Rin woke up to an altogether too familiar ceiling. It wasn't that she disliked the aesthetics of the house, or even its occupants, she contemplated as she slipped out of bed and made her way to the closet which contained a selection of her clothes that she had taken from her house. The problem was that Rin Tohsaka was a naturally proud and independent woman and even with all the good arguments for staying over sticking in her head the fact that she was relying on the goodwill of a classmate irked her. Especially since that classmate was Shirou Inke.
Rin did not like Shirou Inke. Despite obtaining very good grades rivalling her own he seemed to mock the concept of an honour student. The numerous times he didn't show up for school as well as his disposition whenever he did turn up gave the impression of a man who seemed to treat the whole experience as a joke, a person who appeared not to care about his future at all. Apparently everything she had known about her classmate had been a façade. Despite his outwardly flippant appearance he was a Magician, or at least a far superior magus, at her age. The list of his actual friends was also just as staggering; in the last few days she had seen him be friends with the White Princess and both that girl Satsuki as well as his butler Nine were obviously also powerful non-humans from what little she had seen of them. His offhanded comments about some of the things he had seen and done had put his acts of truancy in quite a different light and Rin was forced into the position of having to revaluate her acquaintance.
Gawain chivalrously left the room as she started to change from her pyjamas into her casual clothes. Now changed, she took a brief look outside and to her surprise she found it was unusually dark. Taking a brief look at the smiling cat clock that hung on her room she noticed that the timepiece displayed a time of four 'o clock. Rubbing the sleep from her eyes she noticed that the despite the early hour and the exertions of the prior night she felt completely awake.
Sighing Rin briefly brushed her hair and headed downstairs. While she wasn't comfortable commandeering Shirou's kitchen, especially given the fierce battles that were generally fought over its custody, there was a communal coffee maker that was kept in the dining room that she had taken advantage of the past few days. Gawain followed behind her as she headed downstairs to the dining room.
However before she had even reached the coffee machine she stopped as a strong and yet unfamiliar smell hit her nostrils. Moving forward again slowly she slipped into the dining room and was confronted by a sight that caused her eyes to widen. Sitting at the dining room facing away from her was Shirou dressed in a black trench coat, an item of attire that was unusually different from his school uniform or the mottled grey shirt and pants that he wore out at night. The table at which he sat was littered with empty bottles of alcohol. Despite Rin's relatively little experience with the stuff she was able to tell that the amount would have easily kill an ordinary human.
"Hello Rin," he said as she entered the room and the magus was slightly startled to hear how clear his voice was, despite the copious amounts of empty bottles around him. "You're up early today," he said continuing and Rin noticed vaguely that there was a slight lilt missing from his tone that caused his words to sound far flatter than usual.
"Not early enough to be able to see you sober," Rin retorted trying to ignore the wrongness of the atmosphere. "What is with your clothes anyway," she continued as she watched him turn to her revealing black pants and a shirt as he did so.
"They belonged to my father," Shirou said glaring bemusedly down at his get-up as he did so. He stood up without a hint of inebriation and walked up to a cabinet in the side of the room. A snap of his fingers and the door unlocked to reveal an interior stocked with bottles and bottles of liquor.
"Hey," Rin said as she stared worriedly at a man who seemed very determined to drink himself to death. "We still need you to fight the Grail War. You can't do that while drunk."
Shirou just gazed at the magus with some hint of amusement. "Drunk? Rin, really? I'm barely sozzled," he said smiling. Swiping two glasses off a nearby cabinet he poured a glass of a clear liquid into both and settled down into his seat holding one glass and placing the other on the table away from him.
"I don't drink," Rin said immediately.
"If this war keeps its course we'll have you drinking by the end of it," Shirou said draining his glass. "Does your servant want anything?" he continued gesturing to the space where Gawain stood dematerialised.
"You can see him," Rin remarked to herself. She hadn't heard of any magecraft that would have been able to detect a servant. Of course if Shirou was what she thought he was then he would have more than just magecraft to detect her servant.
"Perks of being a magician," Shirou said anticlimactically confirming her suspicions but a seed of doubt remained within her mind.
