Author's Note: Huh. This is the shortest chapter I've written, and it'll probably stay that way, at least until I get to the ending.
Speaking of which (and because I have nothing better to talk about, even if it's too early), this fic will have only one ending, but two mutually exclusive epilogues: a true epilogue and a good epilogue. Originally, I had planned for there to be only one epilogue, but the idea of having two of them was so appealing that I thought, Oh, what the heck; I'll indulge in the Nasuverse spirit of having Multiple Endings.
Oh, and Happy Father's Day, everyone!
Chapter 6: The Lady in Black
Saber stood out on the porch of the Emiya estate, watching the sun slowly sink into the western horizon. Shira had yet to return home, and although he could not sense anything through the link that bonded him to her, Saber had the feeling that something was wrong.
"Hello, Saber!" Taiga chirped from behind him.
"Good evening, Taiga," Saber greeted courteously, turning to face her. By now, Taiga had quite forgotten the grievances she'd had about him residing at the estate (although he still did not quite know what Taiga had meant about him being Shira's "boyfriend"; while the Grail system had granted him sufficient knowledge of this era when he was summoned, he was no expert on such modern terminology) and was being perfectly friendly towards him.
Presently, a small frown came to Saber's face. "Shira should be home by now. I'm wondering if something has happened to her."
"Oh, she's probably just working," Taiga said, waving her hand dismissively. "On to something more important: What do you think Sakura will be cooking for dinner?"
"I have been smelling what I believe is the scent of frying tofu," Saber replied, deciding to go along with the topic change. And he did have to admit that the smells coming from the kitchen were quite delicious—a good sign when it came to food. "I suppose that this is a specialty dish of Sakura's?"
"Right you are!" Taiga giggled, then ran back inside, loudly asking Sakura about dinner.
With the brief conversation now over, Saber turned his gaze back to the sky. Taiga might believe that Shira was all right, but as the minutes dragged by with still no sign of her (or Rin, for that matter, but she wasn't his Master and therefore not his top priority), Saber was more convinced than ever that Shira was in danger.
But if that was the case, why hadn't she summoned him yet?
Rin was broken out of her concentration as Shira staggered back a bit, the redhead's white sleeve now stained with blood.
"Shira, your arm!" Rin exclaimed, suddenly noticing the hole that had punctured through the younger girl's right arm when the dagger hit her.
"Tohsaka, you take care of that girl," Shira said tersely, trying to ignore the pain as she stumbled out of the room and outside the school building.
What the hell was that all about? Shira thought as she hurried through the schoolyard, cradling her injured arm. She stopped in her tracks, looking around.
They're still here, she thought, sensing the dark magical energy nearby. She closed her eyes, giving herself a few seconds to pinpoint where the energy was strongest—there, behind the archery club.
With that settled, Shira took off towards the forest that was just behind the archery dojo. Right before entering the forest, though, she picked a branch up off the ground and reinforced it. At least then she wouldn't be completely defenseless.
She had barely made it ten paces into the woods when she heard the sound of derisive laughter.
"Who's there?" Shira called out, slowing down but not daring to stop.
The only answer she received was more laughter—the sound was masculine and unpleasantly familiar.
"Is that you, Matou?" Shira glanced around; unfortunately, with the setting sun in her eyes, she couldn't be sure if Shinji was there or not. Even so...
"Aren't you supposed to be out sick today?"
Shira yelped as her right arm suddenly jerked at an odd angle. A second later, someone leapt out at her from the bare trees and, with the sound of a chain whistling through the air, sliced at her neck with a dagger. Shira jumped backward and fell with another pained yelp, pressing a hand to the side of her neck. She withdrew her hand to find it damp with blood, but luckily, the cut didn't seem too deep.
The redhead got to her feet in time to see her attacker land on the ground in front of her. The sun silhouetted the figure: tall, womanly, very long hair, and undoubtedly a Servant. Wordlessly, the woman leapt into the trees; Shira tensed as she heard her opponent go from one branch to the next. A few seconds later, the woman lunged at her, and Shira wasted no time in lifting the reinforced branch. She was able to block the dagger coming her way, but the force of the blow knocked her to the ground.
Shira stood up and backed into a tree as the woman disappeared into the branches again. Was the Servant retreating? No, Shira thought grimly, she just wants to toy with me before she kills me. As much as she hated it, she knew she couldn't face a Servant and live; the instant that woman decided to do away with her, it would be all over.
Wait a minute, Shira realized, I can use a Command Seal to summon Saber. It was just yesterday morning that he told her to summon him whenever she was in danger. Well, she was presently at the mercy of an unknown Servant—that was more than enough reason to summon Saber, right?
