Sumire vanished the fading remains of the park popping into view.
"Did you win," the voice of Shirou rang out through the night. He sounded tired and concerned, a far cry from his usual attitude.
"I didn't lose," Satsuki said. She turned and saw Shirou sitting in the park next to Gilgamesh. "Aren't you fighting?"
"Temporary truce," Shirou admitted and Satsuki noticed that his eyes were glowing red.
"Did you get bitten Shirou," Satsuki asked wondering if he had undergone a transformation to vampirism.
"Not that I know of," Shirou said. "I'm not like Zelretch who can somehow manage to become vampirised in the middle of a fight. I don't know why my eyes are red."
"I think it looks cool. And is that a Mecha," Satsuki said noticing what looked to be a giant suit of ice armour off to the side."
"It's my Ice 7 armour," Shirou admitted. "A trump card that I was forced to use in the fight."
"Ice 7," Satsuki mused. "Do you have six other Ice armours?"
"How much do you know about the molecular structures of ice?" Shirou asked.
"Not much," Satsuki replied instantly.
"Then yes it is my seventh attempt at making an armour of ice," Shirou said his voice dry. "Well deduced."
Satsuki smiled at Shirou's familiar nature then she turned towards serious topics. "Shirou I'm told you have a special crystal."
"I may have," Shirou answered cagily.
"I need to take a look at it," Satuski asked… No Satsuki demanded. There was no knowing the dangers that Sumire could do with that crystal.
Shirou nodded his head acquiescing to her req… demand. "Tomorrow," he said. "I need to rest a bit but there are still others fighting. If you still have energy you should go help them."
Satsuki nodded to her friend and headed out into the night the magician's eyes analysing her every step of the way.
Author Note: Not entirely happy with this chapter but I'm it's late and I feel like I need to upload something. I have a busy week ahead.
Thanks I corrected it
Sentinal Slice He saw a facsimile of a dragon that was a fragment of Tatari and he didn't witness it's lungs only its fire. Honestly the most simple solution would be to do what Sumire did and use jewelcraft but it goes against Shirou's pride to put time and effort into a jewel only to use it up and throw it away.
piddle Yes
Oblivion168 Non natural concepts to Shirou fade after a while as his subconscious automatically rejects them. It's because conceptually he identifies himself as [Shirou Inke] and any alteration will be erased as they are not part of [Shirou Inke].
FirstThaumaturgy The only way a god could survive would be to be conceptually or in actuality not a god. Could you see this Ishtar accept being forced into a human body or state of being.
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