"When you say the word magician," she started.
"I possess a True Magic Rin," Shirou said seriously. "I'll admit it was fun seeing your face when I did my magic tricks but I never once lied."
Rin's thoughts went a million miles an hour as she processed this information. She had actually correct; Shirou had been a Magician since middle school. She silently revaluated her classmate and decided that it didn't really matter much in the face of this Holy Grail war.
"If you're not going to drink and your servant is not going to drink then I will have it," Shirou said downing the other glass with barely any restraint. His right hand shook minutely as he set the glass down on the table but the shaking was enough to draw Rin's gaze to the changes in his body.
"Are those scales?" the young magus said confusion evident in her voice. As she looked closer at Shirou she noticed that there were also slight indications of scales on his face and down his neck.
Shirou sighed deeply and reclined in the chair. Swivelling the chair to face Rin and her invisible servant he flexed his hand and a bottle flew into it. Popping open the cork he poured himself a glass of a deep red liquid.
"Rin," he said. "Did I ever tell you about my father?"
"I don't think we were ever close enough to have this conversation," she said carefully. "You never struck me as the kind of person to just blurt out these sorts of things."
"You refuse to leave me alone and you refuse to drink," Shirou said and with a wave of his hand water coalesced into the frozen form of a chair. Rin started to sit on it but stopped as she felt the cold radiating from it. Wisely she decided to stand and see where Shirou was going with this topic.
"My father's name was Kiritsugu Emiya," Shirou said taking a swig of his wine. "At one point he was the most feared assassin in the moonlight world." Shirou's words were hollow and without inflection as if he was reciting a grocery list rather than divulging a somewhat sordid past. "Honestly while I loved the man and will be forever grateful for what he did for me, if I met him on the street for the first time I probably would have killed him." He focused on Rin again ignoring the sheen of sweat on the forehead of the Tohsaka heiress. "Kiritsugu made it his life's goal to be a hero and save as many lives as possible. He lived by a cold equation, weighing all lives as equal and always discarding the lighter total. In some ways despite always having good motives he was always as big a monster as some of the magi he killed."
"But you said he only killed evil magi," Rin protested. "He only killed magi that crossed the line."
"Where is the line Rin?" Shirou asked. "Personally I do not regard you as a proper magus." Cutting off Rin's indignant reply he continued. "I do not regard anybody who has not yet committed an atrocity as a proper magus." Shirou poured another glass of wine and handed it to the female magus. "Drink," he said with such a tone of command that Rin had it to her lips before she could even think of refusing.
At his expectant look she took a small sip and a pleasant warmness seeped down her throat. She took another tentative sip as she watched Shirou take a box out of his pocket and lay it down on the table.
"What is that?" she said glancing down at the small wooden box.
"A small wooden box," Shirou said with a trace of humour that quickly faded. "It contains the Barthomeloi crest," he said responding to Rin's unanswered question.
"What are you going to do with it," the young magus said trying to wrap her head around the fact that an item this prestigious was just lying on the table in front of her.
"Either return it to the family or destroy it," Shirou said flippantly causing Rin's eye to twitch at disbelief and annoyance. "On one hand the Barthomeloi family are persistent hunters of Dead Apostles and have done more to hold back the scourge than any other family in existence. On the other hand they are the head of the magus community and thus are somewhat responsible for the cruelties committed by magi of the association."
At Shirou spoke there was a constant undercurrent of frustration in his voice but by the end of it he just appeared tired. "Isn't this a joke, Rin? Magi kill vampires and Magi become vampires and both prey on humans. It's such a fucked up system and that's not even the worst part." Shirou looked Rin dead in the eyes and vermillion bored into azure. "The worst part is that it is simply a symptom of how badly humanity is failed. Ultimately in the end Dead Apostles and Magi were both human that lost their morals and started to oppress their fellow humans. That is the worst part of Kiritsugu's dream," Shirou said sounding bitter. "It's pointless saving humans because they just turn around and kill each other. Killing half of the people to save the other half doesn't matter if it is the wrong half."