But as soon as that thought crossed Shira's mind, a horrifyingly vivid mental image appeared.
Saber was bleeding, Saber was struggling to fight, Saber was about to die—
No! Shira thought, her heart suddenly racing. She couldn't do it; whatever promise she made to Saber, she couldn't bring him into a situation where he could die. Besides, she might be at a disadvantage, but she had a weapon and she was still able to move; she wouldn't dare drag Saber into this until she truly had no other option.
"I'm surprised." The Servant's voice—a feminine voice sounding as rich as dark chocolate and as deadly as poison—echoed throughout the forest. "Aren't you going to use a Command Seal and have your Servant rescue you?"
"Ha!" Shira scoffed, hoping she sounded a lot more confident than she felt; she quickly scanned the branches overhead as she continued talking. "Sorry to disappoint you, but I'm a big girl who can handle herself. And those Command Seals are precious; why waste one on something as trivial as this?"
"That bravado of yours is quite charming," the woman spoke, "but it will only get you killed."
Shira grunted. "Stop hiding and show yourself!"
She once again heard the sound of chains, and her injured arm jerked forward, seemingly of its own accord.
"I suppose it is bad form to attack a Master without their Servant," the woman mused out loud. "Be it as it may, I will make your death as painless as I possibly can."
Shira turned slightly as she heard a rustling, finally locating the Servant—dressed in a form-fitting black dress with the sunset's rays glinting on her floor-length lavender hair—standing several feet away from her. The woman threw her chained dagger towards Shira, who blocked it effortlessly. The woman disappeared into the trees again.
"Well, guess I was worried for nothing," Shira taunted. "Compared to other Servants I've run into, you're not even a threat."
And with that, Shira ran as fast as she could through the forest. It wasn't long before she saw an end to the trees.
"Almost there," she muttered to herself; just a few more feet and she'd be—
"Actually," the woman's voice cut through the air, "that's as far as you go."
Chains clinked, and Shira suddenly found herself pulled back; she let out a small yell as she fell unceremoniously onto the grass, landing on her stomach.
"There is no escaping," the woman said as she approached the fallen girl. "You've been my prisoner from the very beginning."
"What—ow!" Shira's injured arm suddenly shot up in a twisted parody of a student eagerly raising their hand to answer a question. "What are you talking about?!" She turned her head upward to get a look at her arm as the Servant continued speaking.
"My, you're not too bright. The weapon I drove into your arm back inside that classroom is a spike attached to my chain."
Shira rolled onto her side. That thing is still there? she thought, slightly stunned as she watched the dagger embedded in her arm—which had disappeared soon after she was wounded—slowly reappear. The Servant gave the chain a violent pull, causing Shira, who couldn't help but shriek, to hang in midair by a tree branch.
Shira dropped the reinforced branch and used her free hand to grab onto the dagger. If she could just get the dagger out of her arm, she'd be able to fall to the ground and run like hell. She gritted her teeth as she tried pulling on the dagger, pain shooting up her injured arm.
"Well, aren't you brave?" the woman asked mockingly. "Do you always choose the most painful option available?"
Shira continued pulling at the dagger, ignoring the woman.
When the black-clad Servant next spoke, coolness had replaced the mockery. "By the way, I would like to address a little comment you made suggesting that I was inferior to other Servants. You may want to reevaluate that statement."
The redhead stopped pulling on the dagger long enough to glare at her, but it was more than enough time for the Servant to throw another dagger. Before it could hit Shira, though, a series of black energy blasts was shot through the air behind the woman. She turned around, distracted, and the energy blasts hit their true target: the chain holding Shira captive.
The chain broke, sending Shira falling into a heap on the ground. As she slowly got to her knees, she vaguely heard the sound of the Servant leaping away into the trees, followed by hurrying footsteps.
"Shira!" came Rin's voice as she approached. "Are you alright?"
Shira gingerly held out her arm for Rin to examine. "I'd be lying if I said I was."
Rin took the redhead's pulse, muttering a spell. As soon as she finished, the pain from Shira's wound lessened slightly, and the next few minutes were spent making a makeshift cast for her arm using a couple of handkerchiefs.
"Who was that woman?" Rin asked at present.
"A Servant," Shira replied.
"Did she have her Master with her?"
Shira frowned. "Maybe, but I can't say for sure." Even now, she wasn't certain if Shinji had been there as the Servant attacked; for all she knew, she could've hallucinated hearing that irritating laugh of his.
"At least now we know that Servant must be the one who put up the barrier and attacked that girl," Shira added after a small pause. "By the way, how's she doing?"
