Genesis 9: Hunt
"Hmm. I see," Edward commented, making some final remarks in his notes. "Well, that'll be all. I'm done."
But, Shirou wasn't quite so ready to leave the conversation.
"Why did you tell us about your research? About the Third Magic? Aren't those things supposed to be kept a secret?"
"Well, I suppose you are right, Mister Emiya," Edward noted. "But a mutual exchange of information is what builds good relations between parties, no? If you give, you shall receive," he mentioned in a sing-song manner.
"You're speaking in riddles," Shirou said with an ill-tempered tone. "What are you trying to say?"
Adjusting his aviators, the magus simply smiled and cleared his throat.
"I suppose there's no shame in telling at this point. In order to debrief you properly," Edward spoke with a stern tongue. "I had to have you trust me. Otherwise, you wouldn't tell me anything, would you?"
These words elicited expressions of shock from both Shirou and Sakura. He was just using them?
"I was just doing my job, but you're very right. I shouldn't have mentioned anything of homunculi or the Association's research to you." Edward rose from his seat, lighting himself another cigarette. As he exhaled, he continued. "That's very dangerous information to be carrying around, but the Association is always prepared to remediate these problems. Individuals who know too much can always be dealt with."
In a moment, Kanshou's tip was pointed at the man's neck, sunlight reflecting harshly off black steel. Edward refused to flinch, smiling in the face of Shirou's threat and continuing with his speech. "But who knows how much of what I've told you is even true? A good player knows when to bluff."
"You're saying you're going to try and keep us quiet," Shirou insisted. "Is that it?"
"Oh, no, no," the magus chuckled, much to the pair's confusion. "My specialty lies in reconnaissance. I'm a spy, not a bounty hunter. I have no authority as an executioner; you can be sure of that."
Shirou was lucky to have caught the glint of metal behind Edward, dropping his blades and throwing his right hand up as he took a step back. As he recalled the image of each layer in the shield, a corresponding ring took form; within a split second all seven had formed.
"Rho…"
A gunshot.
"Aias."
As he recalled those rosy petals, so too did they come into conception without a moment's notice. The bullet came straight for Shirou's head, but it never met its target. As the shield faded, a leather boot collided with Shirou's face, sending him flying to the floor.
Disoriented, Shirou strained to withstand the pain as he fought to regain his footing. He had just begun to recover, and his wounds had already returned to being on the verge of reopening. As his head rose, he found himself staring down a gun barrel.
A black orb rippled through the air, ripping the pistol from its wielder's hand and shattering it against a nearby column. The cloaked assailant shook a gloved hand to ward off the smoke caused by the blast, turning towards Sakura and pulling another firearm from within a set of black fabrics.
"Run," Shirou exclaimed. "Now!"
Abruptly breaking out of her fear-induced paralysis, Sakura turned tail and ran in hopes of drawing the attacker away from Shirou, almost in disbelief at what she'd just done. She succeeded, as the black-clad figure proceeded to chase her out of the castle, leaving Shirou alone with the smiling magus. The flurry of footsteps faded off into the distance, gunshots periodically disturbing the quiet that remained.
"You know, she was actually here to kill Fujita. I just called her in for this quick favor at the last minute. Convenient, no?"
Shirou looked at the man, ready to grip him by his collar and slam him against the wall. If only he could.
"Miss Matou should be taken care of shortly. Eris should be coming back for you soon, so I suggest you get a head start. Besides, she prefers a challenge."
"Eris?"
"It has a nice ring to it, no? Short. Sweet. I'm not so sure if it suits her, but we've given worse matches to people." The magus began walking towards the castle entranceway.
Shirou smirked, a feeling of cynicism overtaking him. "All these useless 'code names.' You're no different from Christie, this way. Is your name even Edward?"
As he deserted the crippled Shirou, the magus never looked back in his steps.
"What's in a name, Mister Emiya," he said coolly. "What's in a name?"
"Sechs, Ein Fluß, ein Halt!"
Rin had made sure to teach her little sister all of her tricks.
The bullet-shaped chunk of mana flung itself from Sakura's fingertip, spiraling back fiercely towards the hunter. Shining with a vivid cerulean tone, it burrowed into the ground before exploding violently. The blast had succeeded in uprooting a nearby tree and forming a small crater in the grass, but the woman had already sidestepped it, continuing her hot pursuit of the magus. It seemed to Sakura that she hadn't fired her gun in quite some time; was she running out of bullets?
