AN: Alright, this chapter was exhausting to write. Longest piece of work I've written in a while. Big reveals and important character moments abound, and a major deviation from the main story! Let me know what you think of the characters and action scenes, because this is where things really begin to take off.
Sword of the Moon Princess: Ch 6
Shirou was watching his nightmare being recreated in the city he now called home. The fires lit up the horizon like an early sunrise. The screams were enough for his impulses to activate, the sirens encouraged him to rush towards the flames, but the sounds of beasts made his blood chill.
"Something's not right. I don't remember us having that many dogs in the city, especially dogs that could roar. Can any animal roar like that? No, it has to be a mage. Is it that woman from earlier? No, I can worry about that when I get there."
Shirou spun around and threw open his door, running down the stairs and already preparing to fire up his magic circuits. He was grabbing the doorknob when…
"Shirou, where do you think you're going?!" The sound of Akiha's distressed voice stopped him dead in his tracks. The girl stood at the top of the stairs, arms crossed and standing up tall in an attempt to look intimidating. It might have been somewhat effective if her eyes weren't red from crying earlier.
Hisui and Kohaku were watching from the top floor, their expressions being mirror opposites of each other. Hisui was worried, Shirou could tell from her twitching lips and flickering eyes, but she kept her face as passive as possible. Kihaku on the other hand seemed genuinely curious, yet her expression seemed cold and ruthless, almost as if she wasn't worried about safety, yet wanted to see how things played out.
Shirou knew he wasn't going to get off without at least a harsh scolding. "Look, I don't have time for this. People are dying out there and I have to…" he began.
"Stop right there Shirou," Akiha interrupted as she held up her hand. Shirou was ready to retort but stopped himself when Akiha sighed heavily. "I know I won't be able to stop you, so I'll let you go." Akiha glanced over at her maids and Kohaku nodded at the hidden words. "That is, if you promise me one thing." Shirou's eyes widened in disbelief, his head almost nimbly nodding as he listened to his sister's request. "Promise me you'll come back alive and safe."
Shirou opened his mouth to deny this request, but he knew couldn't. He wanted to tell Akiha that he couldn't promise his own life and safety. He wanted to tell her that the lives of countless innocents come first. But he couldn't do that. Not when Akiha looked like she was about to break down underneath her mask again.
He swallowed his words and answered her. "I promise you that I will survive and come back home." Those words seemed to strangle him on their way out, but the relieved sigh that came with Akiha's smile felt well worth it. Shirou might as well have been lying, but the lie took a burden off of his sister's shoulders.
Hisui and Kohaku shared a look, having a silent conversation of their own. But Akiha was the master of the house, and her word was law. She nodded to Shirou, and with her permission the wannabe hero shot off into the burning dawn.
After Shirou left Akiha shot a glare at Kohaku. "If this plan backfires I'm blaming you," she growled. Kohaku nodded with a smirk, seemingly taking the threat in stride. Hisui knew that something was wrong, her sister's expression chilling her to the bone.
Shirou knew he was walking into hell. That much was obvious. The closer he got to the flames the more the scent of something unnatural grew stronger. It smelled like a rotting corpse mixed in with the musk of a wild animal. But he knew it wasn't just the people and pets of Misaki. It registered on his supernatural senses, confirming that this incident was indeed magical in nature.
He could see them now. There were crowds of people gathering near the flames. They were running from the wall of glowing death, they were standing in shock looking at it, some were even running toward it. He could more clearly hear the screams mixed in with the cry of animals, even see some birds flying above the flames before diving down into the no doubt searing heat. "No animal should be near such a massive fire, let alone approaching it. Those birds aren't natural."
Shirou could see the perimeter around the spreading fire, red trucks, white trucks, black and white cars and bright uniforms formed a barrier between the citizens of Misaki and the growing inferno. Phones were out recording the spectacle as first responders made regular trips in and out of the fire, some carrying wounded citizens while others sported wounds themselves.
For Shirou it was a scene from hell. The smell of smoke and burning bodies, the sound of crumbling buildings and screaming people, the sight of bleeding and burnt bodies, it triggered something in his mind. Something pushed against the memories, fought to keep them suppressed, but they were ingrained in his mind.