"She'll live," Rin said simply, straightening up. "Now let's get back to your place before my spell wears off. If that wound gets infected and you die, I'm not gonna be the one responsible for it."
As much to Shira's surprise as Rin's, even after the painkilling spell wore off, the wound on the former's arm was almost completely healed by the time the girls returned to the Emiya estate. Shira thought it was rather convenient, but Rin didn't think she should rely on this mysterious healing factor too much.
"If it is Saber that's healing you," Rin said as they ate some food left over from the dinner Sakura had made that evening, "then it's his mana that's depleted in order to save you. And since you're not doing anything to replenish it—"
"Yes, I get it," Shira interrupted before Rin could continue. "No more crazy stunts."
After the late meal was over, Shira went to her room, opening Saber's door a crack to find that her Servant was asleep. Deciding that maybe it'd be a better idea to talk in the morning, Shira made to close the door when Saber's voice stopped her.
"You're late."
"Yeah." The redhead couldn't help but smile sheepishly. "I'm sorry if I worried you, Saber."
"Shira..." Saber was tempted to ask Shira why she had broken her promise, but it was late. He supposed he could confront her about it the next morning just as well as right now. So instead of demanding explanations, he said the only truthful thing he could think of.
"I'm just glad you're safe."
Warmth suddenly blossomed in Shira's chest—as well as her face—upon hearing those words, though she wasn't sure why. Wordlessly, she closed the door to allow Saber to go back to sleep, then headed out to the shed for her magic training.
About an hour or so later, Shira left the shed to go to her room for some sleep when she heard footsteps approaching. She involuntarily tensed at the sound; before she could demand who it was, the footsteps stopped in front of her and the figure was revealed to be Archer.
"Oh, it's you." Shira felt herself relax, but only a little. She belatedly realized that this was the first time she had seen Rin's Servant since the night Saber was summoned.
"Yes, it's me," Archer agreed, a sardonic smile crossing her lips.
And just like that, the tenseness in Shira's body had returned. She wasn't sure why—Archer had never attacked her, had never even spoken to her until now—but she found herself disliking this woman, from her shoulder-length white hair to her black, steel-toed shoes.
"Rin has had me on watch duty," Archer continued dispassionately, "but mark my words, I will put an end to this ridiculous alliance once my wound heals. In the meantime, I'm saddled with being a spectator."
Shira frowned. "Feel free to continue being a spectator; I have nothing to say to you."
"Now there's something we can agree on." Archer smirked at her own comment. "Even so, there is something I can't overlook. I heard you didn't use a Command Seal during your fight with Rider."
"What about it?" Shira asked, not caring if she sounded rude. And how does she know that Servant's class...?
Archer glared slightly. "You're foolish, I can tell as much, but I don't think you're so foolish as to think you can take on a Servant on your own. So why didn't you save yourself some trouble and summon Saber?"
"That's none of your business!" Shira snapped, deciding that her initial dislike was right on the money.
"Never mind; I can hazard a guess." Archer continued as if Shira hadn't spoken. "You thought it would be nobler to take care of the situation yourself. Heaven forbid there should be anyone getting hurt or even killed." Her glare deepened. "You disgust me."
"And you're a self-righteous bitch," Shira shot back, "but you don't see me complaining."
Again, Archer spoke as if the redhead hadn't said anything. "I pity Saber for having a Master as immature as you."
Shira's face flushed with anger. "Shut up! The less Saber has to stick his neck on the line for me, the better."
Archer raised an eyebrow. "And does Saber feel the same way about this?"
Shira opened her mouth to retort, but closed it as she remembered exactly how Saber had reacted to her taking Berserker's blow for him.
"I would prefer my Master to not do what you did yesterday."
"Tell me," Archer said presently, turning her back on Shira, "do you truly think you can end the Holy Grail War without ever having to fight?"
Shira's fist clenched. "I never said that. When the time comes, I'll fight!"
"Oh? Will you do that without killing anyone?"
"So what if I do?"
Archer turned her head in Shira's direction. "You're hopelessly naïve, little girl." ("Little girl"?! Shira thought furiously.) "The more you cling to your overly idealistic notions, the more devastating it'll be for you when those ideals succumb to the real world. The path you will take is not what it seems. Knowing that, are you still willing to go down that same road?"
And with that cryptic question, Archer disappeared into spirit form, leaving Shira wondering just what on Earth that woman was trying to say.
Author's Note: Yep, Girl!Archer has officially been introduced. Don't hate her because she's fabulous. :D
In summary, Shira plays a game of tag with Rider, Saber privately frets at home over his Master's wellbeing, and Shira really hates Archer and will think of a reason later.