Mirari Moon Wars – Chapter 4: No Choice but to Fight
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Without a word between them, the two Archers, Shirou and Rin made their way into Shirou's home.
Oh man this is bad. Shirou thought as he followed Rin. She's must be really pissed since she's not asking me to lead…
The female Archer followed close behind him carefully watching Rin's movements. The wound on her left shoulder was still visible.
Archer said that she was a Servant. I'm not entirely sure what that makes her, but I'm pretty sure that the guy, Lancer and the man in red with Tohsaka are similar.
"Is there something on your mind Shirou?" Archer asked as she cocked her head to the side with an intrigued look upon her face.
"It's nothing, Archer." Shirou replied with his hands up in mock surrender as he turned back towards Rin.
"Wow, this place is pretty big. I'm not used to this Japanese style." Rin said before walking into a darkened room, "Oh, is that the living room, Emiya-kun?"
Shirou let out a sigh which caused Archer to chuckle.
"Not used to having girls over eh, Shirou?" Archer said teasingly.
"Eh?" Shirou replied questioningly as he looked at her pale smiling face before taking a step back as he felt his face turn a light red, "Well…I…er…"
Archer chuckled at her master's misfortune, right as Rin turned on the light in the living room.
"Oh god, it's so cold. Why are all the windows broken?" Rin cried out from the living room.
Shirou and the female Archer servant stepped inside to see a shocked, shivering Rin standing by the sofa.
"I couldn't help it. I was attacked by Lancer's master and I was desperate." Shirou explained as he tried to defend himself against the girl he adored.
"Oh so you were fighting them before you summoned Archer." Rin asked as she held her coat close to her to get warm.
"I didn't really fight them." Shirou explained before hanging his head in disappointment, "It was more like they beat me up."
Rin smiled in silent approval.
"Oh so you don't try to show off huh?" She spoke with her cheeks reddening, "…I see, I see. You're really just as you appear, Emiya-kun."
Casually walking over to the broken window where Lancer's master kicked me through, Rin looked at it before picking up a piece of it…
"…Minuten vor SchweiBen." She chanted before cutting the tip of her finger a putting a drop of blood on the broken shard.
Within seconds, the shards of the shattered window recombined and restored itself.
"Tohsaka, that was…" Shirou began to say.
"It was just a small demonstration." Rin stated nonchalantly and interrupting Shirou, "It won't be enough to repay you for saving me, but I have to do at least this much."
Archer chuckled to herself as she walked towards the kitchen and started making tea.
"…Well, I'm sure that you would've fixed it even if I hadn't, but that'd be just a waste of magical energy, right?" Rin continued talking as she tried to rationalize her actions, "I mean, all you'd have to do is replace the window, but we don't want to talk in the cold, do we?"
"What I was going to say was that was amazing. I can't do that sort of thing, so I'm glad that you fixed it." Shirou stated plainly.
Rin blinked a few times as she tried to take in what he had just told her.
"What do you mean: you can't do that sort of thing?" Rin stated with a surprised look on her face, "Handling glass is elementary and restoring glass that has only been broken for a few minutes is like a simple admission test for school."
"Oh, so that's how it is? I was only taught by my father, so I don't know the basics or even the elementary stuff." Shirou informed Rin, causing her to freeze.
The room was so eerily quiet that you could hear the sound of three heartbeats when Archer burst into laughter.
"I can't believe that Shirou said that." Archer said before laughing again.
Rin however went cold.
"So you're saying that you're just an amateur who can't even run their own workshop." Rin stated with her arms crossed.
"What? I don't have a workshop." Shirou stated growing more embarrassed as his idol looked at him like a complete moron.
A bead of sweat ran down Rin's face as she looked at Shirou with a mixture of embarrassment and disappointment.
"So you don't know how to handle the five main elements or make a Pass?" Rin asked.
"What?" Shirou asked.
"So what are you, just an amateur?" Rin stated, obviously annoyed.
"That's not true. I can use strengthening magic." Shirou countered, trying to improve his image with Rin even a little bit.
