Chapter 5: Writer's Block
The young man led me back through the church, past the pews and towards a side door near the altar. For me, this act was killing two birds with one stone. I already bought Ernest a few minutes already. According to the reports I read regarding this upcoming Grail War, Kotomine was definitely listed as its arbiter, but considering this young man leading me to him, it could be possible that that was for name value alone, and he was the real overseer. If nothing else, he gave off an aura of someone that could give any magi a run for his money if they challenged him. Regarding his teacher though…
Age can really do a number on someone, it was not unheard of for executors to continue their work well into old age, but for someone as accomplished as Kotomine, it would not have been remiss for him to want to take a backseat for an event as dangerous as this after so many years of accomplished service. It was a smart thing really, even if the magi that participated somehow didn't know of Kotomine's personal exploits, they very well could know of his participation in the last one. It wasn't a glamourous report, but if anyone came in thinking they could strong-arm the master that went out first in the last Grail War, they would have to go up against both his apprentice and himself. I somehow doubted that Kotomine was anywhere near being "decrepit."
We walked through the courtyard; the moon filled it with its pale light. A beautiful night. A shame that Ernest had to desecrate the dead and sully it. I looked forward to meeting him. If he was asleep, I could refuse to wake him, and keep this brother's eyes away from the cemetery. If he was by some chance awake, I could meet a legend such as himself, and earn the time that way. A win-win really. The only hiccup was if he, for whatever reason, was up and patrolling the graveyard.
The man in front of me, stopped. We were outside a room with an old oaken door. The father's room? I expected him to knock, but instead he smirked and simply opened it. That smirk shot open into a gasp of surprise. "What?" I couldn't see what he had seen in the room. He backed away from the entrance way and slammed the door shut. "*cough* *cough*" He put his hand to his nose and gripped tightly.
I simply stood there and waited for him to answer. I grew concerned, what exactly had he seen in there!? "I, um… did you… no, I must apologize for this." He bowed his head slightly to me. "You see, the father is not in this room." I could only look at him stupefied. "A simple prank you must understand. You seemed so troubled; I thought it would do us both good for a little joke." A voice filled with equal parts agitation and arrogance called from inside the room. "Coward Mongrel! Get back in here, I seek to be entertained!"
"For you see…" The young man said.
"Kirei! Get back in here before I enact my judgment!"
The priest smiled.
"I am Kotomine."
The light of the moon lost its luster. The world before me grayed. Impossible. The man who called himself Kotomine could not be him. Kotomine was supposed to be closer to sixty, this man appeared no older than thirty at most!
"I'm coming your 'majesty.' I have a late-night visitor here with us." The majesty was accented with a hint of sarcasm. Kotomine opened the door back up and I followed him inside. What the room contained was a hearth on the right, a desk and bookshelf, and across from the door, a bed snug against the wall. Overall, the room was large enough that nothing was cramped, but with the elephant in the room, it was hard to say I had room for anything but to gawk.
"It would seem, my brother in Christ, that I was the one who was pranked instead." On Kotomine's, bed lying on his side like some sort of roman emperor, was a gold haired man wearing a glittering gold tiger print jacket, sipping from a golden cup with wine as red as his eyes. On the floor was a crimson carpet accented by gold stitching. "I've decided to lay claim to this room, Kotomine. You may move your things down to that hovel of a basement that I graciously allowed you to house me in."
Kotomine closed his eyes and sighed. "Your majesty, may I ask what caused this sudden discomfort with your lodgings?" Majesty? The man didn't seem Japanese. If this man was a friend of Kotomine's, could he really be normal? Friend…? Could this be him!? The friend that gave the good man so much heart ache!? "Hmph, is it not obvious Kirei? My patience had finally reached its limit. The basement was one thing, but then I saw on those internets forums what people that live in basements are called these days." His face turned into a scowl.
"It was on purpose, wasn't it Kirei!? You couldn't get over your own failures, so you sought to sully my magnificence! Those mongrels on Twitter called me a NEET when, in reality, I am a king among kings and hero among heroes! The insolence! When I deigned to enlighten them of their ignorance, they then had the gall to call me the 'King of Jobbers!'"