He could see the flames reach into the sky as the building around him crumbled, feel the rubble crush his bones into fragments, smell the scent of burning wood and flesh, taste the smoke as it choked him to death, hear the screaming of slow and painful deaths. Then came one figure pulling him from the rubble and holding something bright in his hand. Shirou couldn't clearly see the object, but the person holding him placed it…
He was suddenly pulled out of his trip down memory lane when gunshots and screams sounded from inside the wall of flames. The crowd murmured and asked questions, but even the first responders were confused about what was happening. Their confusion only grew when barks, roars and screeches followed shortly afterward. But Shirou had a good idea what was happening. "Familiars. There's a mage here, probably the serial killer. I have to get inside and stop them, whoever they are."
"Promise me you'll come back alive and safe." Akiha's voice sounded in his ears. Shirou had made that promise knowing he probably couldn't keep it, but the sight of her red eyes and face twisted in despair came back to him. It froze his legs in place, a small part of his mind telling him to stay out of danger if he wanted to make her happy.
"Because there are people that love you. Your life is valuable to them. Don't throw it away unless you have to." Aoko's words echoed in his head. He couldn't just charge into the flames, not when he had friends and family to consider.
The bodies of innocents. The cries of the dead and dying. Once again he was seeing hell and couldn't do a thing to stop it. It reminded him too much of that night. He was pulled out of the rubble, he was healed from his injuries, he had been saved. Because he had been saved, someone else was left to die. He was too weak to save anyone but himself.
"I'm sorry Akiha. I promise to try to stay alive, but I can't sit by and do nothing. Not this time." But there was still a problem. He couldn't hope to get through the wall of police without exposing his magecraft, not with his poor skills in hypnosis and a massive crowd surrounding him. He'd be caught by the dozen other first responders and hundred civilians nearby. The only option was to wait for an opening.
"INCOMING!" God himself seemed to have answered Shirou's prayers as a burning car seemed to drop out of the sky. Hundreds of people screamed and scattered as the car came crashing down right on the edge of the wall of flames. Firefighters and police officers were scattered as burning wreckage slammed into them. Immediately their comrades rushed to their rescue and began to treat them.
Shirou's stomach twisted as he saw wounded men and women caught in the following explosion. He almost instinctively went to help anyone who wasn't already being treated by medical personnel. A man with a gash on his stomach was lying next to what looked like the hood of the car, torn to a jagged edge by what looked like… "Are those claw marks?"
"Sir, I'm right here. Just hang on." Shirou desperately tried to save the dying man. He couldn't use any flashing spell, but a subtle healing spell could help close the wound. Combined with some strips of cloth from a torn shirt and he could Even if everything besides his specialty was difficult to him that didn't mean it was useless to practice. After all, someone who played with sharp objects all the time needed to know how to heal.
When a paramedic came rushing over he felt a weight had been taken off his shoulders. "Don't worry kid, I've got this. Get back so you aren't… Hey, what are you doing?!" SHirou had already launched himself off the ground, reinforcing himself to the point where he was a blur to the people around him. He could hear the confused and panicked shouts from the first responders around him, but he had his opening and he was going to take it. They were all too occupied with treating everyone else to stop him.
When Shirou disappeared into the wall of flames he almost collapsed. He was almost suffocated with dark memories of the past. The only thing keeping him moving was the desperate sounds of struggle coming from deeper within the hellscape that surrounded him. He kept pushing forward, dodging collapsing buildings as he struggled to breath.
When he heard the sound of movement over the boise of the burning wood he was almost ecstatic. That was until he recognized the sound as tearing flesh and crunching bones. Then he found the bodies. They were from firefighter and police officers who had charged into the flames to try and save anyone who was still alive. Their bodies were covered in soot and ash, blood pooling around them.
And they were being eaten.
Shirou may not have dedicated himself to biology or any other form of science, but he knew well enough that these dogs weren't natural. They looked like creatures formed from black tar with eyes that glowed a deep red. They were the size of a large dog, each having a savage look to them. One of them looked up from its meal and seemed to notice Shirou, leading to each of them snapping their heads up. Shirou gulped, knowing that a mage's familiar could have a plethora of abilities that he couldn't expect. As each dog growled and lowered themselves to pounce he fired up all 27 magic circuits and prepared his mental trigger.