"Strengthening Magic?" Rin stated as she raised her left eyebrow, "...That's an awfully odd magic. So you can't do anything other than that?"
"Well, to be honest, probably not." Shirou stated sheepishly beneath Rin's glare.
"Geez, how did a guy like that summon one of the three knight-class servant…" Rin muttered with a sigh.
Shirou's hands tightened into a fist as his temper flared beneath Rin's words.
"Well, I guess it doesn't make any difference anyway. There's no point in complaining anyway about what's already happened." Rin stated with disappointment. "More importantly, I have to payback my debt right now."
Taking a breath to steady her nerves, Rin took her heavy academy jacket off and draped it over the couch.
"Well, I'll begin." Rin stated as she sat down on the couch, "Emiya-kun, you don't know what sort of situation you're in right now, correct?"
Shirou nodded.
"I've made tea for you guys." Archer called out as she came out carrying a tray with three tea cups and a tea pot.
"Thank you, Archer." Rin said as she took her a tea cup from the tray, getting momentarily distracted.
The male Archer turned back into human form.
"This is getting confusing, Rin." He stated plainly, "Since there's two of us Archer servants…"
"One of us needs a different name." The petite female archer stated quickly.
"Exactly." Her male counterpart replied.
"Okay…" The female Archer stated as she set the tray on the small table in the living room and walked to stare out the window deep in thought.
"As I was saying Emiya-kun, since you have no idea about your situation I'll be blunt. You have been chosen as a Master." Rin explained before taking a sip of her tea. "This is good tea. Well you should have a holy mark engraved on either one of your hands or your arm. There should be three command seals. That is the sign of a master."
Shirou raised his arm to show her the three symbols on his left hand.
"Yes." Rin stated before continuing, "That is also a spell that controls your Servant, so take care of it. It's called a Command Seal and as long as you have that, you can retain control of your servant."
Shirou looked at Rin with confusion.
"What do you mean by 'as long as I have it'?" Shirou stated plainly.
"The Command Seals enforces unconditional obedience." Rin replied, "What I'm saying is those three marks on your hand can overrule your servant's will and will force them to obey you command. There's no spell needed to activate it and all you have to do to activate it is put your mind to work. However, you'll be killed if you lose all your Command Spells, so be careful."
Shirou stood up in surprise.
"What…I'll be killed!" Shirou asked.
"That's right. Masters killing other Masters is fundamental to the Holy Grail War and the Master who kills the other six receives the Holy Grail." Rin said before taking another sip of the tea. "This is really good, Archer."
"What?" Shirou asked sounding like a broken record.
"You still don't get it?" Rin said before sighing, "Basically, you've been dragged into a game. A survival game called the Holy Grail War. A battle royale between seven masters all fighting over the chance to be given the Holy Grail."
Shirou looked at the two Servants in the room in confusion.
"Wait. What are you talking about all of the sudden?" Shirou stated obviously feeling uncomfortable with the thought of killing.
Rin set her tea cup on the table before standing up.
"I understand how you feel but I'm just stating the facts for you." Rin stated diplomatically, "Besides you should already know deep down. Having been nearly killed by that servant and his master twice already, you should already know that you're in a situation that you can't run from."
Shirou looked down solemnly.
"Oh, that's wrong." Rin stated with a sly look on her face, "The fact is that you weren't almost killed, you were killed. I'm still surprised you're in the land of the living."
Shirou grasped at the wound on his chest as if contemplating something.
"Do you finally get it? This is your situation. You can't run away because you don't know anything. But you're prepared, since you're a magus, right? We are beings that kill and are killed."
"How did you know that I was killed by Lancer?" Shirou asked after a few seconds.
Rin suddenly looked embarrassed as she averted her eyes and covered her face.
"Damn, I got caught up in the moment." She said before stating, "That was just a guess. Forget about it, it's meaningless."
"It's not meaningless, someone certainly…" Shirou quickly stated.