Sakura began to feel fatigue setting in, but her follower seemed to have no intent in discontinuing her athletic strides. Realizing that she was losing the battle of endurance, she suddenly stopped, refocusing her momentum and leaping back in a clumsy aerial kick towards the cloaked figure's chest. As she flew towards her target, she felt her momentum refocus yet again, but this time not of her own accord. The woman had stepped to the side, grabbing Sakura's leg with both hands and thrusting the unsuspecting magus towards the ground.
Sakura felt her head collide roughly against the ground, and she rolled a bit before coming to a stop. Dazed, she heard footsteps. She heard the crinkling of leaves. She heard the cocking of a gun. Throwing her hand out haphazardly in a random direction, she closed her eyes and let a burst of mana fly forth from her hand.
Bang.
Sakura felt around her body. Had she been shot? With adrenaline running rampant in her bloodstream, it was hard to tell. Opening her eyes, she shook her head lightly to recover her senses. Looking to the side, she noticed her pursuer a good distance away, now disarmed and climbing to her feet. Her hood had fallen out of place, revealing her shoulder-length, gray hair and striking eyes. Those eyes… she'd never seen such a passive yellow before; the hue was almost completely absent from her irises, but it was there regardless. Her ominous cloak had been singed, and a trickle of blood ran down the side of her face, but she simply stood and advanced methodically towards Sakura, her hand glowing with a faint black hue.
Realizing she was dealing with no small threat, Sakura rapidly placed her hands on her legs as the woman advanced on her. Recalling Rin's most important lesson, she began applying reinforcement to her lower limbs.
"You're a Tohsaka, Sakura. Remember that. You wouldn't be able to do this otherwise."
She'd practiced for this moment for almost three years now, and she poured her mana through her hands with closed eyes.
With closed eyes.
The orb rippled through the grass, striking the grounded magus by her side and sending her tumbling into a tree. The impact elicited a groan from her, and she winced, grabbing her scorched side. Propping herself up against the tree, she reasoned with herself to figure out the best mode of action. Her lack of field experience was an irrefutable setback. As if toying with her, the hunter took her time in approaching Sakura, her right hand taking on the same glow as before. She had to do something. Anything.
Releasing a flurry of Gand shots in the hunter's direction was the best distraction Sakura could come up with, apparently. As a torrent of dust rose around her, the woman raised a sleeve to cover herself, stopping momentarily in her tracks. Sakura immediately took advantage of the time she bought, resuming her task of infusing her legs with mana. She felt her legs resist the flow, but she'd done this enough to get around such obstacles.
Another orb came at her, rippling through the dust and flying in a direct path. Sakura was better prepared this time, though; pushing herself off from the tree and to the side, she narrowly avoided the blast radius and landed clumsily on her side. The orb, having nearly cut straight through the tree, succeeded in causing it to slowly fall over on its side, presenting a convenient barrier between Sakura and her assailant.
"Whew, okay," Sakura assured herself. "Almost there."
Pressing her hands firmly on her legs, she closed her eyes, blocking out the pain and focusing solely on the mana transfer. The surge gave her an incredibly potent and nearly unbearable tingling sensation, but it was something she could deal with for the time being.
Come on…
The executioner climbed atop the felled tree, her shadow looming over Sakura's. She gazed down at her prey for a moment, mere feet from contact. Her hand glowed with morbid anticipation.
Just a little bit more…
Another orb was produced, and it soared towards Sakura. Opening her eyes, the purple-haired magus rolled to the side, narrowly avoiding the blast and shielding herself from the dust with her forearm. She allowed herself to smile triumphantly for a moment before her survival instinct kicked in, and she took off, using the ground as a springboard to jump quickly to her feet. By the time the dust settled, she had already covered a distance of fifty feet.
Staring indifferently in Sakura's direction, the magus replaced her hood, stepping down from the tree and breaking off into a run. Her eyes seemed to never blink, relentless and impassive as they remained locked on her target. Her leather boots left soft creases in the grass as the tail of her cloak flapped wildly behind her.
Satisfied at having learned yet another recipe from Sakura, Fujimura stepped outside to take out the trash. She found herself becoming more and more useful as the months passed by, and saw fit to hum cheerfully as she did her daily duties. She'd become accustomed to Shirou and Sakura running off at times, and she'd made sure to set aside some leftovers and ass-beatings for the pair when they returned.
She caught a girl's strange accent nearby and diverted her attention, looking towards the passerby.
"Why can't we just go back to the States for a while? I need a vacation. Sheesh!"
What a cute complexion! But who's she talking to?
The girl seemed about sixteen or seventeen, and with such a fragile frame – why was she walking alone at this time at night? Cocking her head to the side, Taiga listened to the one-sided exchange.