The golden man's ravings were clearly starting to get on Kotomine's nerves. It was no wonder really, sure Ernest was a necromancer that looked down on people, but at least he wasn't deluded into thinking he was some sort of king! The golden man shot me sharp look. Before he could shout any more complaints about the internet, a loud boom rang out accompanied by the shaking of the entire room. That was probably Ernest completing the ritual. Or Echo throwing a hissy fit. It was honestly hard to tell.
"I should probably go check on that."
"That sounded dangerous, we should stay inside."
Kotomine and I looked at each other. Think! How can I keep Kotomine here? The golden man came soaring in with my answer. "Ignore the rabble of the commoners! Neither of you are permitted to leave yet!" The golden man pointed to Kirei. "You, Kirei, you must use your priestly powers to excise the internet of these disgusting mongrels! You will not leave the basement until I see them all gone from my sight! And you! Mongrel number two!" He pointed fiercely to me. "I can see within you a bard's demeanor! Give me a good story to alleviate my boredom and I may let you live despite your insolence!"
Am I having a stroke? What is going on? Why is Kotomine so young? Why is this guy so golden? What did I do to earn his ire? Is Ernest done yet? All these questions rattled my mind, and yet one alone stood above them as most apparent. What does he think Kotomine is going to do? Pray the trolls away? The golden man laughed. "Good, yes, I like that expression! Now give me a good tale!" Kotomine turned his head and smirked toward me as he left. "Rejoice, my brother, you get to entertain a 'king.'" Again with the sarcasm. "That's THE KING to you Kirei!" The golden man lashed out as Kirei left. He turned his attention back to me.
"Now, mongrel number two, what tale shall you regale me with?" All of a sudden, I felt a great amount of pressure weighing on me. An unnatural sort of compulsion. If I were to fail this man, I would die. That couldn't be right, could it? Perhaps a passage from the Bible would soothe his irritation? Static filled my vision once again. From behind his back, the golden man reached and snapped his arm forward, a sword shot straight to my head. On reflex I caught it by the blade. The smell of fire filled my nostrils and smoke choked my lungs. I could not move, my whole body burned rigid. "I cannot bear to hear another boring sermon. If you must have some inspiration, you may use that."
The fire was gone. The sword was gone. It was just the room and the strange golden man. In my hand looked to be, after a quick flip through, an eastern comic book. Called a 'manga' these books were quite popular back in the United States, but this one seemingly was printed the wrong way. Most manga were read left to right, with the cover printed on what the west would consider the 'back.' Despite the panels and overall art style pointing to it being a manga, it was printed left to right.
The Magical Princess and the Monster of Krossvikki was its title. The back described it as two weapons of war, one a monster and the other a girl, meeting each other on the battlefield and their blooming friendship. Written by Gespenst something or other. If this was the kind of story this golden man liked, then I guess I could work off of it.
"This is a story, about a boy and a dragon… the boy's family had been killed by a dragon, and the dragon hated humanity… but as the two lay dying together, they formed a pact so that they both could have a second chance at life…" I then proceeded to tell this self-proclaimed king the story of an angry man and bitter dragon saving the world from an army of red eyed soldiers that get nuked which caused them to get transported to another world where they live together in a Boston apartment with their twin children Jack and Brody.
With what little wit and cleverness I could muster, I told him of the young man's struggle against the evil army of the empire. The spats he had with his more musically inclined brother in arms, and his subsequent betrayal during an eclipse. "A tragedy, oh how the strummer turned traitor, he proved an even greater foe than the dragon, having sacrificed all the hero's allies and tamed monsters to a giant fleshy hand, all to take the hero's sister's hand in marriage." Together the dragon and hero struggled against him, striking him down before he could take his sister, only to have to face in the end the full might of the evil empire.