Shirou had been getting more worked up as he continued his rant but as soon as he finished he collapsed back into the chair. The room remained silent for a while but then an interruption came from an unexpected source.
"You're incorrect," Rin's servant said materialising by his master.
"Saber," Rin said, more out of surprise than anger.
"Master, please forgive me, but I cannot let his misconception go uncorrected," the servant said. At Rin's tentative nod he continued. "I agree that indiscriminate killing is not the way to save the world," he said seriously. "Humans have in this age conquered all other phantasmal beasts and even Gaia herself. The one thing that they have yet to conquer is their own nature. That is also where your father failed. A hero does not have to kill monsters or save humans; there are many who do those things that cannot be considered heroes. A hero is a person who inspires others to follow in his footsteps. A hero is a person who shows other humans how they can be better. Humans do not need to be saved; they need to be encouraged to save themselves."
Quiet reigned over the room as Shirou and Rin stared at the blonde knight. Rin was wondering what set off the unusually quiet servant when Shirou suddenly let out a chuckle. "You know Kiritsugu participated in the last Grail War," he said causing both Rin and the servant's head to whip towards him. "The servant he summoned was also a blonde knight, about this tall," he said gesturing with his hand, "and had a sword very much like your own. I was just wondering if that was the person who inspired you," Shirou said smiling widely as he put down the glass of wine.
"Wait your father fought in the last Grail War," Rin said caught off guard by the new information. "Do you know…?"
"Sorry Rin," Shirou interrupted. "I've had enough about talking with the past for today. My father kept a journal of the events of the war. I'll look for it later." He turned towards the door. "Arcueid stop eavesdropping and come inside," he said and in less than an instant the True Ancestor stood in the room looking as if she had always been there.
"Sorry Shirou," the White Princess said. "I arrived halfway through and decided not to interrupt."
"Its fine Arcueid," Shirou said as he stood up from the chair. "I'm afraid to inform you that we are running out of time. Last night two of the grails that I created were destroyed." Arcueid nodded at that looking quite serious. "In addition I'm not sure what other damage was done during the night." Shirou slipped the box that contained the crest inside his pocket. "In particular I want to check on the church and track down Gilgamesh."
"Gilgamesh?" Rin asked recognizing the name of the oldest hero in history.
"He was a servant in the prior year war," Shirou explained dropping yet another revelation on the unamused magus. "He also possesses a tool that will help us with our dog problem."
"You mean Primate Murder," Arcueid said tilting her head. "Gil has a way to beat him?"
"Yup," Shirou said and he strode towards the door with Arcueid following him. "Wait," he said to himself while stopping. "I have two things I need to do before I leave. Get Nine to make you some breakfast or something."
"When you leave I'm coming with," Rin said while Arcueid nodded. "You may be a magician but you could still be outnumbered or taken by surprise. Besides I'm not entirely sure how sober you actually are."
Shirou smiled genuinely and Rin for the first time contemplated that he could be quite handsome if it wasn't for his terrible personality. "That's fine Rin," he said. "We'll go as two master/servant pairs. Arcueid, can I ask you to watch the house while we're gone? You're still the strongest in the house and the only defence if Primate Murder arrives."
The True Ancestor again nodded but she didn't look happy. "Alright," Shirou said as he stepped out of the room applying the concept of concealment to himself as he teleported to the room of his house's newest occupant. Appearing silently in the room he was slightly surprised and impressed to see a small reaction to his appearance as the enforcer who sat on the bed turned her head in his direction. However she quickly turned back to examining her gloves due to not seeing anything. Stealthily moving into her blind spot Shirou waited for the moment that she looked most immersed.
"Quite an interesting pair…" Shirou began but got no further. The blow came swiftly and while it wasn't quite at the level of a servant it was absolutely exceptional for a mere human. Catching the blow in his hand he nearly winced in pain as he realised that the blow hit with much more force than he expected. He observed the runes along her gloves and he realised them to be Celtic in origin and well applied.
"These are quite an interesting pair of gloves you have there," Shirou continued as if the interruption had not happened. "I see you're quite a competent enforcer and yet you don't carry yourself like Lorelei's private forces."