"I said drop it. Your main concern should be grasping the situation you are in and then trying to figure out how to remain here in the land of the living." Rin answered angrily, "Face it or not, you are one of the Seven Masters in the Holy Grail War."
Walking away from the couch she begins her lecture.
"Look every few decades, seven masters are chosen in this town and given a Servant. The Master uses his servant to kill the other Masters. This ritual is called the Holy Grail War."
"As you can see, I'm also a Master. That's why I've made a contract with a Servant and you somehow summoned an Archer servant. It doesn't seem like you summoned Archer yourself, but Servants are given to Masters by the Holy Grail. So it is possible that even an ignorant magus like yourself could be chosen."
"Hold on a second, you say that Archer is a familiar, but I'm not buying it." Shirou stated before looking at the female Archer in by the window, "I was taught that familiars are things like cats and birds. Well, I have heard that some use human ghosts, but Archer has a body and besides she doesn't look anything like a familiar."
"Familiar, huh? Well Servants are in that category but they are on a whole different level." Rin stated before pulling some hair out of her face, "That girl, Archer, by the window is a Ghost Liner considered to be the strongest of all familiars."
"Ghost liner? You mean she's really a ghost?" Shirou stated suddenly horrified by that prospect.
"A ghost? Well yeah, they're similar but Archer will kill you if you compare her to that." Rin said before sighing, "Servants are heroes from the past given bodies. Beings surpassing humans, they are more like spirits or kami."
"Heroes from the past, given bodies?" Shirou said as he cocked an eye brow in disbelief.
"That's right they are legendary heroes that have been pulled from the past or present or whenever and given a body. This is would be impossible for any magus to give a shape to a spirit, so we have a powerful artifact aid us."
"Wait, by 'heroes of the past' you mean." Shirou said as he stared in the female Archer's direction before continuing, "That's impossible, I've never heard of such magic."
"Of course not. This isn't magic. Think of it as a phenomenon created by the Holy Grail. It's impossible to recreate a soul and give it a body without it."
"Recreate a soul?" Shirou asked before stating, "So Archer isn't a ghost?"
"No haven't you ever heard that anything that leave behind any great achievement get removed from the circle of reincarnation and turned into a being of higher rank?" Rin asked as if stating something that was common knowledge, "Heroic spirits are like that. To put it in layman terms, they've been worshipped and made into artificial gods. 'Ghost Magic' such as supplicating ghosts use Heroic Spirits to make miracles happen. But the Servants are familiars made from the Heroic Spirits themselves. So they accompany you in spirit form and if needed take a solid form to fight for you."
"So you can give them form or keep them in spirit form?" Shirou restated the obvious, "That guy over there," he said as he pointed to the white haired guy sitting on the couch, "escaped earlier by going into spirit form, right?"
"Yup." Rin stated before looking at her Servant, "Why aren't you keeping watch!"
"Well, I was trying to figure out what to call the other Archer…" The man stated.
"Get on the roof and keep an eye on things, I don't want to get surprised again." Rin ordered her servant causing him to stand up and disappear into spirit form. "As you probably figured out, the only ones who can defeat a Servant is another Servant. Well we can attack them if they take form, so we might be able to defeat them. But that's unlikely since they are like monsters, so let the monsters deal with the other monsters while we support them from behind."
Shirou grimaced at the idea of hiding behind the petite girl by the window.
"Anyways, someone who becomes a Master must kill all the other Masters with his Servant. Do you understand so far?" Rin stated getting more and more annoyed as time progresses.
"…Technically, yes. But I'm not convinced. To begin with who started such a thing and why?" Shirou asked.
"That's not something that I know about, nor should I answer. That's a question that you should pose to the person overseeing the Grail War." Rin stated before picking up her jacket and donning it, "Come on I'll take you to see him."
"But it's really late." Shirou stammered out.
"Well you're the one who wanted to know the reasons behind the Grail War and its Sunday so we can afford to stay up late. It's only in the neighboring town, if we hurry we might get back before dawn." Rin stated.
"No that's not the problem." Shirou replied.