"You know, I haven't been to New York in a while," she commented. "'Ey, what do you mean we should hurry up? Don't rush me!"
What a strange girl, she noted to herself as the blonde-haired girl passed by. As she turned to go back inside, she was interrupted by a sudden outburst.
"Damn it, Rider! You're not my mom! Grow some balls for once, sheesh!"
The girl's words produced a look of disdain from Fujimura.
"I wonder if all Americans are like this," she said with an air of curiosity.
"Huh?" The girl suddenly perked up, looking around and scratching her head.
Immediately diving behind the garbage can to take refuge, Fujimura cursed her luck, dropping her head down in shame.
"Shit! I said that out loud," she muttered nervously.
Sakura ran for a good ten minutes. Left. Right. Left. Left. Right. Left. She made an effort to change directions as much as possible in order to lose her tracker, and when she was satisfied, she slowly came to a halt. Panting, she wiped her sweat with the back of her hand and looked around, evaluating her surroundings.
Nothing but trees in all four directions.
She took a seat against a tree, taking comfort in its sturdy support. The pain was bearable now, and the wound wasn't as severe as she'd originally thought. Gazing off at the stars, she felt fatigue set in again.
I've got to stay awake…
Sakura had to blink a few times to make sure her eyes didn't shut on her. Admittedly, she'd found a pretty good hiding spot; there was plenty of shrubbery to conceal her location, and it was a good distance away, too.
I've lost her, though.
Her lazy internal exchange only served to tire her out more, and her eyes began to close.
Is it really safe?
She felt her vision slowly fade to dark, a feeling of much-needed relaxation overcoming her. Exhaling, she let herself bask in the cool evening breeze.
I guess…I can rest for a little while.
Sakura was awoken by a voice, whispering hot breath into her ear.
"Found you."
Shirou simply sat there, hunched over in some forlorn state. He was imprisoned in self-reflection.
Damn it! Why am I stuck in this mess?
All because I thought I saw Saber…I still can't move on after seven years…
Shirou stopped himself short; he'd almost forgotten about Sakura. He pulled himself to his feet, as if the very action could impart on him some form of vigor to run off and save her. To his dismay, all he was granted was a splitting pain down his torso. The physical pain seemed to be the lesser of his anguishes, though.
How?! How do I overcome this? This disability, this disadvantage… this limitation of being human… how do I conquer it?
Shirou paused in his thoughts, as if he were waiting for an answer. He stood there for a while, and as he was met by only silence, he began to surrender in hopelessness.
"If you can't defeat it, imagine what can."
Even seven years after the war, Archer's words never failed to ring true in Shirou's mind. His voice had come to him in so many occasions that by now it was as if the Servant's thoughts had become his own.
Those words seemed to give him no aid this time, however. All of the other times it'd helped; there was no doubt about that. He'd fabricated plenty of weapons perfect for every occasion just by remembering those words. Imagine the quickest dagger. Imagine an indestructible blade. Imagine a bow that always strikes true. But what weapon could possibly destroy this failing, this misery consuming his body?
Damn it!
He slammed his fist against a wall.
What the hell could that possibly mean this time, you bastard?
The words stung him more than they did their absent recipient. He clenched his fists, his mind clouded with frustration. Every second that passed meant another chance for Sakura to be killed, to him. Yet, here he was, wallowing in self-pity. He wrenched his face in disgust at his own uselessness, hot blood running coarsely through his veins and serving only to aggravate him more.
It was then when a calm bewilderment dawned upon him.
There was that familiar face again. Glowing with a rich, burning gold, it forced itself upon his thoughts.
Saber's face gripped his mind and almost suffocated him. Even if he tried, he wouldn't be able to stray from the image calling to him. Those jaded eyes stared into his being, sedating his protests.
But why? Sakura… she needs…
Perhaps it'd been the blood loss. Perhaps it was actually Saber's visage that was able to hold that much power over him. Regardless, it was indisputable that something numbed him, and he hadn't even noticed that he was on all fours by now, eyes glazed over with neglect for his surroundings.
Her unmoving expression continued to pierce him, burrowing deep into the confines of what was left of his consciousness. As he struggled to retain what was left of his vision, he began to see blackness fading in, an indeterminable shadow looming overhead.
Everything stopped. His eyes widened with revelation, a light pouring into the dark corners of his mind. There it was. He never had to imagine it. It was right in front of him this whole time – a lost part of him that he'd forgotten since the war ended.
Shirou felt that long-lost feeling come back to him. It'd been years, but the sensation was unmistakable.
The stiffness in his body. The mana running rampant through his system. It was the unbridled feeling of his magic circuit going haywire.