A gun formed in Shirou's mind. The hammer pulled back, the sound being the signal to prepare his od and start drawing in mana from the air. The hammer slammed down, the energy becoming prana in his magic circuits. When the bullet fired, so too did the swords he formed in the air. There were three dogs the size of a German shepherd in front of him. A dozen mundane knives were formed and skewered the closest dog before it could react, sending it tumbling to the ground with a yelp. The second lunged for him only to be dodged with a small burst of reinforcement. He formed another sword and slashed downward, cutting the back of the dog's neck open with one stroke. However, something caught his attention. "A dog shouldn't be this tough. Even if this is a hollow and weak construct it still should have decapitated the thing, but its neck is still intact." The third dog lunged for him, only for Shirou to duck under its lunge and strike upward. The dog flew over his head and twisted its body midair, jumping off of a nearby wall and pouncing at him again. He held the sword in front of him, the frail projection breaking off inside of the magically enhanced dog's chest. Shirou managed to dodge its bite, but its claws scratched his shoulders open as he shoved it off of himself.
He prepared to finish the creature off when he was tackled from behind. Jaws closed around his throat and began to suffocate him. In a panic he activated his regeneration. He knew that if he failed to properly reign in his ability he would suffer the backlash. Aoko had told him that it might be due to his dusk alignment of origin and element, that while it gave him a powerful affinity it could come with drawbacks, especially if he failed to properly understand his craft. A magus could ill afford to make mistakes with their spells. Now, however, he weaponized that drawback and forced several blades out of his back. He couldn't scream in pain with a pair of powerful jaws and a mouth full of sharp teeth strangling him, but the end result was the same. The dog on his back was impaled and thrown off with another but of reinforcement, Shirou was slowly struggling to his feet and he was still surrounded.
Shirou cursed under his breath as he saw all three dogs slowly getting to their feet. If he didn't know any better he could have sworn they were regenerating. He had never been in a true life or death battle before and now the reality of it was weighing down on him. He couldn't win this fight without being smart, but his projections lacked the power to hold up against these dogs. He needed something, anything to give him the power to down these familiars. The blades in his back were already dissipating, leaving room for his wounds to slowly heal while miniature blades closed them up.
He heard paws pound the ground behind him and spun around, projecting and reinforcing a new sword and forcing the dog to catch it in its mouth. He heard the other two approaching as well and projected a second sword, jamming it into the neck of the dog in front of him and causing it to yelp and let go. He wrenched the sword out and opened a gash on the dog's neck. He rolled forward while summoning a dozen large blades in the air and firing them at the dogs, aiming at their flanks and forcing them together. "Perfect. Now I have you where I want you." He overloaded the swords in his hands and hurled them like throwing knives. They impacted two of the dogs, catching third in the resulting explosion regardless.
Even with his victory Shirou felt empty. He looked at the dogs in front of them, the scraps of flesh burning away and being buried under a crumbling building, falling apart after the exploding swords ruined what was left of its foundations. Even if the mage couldn't recover what was left of their familiars Shirou had still failed. He couldn't save the people he found, and if there were other familiars like this he highly doubted there were any other survivors.
He heard the cries of circling birds, the roars of large cats, the barks of more dogs. He knew he couldn't stay here, especially if the other familiars knew he had killed their comrades. He fled deeper into the flames, having to constantly reinforce his body and clothes to prevent catching fire and burning to death in the hellish maze. When he heard the sounds of combat he almost rushed towards them, hoping from the bottom of his heart that someone was alive. This time he approached from cover, hoping to avoid exposing himself to more familiars unprepared. What he saw, however, wasn't more first responders, or even more humans.
What he saw was a battle between demigods. On one side was the blonde woman he met yesterday. She was still wearing a white shirt and long purple skirt. She was somehow moving faster and hitting harder than when she fought Shirou. All he could see was a blur of white that occasionally paused to evaluate the situation or recover. The ground seemed to crack every time she stepped and shockwaves seemed to tear apart the terrain when she struck.