"I was requested for a mission here by the Vice-director," the woman said.
"The Vice-Director is dead," Shirou replied back indifferently. "Therefore there is no obligation to stay. What will you choose to do now?"
"I will stay and fight," the enforcer replied instantly. "If they win then many people will die. I may not be able to do much but…" Shirou cut her off by raising his hand.
"You're an incredibly skilled magus," he said. "One whose head is also sitting correct on her shoulders, there is no reason to put yourself down. I belong to a group of four masters and their servants. Feel free to take a walk around my house and converse with any of them. Try to get into a group. You really don't want to try going this war alone."
"What is your name anyway," the magus said causing Shirou to stretch his memory to determine if he had ever mentioned it. "Shirou Inke. "I'm first Gen," he said to the enforcers unspoken question. "And your name is?"
"Bazett Fraga McRemitz," the magus replied.
"A Fraga," Shirou said as he turned around and left the room. He idly wondered if she possessed the Fraga's legendary bloodline but decided that it wasn't any of his business unless she decided to join him on his excursions.
Moving on Shirou decided to meet up with Satsuki. His friend had asked him about the Mercury crystals and he surmised that whatever reason she had for wanting to examine them was due to Sumire. Even if Shirou could not think of a practical use for them didn't mean that the older Vampire could not. Checking the time Shirou winced as he realised how early it was. Satsuki was not going to be happy to be woken up at this time.
Sighing he shrugged his shoulders and decided to get it over with. Technically Satsuki was the person who asked for his help and he did not know how long his business today would take. Knocking on her door he was unsurprised to hear no response. A small amount of water coalesced from the air in front of him and with a wave of his hand it was inserted inside the lock. With one further twist of his hand the door unlocked and he slowly slid the door open.
Satsuki laid spread out all over the bed in a state of deep slumber. Half of the covers lay on the floor of the room revealing her cute blue pyjamas.
"Satsuki," Shirou called out to absolutely no response. "I have to talk with you Satsuki." He waited a few more moments but his friend barely stirred. "Satsuki wake up!" he said far louder and then waited to see no further response. Sighing Shirou conjured ice water above the bed and let it fall on her, or at least he attempted to. At the last moment the young Lunarian rolled out of the bed and landed on her feet facing Shirou in a ready stance. The thing that most annoyed Shirou was that her eyes were not even open yet.
"What, what's going on," Satsuki said opening her eyes and looking around frantically. Seeing the wet bed she focused on Shirou with an accusing look in her eye. "You tried to soak me," she said reproachfully
"It appears you have somehow gained Arcueids usual dislike of waking up in the mornings," Shirou said. "At least your reflexes have gotten better."
"Shirou, you better tell me why you woke me up right now or I swear to…"
"Yesterday you were asking about the crystals that I got from ORT," Shirou started cutting her off. "Follow me and I'll show you them to you."
Satsuki grumbled but she got out of bed. "I'll be out in a minute Shirou. I just have to change."
"Alright," the magician said. "Meet me in the pantry." And with that he turned around and left.
xxx
Ten minutes later Shirou was relaxing in the pantry that lay adjacent to the kitchen when Satsuki came walking in. She had dressed in a very practical jeans and a t-shirt and she looked like she had done something to her hair to try and hide the fact that she just woke up.
"Wow," she said as she scanned the shelves seeing their full-stocked stores of food. "I don't think I've ever been in here. But why would you store these crystals in the pantry. Shouldn't you store them in your workshop?"
"You mean the shed," Shirou began. "The shed has never been my workshop. It's the place I conduct experiments and store completed mystic codes that I don't mind people seeing. Arcueid and Sumire used to drop by all the time and even you showed up a few times. Have you ever seen a single scrap of my research notes," Shirou said as he walked towards a random selection of shelves. Holding up one finger he rubbed his thumb against the wooden ledge to reveal a selection of runes. Shirou touched a few of the runes and they lit up before briefly fading and a second later the floor shimmered to reveal a square hole.
"Only Nine and I ever come into the pantry," Shirou explained. "Please don't abuse your knowledge of the location of my workshop to intrude upon my research time in future."