"So you're not coming? What about you Archer?" Rin said as she turned to the female Servant by the window.
"What? Oh sorry, I zoned out for a second." The female Archer stated before turning to face Rin, "I think that would be a great idea, but from now on you guys should call me, Archerko. You know, to avoid confusion with your Servant."
"Why Archerko?" Rin and Shirou asked at the same time.
"It's easy to remember, and…" She stated before smiling, "It sounds cute, like me."
"And I thought my Archer was cocky…" Rin stated with a sigh.
"The student learns from the master." Archerko stated before looking down at the clothes that she was wearing, "Well I'd better change into something more casual, gehem."
There was a bright flash of light and the clothes that she was wearing was gone and in its place were a pair of black dress pants with a fancy looking violet button up shirt and a black tie underneath the shirt's collar. A pair of black dress shoes completed the ensemble.
Shirou and Rin blinked as they stared in both amazement and surprise at Archerko's outfit.
"How in the world…" They said at the same time.
Archerko walked over to the glass window and began checking her appearance in the reflection.
"That's acceptable." Archerko stated before bringing her finger to her lip, "Something is missing, oh I need a coat. Gehem."
Without warning a non-descript white coat appeared around Archerko's shoulders and covering her body.
"Tacky but it'll do for now." Archerko stated before turning back towards Shirou and Rin who were still shocked by the girl's magic. "Aren't you guys ready yet, we should get going."
Rin looked at Archerko with intrigue. Just who are you, Archerko? She wondered as she turned to walk towards the door.
Shirou shrugged and followed Rin out of the house with Archerko taking up the rear.
Twenty minutes had passed as Rin, Archerko, and Shirou silently made their way towards the bridge to Shinto.
"Why isn't your servant taking her spirit form?" Rin whispered to Shirou causing him to shrug.
"I've got no clue." He replied before asking, "Archerko why aren't you in spirit form?"
Archerko smiled before replying, "I didn't want to, I missed being alive and walking around with you two allows me to remember some people who were really dear to me."
"People dear to you?" Shirou asked as the bridge came into view, "What kind of hero were you when you were alive?"
"Does it really matter?" Archerko replied angrily before looking towards the bridge, "We can talk of this later. So let's go see this fake priest."
Suddenly, without warning, Rin stopped and turned around to face Archerko, her cobalt eyes staring down the white-haired Servant.
"How did you know we were going to see a priest?" Rin asked without reservation as she crossed her arms. "I didn't say anything to you and I know that Emiya-kun didn't have a clue. So how did you?"
Archerko closed her mouth and hung her head.
"Looks like I can't fool you at all Lady Tohsaka…" Archerko stated before bringing her head up to smile at Rin, "This is the second time that I've been here and frankly I've met the priest before." Archerko casually walked past Rin as she took Shirou's arm she said, "But don't ask me anymore questions about my life, because it is none of your business."
Rin turned around and stared at the backs of Archerko as she started to escort Shirou down the street. So you want to play like that, Archerko? Rin thought as she smirked, Well two can play that game…
"Perhaps it is a good thing that you don't wish to talk about your life, perhaps if Shirou knew about your past he wouldn't want you." Rin said causing Archerko to stop dead in the midst of the street. Letting go of Shirou's arm, Archerko turned to face Rin with cold eyes.
"Are you trying to pick a fight with me Rin?" Archerko stated plainly before smirking as she asked, "Or are you jealous of me?"
Rin's temper flared towards the Servant.
"Why you…" Rin growled.
"Archerko, Rin please don't fight you guys." Shirou said as he stepped into the crossfire of the two women.
"She started it." Both Rin and Archerko said at the same time as she turned towards Shirou.
All of a sudden a voice called from a side street beside them.
"Are you done talking?"
Everyone turned to face the spectator, a small aristocratic-looking girl with long white hair standing beside a dark giant with bulging muscles.
Sweat began to drip down Archerko's face, as she looked at the giant.
"Berserker." Both Rin and Archerko stated.