On the other side was a black mass in the shape of a man. Whatever it… he was, he seemed to keep up with the woman in white despite the difference in physical ability. Shirou didn't know if he could call the man a mage or not. He seemed more like a combination of various creatures, both natural and unnatural. When the woman in white attacked he would produce a massive shell or wall of spikes from his body. When he attacked he would grow claws, insectoid pincers or even the mouth of a reptile, oftentimes out of his arm. He reminded Shirou of a chimera, a creature that was made of multiple creatures combined together. But most importantly, his body was made of the same black, rubber-like substance as the dogs Shirou fought earlier. Shirou could only assume that he was the mage controlling all of the familiars.
The woman in white launched herself at the man in black. She seemed to become a white shadow, blurred beyond recognition, only for sharks the size of a minivan to emerge from the ground beneath her feet. The sharks erupted towards the woman as if they were hunting seals out in the ocean, only for the woman to dodge them as they attacked. She lashed out with her claws and tore them apart before turning to attack their master. When she approached the man in black the mage blocked her claws with a shell grown from his arms and retaliated with a tail grown from under his coat. The tail had an exoskeleton and pincers on the end like an insect, and it lashed out so fast that it scratched the woman's side, forcing her to dodge out of the way. One of the man in black's arms turned into the mouth of a crocodile and caught the woman in white in its jaws, only for the to be crushed by the woman's free hand.
That was when the familiars appeared. Large cats that bore a resemblance to lions, tigers and leopards emerged from nearby buildings, claws and teeth seeking their master's opponent. The woman in white dodged and blocked their attacks while ripping them apart. A wave of beetles emerged from the man's coat and devoured everything they touched. The woman in white saw the oncoming wave and jumped back, disengaging and gaining distance. She quickly ripped the foundations of a burning building out of the ground and hurled them at the wave of enemies approaching her.
Everything Shirou had just seen happened in little more than five seconds. He was so consumed watching the spectacle before him that he didn't notice the bird dive bombing him from behind. It wasn't until the bird was impaled with a flying blade and pinned to a wall that he took notice of it. He quickly spun around in search of the blade's owner, spotting a dark blue uniform that bordered on black. Church attire, complete with a cross around the neck, a head of dark blue hair and a pair of blue eyes. "Ciel," Shirou rasped through a still healing throat.
"Shirou? What are you doing here?" She had a threatening edge to her voice, something that made Shirou regard her with caution and acknowledge her as a possible threat.
Shirou knew he wouldn't be able to lie about his purpose here and quickly explained himself. "I saw the fire break out and came to investigate. When I saw an opening to get past the police I took it. I couldn't just sit by and watch people die," he said, firing up his magic circuits in preparation for another spell.
"But how did you survive Nero's beasts? Are you…" Ciel's eyes narrowed dangerously. "Are you a mage?"
"Nero. Is that the mage out there controlling these things," Shirou asked, trying to change the subject.
"Don't dodge the question," Ciel growled, producing a set of three long knives from her sleeve. Shirou couldn't help but admire their craftsmanship. They had small hilts that could fit between Ciels fingers, reminding him of a certain American comic book character. The blades were long and thin, making them seem unbalanced for melee but effective for someone skilled at throwing them. However there was something else about them that confused Shirou. They had a mysterious property to them that Shirou couldn't quite make out, and he couldn't understand how Ciel could conceal them so easily.
Before he could lose himself he looked back up at Ciel and answered her question. "Yes I'm a mage. No, I'm not part of a mage family. At least I don't think so. My mentor only tutored me for a week before she left and I've kept my family in the dark about it up until recently, and they already knew about it."
His answer seemed to satisfy Ciel and she turned back around to leave. Shirou grabbed the long knife she used against the bird and followed her. "Hold on, what's going on? WHo are those people? What are they? They aren't human are they?" His questions only seemed to irritate the older girl until she wheeled on him.
"Look, I don't know what you think you're doing but I'm not falling for it. I know how you magi act. Nobody, especially a magus, would willingly put themselves through this kind of hell to save people unless they have an ulterior motive." Ciel had her black keys pointed at Shirou and a small glow seemed to emanate from her eyes. "Now, tell me why you're really here and why you want to 'help people' so bad."
Shirou was about to answer when a small voice echoed in the back of his mind again. "Promise me you'll come back alive and safe." He sighed heavily before answering a somewhat smug Ciel. "I genuinely came here to help people, but I couldn't disappoint my sister when she told me to come back alive. Right now I'm looking for any other survivors and hoping I can rescue them." Ciel seemed taken aback by Shirou's statement and had lowered her weapons as she processed what she was hearing. "Right now I want to stop these creatures from hurting or killing anyone else. If you can, please help me do just that."