"Why the secrecy Shirou?" Satsuki asked. "It seems uncharacteristically magus-like of you." Judging by the magician's facial expression it looked like she had hit a nerve.
"Honestly it's not really out of a desire to keep my research secret. More like I sometimes need time to myself to relax and do research." Shirou smiled sheepishly. "Honestly I really like you guys but sometimes I just need a break."
Satsuki nodded at his reason and then watched as Shirou jumped down the hole. It evidently wasn't very deep as within two seconds of jumping in Shirou was already calling her down. Satsuki acquiesced to his request and she quickly found herself in what appeared to be a white tiled and well-lit underground bunker. Multiple doors littered the room but Shirou didn't hesitate in guiding her to a blue door in the corner of the room.
He pushed the door and it opened without the need for key or password. Walking forward the sight that greeted the pair was enough to make Satsuki do a double take. The room was about six by six metres and half of it was covered in various flora that Satsuki only recognized a portion of. The other half of the room consisted entirely of crystallised vegetation.
"That is a lot of crystals," Satsuki remarked.
"The stuff has an inherent tendency to spread," Shirou revealed. "But there is a limit; otherwise it would have occupied earth long ago. When the proximity between Type-Mercury and the crystals passes a certain threshold the crystals will sharply decrease in toughness due to Gaia reasserting that the material cannot exist." Shirou walked up to the crystals and picked up a loose one before presenting it to Satsuki. "Can your Reality Marble get anything off of this?"
Satsuki picked the crystal up generating the primordial soup around it but the crystal didn't dissolve at all. "It's still not being damaged," she said. "Are you sure this has decreased in toughness."
"Trust me Satsuki, it's a lot weaker," Shirou said. He took back the crystal and Satsuki watched as ice formed over his hand and arms and his frozen fist pressed down upon the small crystal. After a few more seconds a shattering sound rang out and Shirou opened his hand to reveal crushed crystalline shards. "Can you get anymore DNA from this," he said.
Satsuki took the crystalline shards but she was still unable to feel anything with her reality marble despite bathing it in the liquid. At Satsuki's negative reply Shirou nodded. "The crystals that we have taken cannot be considered alive. Only when they are with ORT can they be considered to be part of a living creature."
"But Sumire had an entire creature made of crystal," Satsuki said. At Shirou's look of confusion she explained her confrontation with the monster yesterday.
"That's pretty impossible," the magician stated.
"I know what I saw Shirou," Satsuki said defensively.
"The crystals lack the programming to ever be able to act as a creature," Shirou announced. "They honestly have far more in common with a virus or a fungus than a living creature."
Satsuki's eyes widened as a thought hit her. "Could it be symbiotic," she said.
"Not outside the realm of possibility," Shirou said. "And after all once you have eliminated the impossible…"
Shirou didn't get to finish his sentence as an alarm sounded out through the compound at that point. Leaving Satsuki to her own devices he teleported up to the front door immediately. Placing his hand on the alarm panel by the door he checked the report from the alarm and shock ran through his veins as the words 'critically injured intruder' flashed through the screen.
Slamming open the door and running outside he was stopped dead in his tracks. Before him standing holding a briefcase with his one intact arm, but with most of his torso missing and his throat destroyed stood the unmistakable figure of Sherlock Holmes.
Author Note: Still busy at work. This story has started to fatigue me. But I'm on the final few days so... keep moving forward I guess.
Guest: I would argue that the word incoherent is too strong a word. I am well aware that this story is flawed. It's my first one and I've been writing a lot of chapters based on pure momentum. Still you say you enjoyed it so that counts as a win in my book.
Otaku97: His thoughts on the matter were mostly contained in this chapter. He actually has no need for anything that he could get from her corpse and defiling it would make him no better than a typical magus in his mind.
SentinalSlice: Shirou has actually witnessed a lot of concepts. He'll witness a few more before it's over. But he would not get along well with Emiya. Not to mention to release him from Alaya's contract he would have to physically invade Alaya's realm and track down the original Emiya. Not a walk in the park.
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