Ciel paused for a moment, looking as if she had seen a ghost. Shirou almost couldn't blame her. Everyone around him tended to respond the same way. When she finally answered him her voice was calm yet wary. "Fine, you can help me. But you follow my orders, got that?" Shirou nodded eagerly, causing Ciel to let out a relieved sigh. "Also, give me the knife."
Shirou visibly deflated at the order. "But I've never seen a black key before. Can I at least…"
"Now. You said you'd follow my orders." Ciel wasn't taking no for an answer.
Shirou huffed and handed the long knife over, but a question echoed in the back of his mind. "Wait a minute, I've never even heard of black keys up until now. Where did that name come from?" That was a question for another time. He had monsters to stop.
Ciel began to walk off, skirting the edge of the battlefield with Shirou following her. "Shirou, listen up because I won't repeat myself." She knew the boy would pay close attention to her every word. "Those creatures out there aren't human. The man in black is a dead apostle, an undead creature that feeds on the living. The other is a true ancestor, another inhuman creature that created the original dead apostles. They're blood suckers, vampires really."
Shirou was soaking in the information like a sponge. He already lived in a world of mages, so vampires were an easy truth to accept. "And the weird familiars that killed everyone around here," he asked.
"Some dead apostles were originally mages. This one ended up creating a reality marble and those creatures are the result. He's using them to devour everyone nearby and feed himself. Every fight takes energy out of him so he has his familiars feed while he continues to fight. It doesn't help that he's old and requires a lot of energy to survive." Shirou felt his blood boil. He hated the thought of someone who would hurt or kill innocents for something selfish. Even if he could understand trying to survive, this dead apostle had massacred countless people who had nothing to do with him. He couldn't let someone like this roam free.
However, part of him was excited. Despite the fact that countless people died he finally had the chance he had waited for. The chance to atone for his sin. The chance to become a hero. He could finally pay for those who died ten years ago. He couldn't turn back now.
"Shirou, if you want to help me you're going to have to kill all of those familiars." Ciel pointed at the creatures surrounding the man in black. "If we can stop him from feeding we can either force him to retreat or kill him outright."
Shirou sighed as Akiha's face appeared in his mind again. "I'm sorry. I promise I'll do my best to come back alive, but I can't let this monster continue." He was about to ask for orders when a roar sounded above them. "Ciel!" A tiger made of the same black rubber pounced on the girl as she turned to defend herself. Three black keyes pierced the tiger's chest and made it roar in pain and rear back. Its claws carved gouges in solid concrete as it growled and prepared to engage the girl from the holy church.
Shirou was about to jump in and assist when a pack of dogs sounded their approach. "Shirou, keep them off me! I've got this one!" Ciel had given her order and was now dancing circles around the tiger, throwing black key at it and piercing its side. While they weren't as fast as the two vampires from earlier they still made Shirou's head spin from trying to track them.
He turned his attention back to the dogs in front of him. There were five this time, and all of them were charging him at full speed. They would reach him in three seconds. The gun in Shirou's head fired and over two dozen swords were summoned and fired. One of them dodged the wave of steel while the others were caught in a deadly storm of pointed objects, one of them seeming to die on impact. The one who dodged lunged, only to impale itself on a double edged longsword as it tried to bite him. Shirou shoved the dog off of him as he turned to face the remaining three dogs. He created another wave of steel, already preparing to fire again. As the second wave fired and killed another two dogs he heard a growl growl form overhead. A leopard lunged at him from a rooftop with such speed that Shirou couldn't even raise his sword in time to defend. He only survived with a line of claw marks on his side due to his use of reinforcement. The last dog made its move while Shirou was on the ground and lunged at him only to end up biting the sword. Two waves of knives had weakened it enough that a sword slash to the face finished it off.
However, the leopard had spun around and attacked. It was bigger, stronger, faster and tougher than the dog, and it wasn't injured. It quickly crushed his sword arm and his chest under its paw before he could react. "Akiha… I can't break my promise. I still have to find out my past. I still have to keep my promise. I have to live! I need a weapon, something that can beat this thing!" As the leopard's jaws closed in on his throat he tried to imagine the best type of blade to use against the creature, and his mind immediately went to the long knives in Ciel's hands. She used them with such proficiency it was almost supernatural, and the blades seemed to make the tiger, which was larger than this leopard, cry out in pain. Shriou's circuits were already frying him from the inside and he had already burned through a noticeable amount of his od. He couldn't afford to be wasteful with his energy if he was to survive the night.
The leopard's teeth were several inches from Shirou's throat when it suddenly screeched and jumped off of him. Its own neck sported a large wound, surprising from such a small and fragile looking blade. It looked at the black key in Shirou's hand, which was identical to Ciel's in every way, all the way down to the smallest details. Even if the weapon should have felt foreign in Shirou's hand he wielded it as if he had used it his whole life. However, the prana used to create it was significantly higher than any other weapon Shirou had ever projected. He had to use it wisely.
The leopard hissed and launched itself at Shirou again, aiming the weapon in his hand. Shirou almost instinctively dodged and vaulted over the leopard holding the weapon between the middle and ring finger on his left hand. He stabbed the leopard in the back and it screeched again. This time Shirou capitalized on his advantage and projected a set of several mundane swords. The leopard had spun around and was jumping onto a nearby building in an attempt to flank him. That just gave Shirou the time to trace his swords. When the leopard came at him again he fired, causing the leopard to stumble and fall. He suddenly remembered a technique Ciel had performed with this weapon, and with something akin to a photographic memory and a ghost possessing him to guide his movements, threw the black key with pinpoint accuracy.
The leopard's death cry didn't last long as the black key buried itself in the creature's chest. Shirou didn't dwell on his near death experience however. His right hand was almost healed and the blades that had grown inside his arm began to dissipate. But what held his attention was the new magecraft. What he had just done was beyond simple projection. Projection wasn't this accurate in recreating something, nor did it increase your physical strength and skill. It couldn't even give you visions of something done with the item. This was something different that he needed to experiment with. Aoko had encouraged him to try new things, and he would be damned if he passed up this opportunity.
He had just picked up his new weapon when Ciel returned. "Shirou, are you alright?" If the red head didn't know any better he would have assumed there was worry in Ciel's voice. She walked up to him, covered in bloody wounds and wearing a shredded uniform. She looked at him with curious eyes until she found the black key in his hand. "Where did you get that?"
"It's a projection," Shirou answered. Ciel grabbed the hand holding the weapon and seemed to analyze before slowly widening her eyes.
"That's more than a mere projection," She whispered. Shirou barely heard her over the sound of the flames. "You and I are going to have a long talk after this, understand?" Shirou nodded. He didn't really have much of a choice if he wanted to avoid the suspicion of a clearly dangerous woman. "Good. Now let's go, we've caught Nero's attention and his beasts are after us. I can't keep fighting the entire horde." As she said that a crocodile crawled out of a nearby building only for Ciel to throw a black key into its shadow, pinning iot in place. She threw another black key and pierced its skull. SHirou stared at the corpse with childlike curiosity until Ciel grabbed his arm and pulled him along, kiting the horde of monsters that followed them.
The fighting seemed to drag on for hours. Little by little the executor and magus whittled down the dead apostle's horde until all of the monsters suddenly rushed back to their master. The dead apostle, Nero Chaos, took to the sky with a pair of black wings like a fallen angel. The woman in white, the true ancestor, took off after him along the ground. It seemed like the fighting was over, but now there was another problem.
"Shirou, come with me. The church and the association are gonna be pissed, and those two idiots attracted way more attention than they should have. We need to bail before we're spotted. There's a sewer drain nearby we can use." Shirou nodded, wrinkling his nose at the thought of trudging through dirty sewage.
He suddenly remembered who was waiting for him back home. "Wait, Akiha! I have to get back to her! She's probably worried sick about me!"
Ciel shot him a deadly glare. "After you answer my questions you can go home."
"But…"
"After you answer my questions. You want to know what's going on don't you?"
Shirou couldn't deny that he was desperate to know what was going on in his home city, but he still had a responsibility to his family. "Fine, but at least let me make a call and let her know I'm okay." Ciel's eyes softened up and she nodded her head. Shirou sighed, knowing this would be a long day.