A bloodbath already so atrocious, upon sight of the army, the sister, distraught and twisted by the horrors of the war, could only see the salvation of her brother who so ruthlessly and endlessly fought, by destroying him the army wholesale. Thus, Invoking the secret covenant within her, she turned herself into a bomb that destroyed everything, army, brother, and dragon alike. A final betrayal by the one person left that he loved, it would have shattered the hero's heart and mind utterly if not for the grip of the dragon's pact on his soul, forcing his mind to stay whole.
It was an ending grim but tinged with hope. I continued on to the story, explaining that by a miracle brought by the forged friendship of the dragon and man, having overcome their previous feud, had allowed them to be sent to a world far kinder.
In this world they lost the scars of war, the magic that had twisted the man into a warped monster left him, returning his body to being that of a handsome youth, and the dragon losing its burning scales of iron and mystical teeth of white death, instead becoming a blushing maiden. The two, lost and confused in this world, explored the conveniences and strange habits modern people partook in. Eventually, they would learn their ways and settle down to be a family. Their twin sons then became the main focus, with their various high jinks being the main content.
A large part improvised, and an even larger part plagiarized, if the man knew any of my sources, he would hopefully enjoy them as references, and if not, then at the very least he would get a dose of their original glory.
"Fuahahahahahaha!" The gold man laughed. "PRNDL you say! Fuahahahahahaha! The foolish mongrels of the modern world are pathetic! Their meager attempts at riding such simple vehicles shows what's wrong with my garden these days. My own Vimana is a stick-shift." What kind of car is a Vimana? Is that like a Toyota? This gold guy seemed like the kind of man to own a lot of cars and go on and on about how great they are. The mystery of Kotomine's age aside, how he and goldie here became friends left me puzzled.
Then again, I did meet Ernest in a vampire hunt and the three of us stuck together for so long after that, so maybe they met similarly? "Say, I never caught your name, your… majesty?" The golden king took a drink from his glass. "Ahh, so the mongrel finally thinks to ask for his king's name? How impudent! A servant should introduce himself first, before he goes asking for the honor of knowing a king's sacred name!" He was right, I had barged in on him with Kotomine. Wait, this was Kotomine's room! Who was he to talk about being impolite!?
"My name is Seth Ward, I'm from America. May I know your name now, king?" The golden king scowled. "If you wish to have that honor, you must first bow. I've been lax with you so far, bard, but a king only has so much patience even for his jester." Again, that great compulsion filled me. This time, however, I refused it. "I will not bow to you. Brother Kotomine has had patience with you, and so have I, but in good faith, I will not bow to you."
That got a chuckle out of him. "Oh, is that so? That man you're so curious about bowed to me. You are nowhere near his equal, so what makes you think you can do any different, eh, mongrel?" Mongrel this, mongrel that. Goldie would give Ernest a run for his money. "If Kotomine really does that, it is only to humor you. You claim to be a king, but I do not know your name or nationality. If you really are royalty, then I'll bow out of respect for your station."
The golden man flashed a sh*t eating grin. "Oh ho ho! So you won't bow because you do not recognize me, and you cannot recognize me without my name, and I won't give you my name unless you bow, HAHAHAHA!" With sudden vigor, the golden man downed his cup and shot up from the bed. Only slightly taller then me, he reeled back his head and pointed his finger at me. Superiority reeked from his posing.
"I am the KING of ALL! This world is MY garden! My clothing is the best that this world can provide, my wine THE sweetest! For you to not recognize that shows that you too are plagued by the blindness of this era!" His grin grew even bigger, in his eyes was a strange sheen. "If you won't bow without my name, out of my generosity as KING and for your whimsical tale, I will give you my name under one condition!"
I tilted my head. "And what would that be?"
"A simple test of courage that even a mongrel such as yourself can handel! Make your way to Ryuudou temple and have the book I gave you burned. If the dragon of the mountain accepts your offering, then you will return here and I will give you my name." All the way back to the temple? It would be convenient if Ernest and Echo had already returned there. It had been a while, and with any luck Kotomine was either messing around with this nameless king's twitter still or in bed in the basement. Either way, Ernest should easily have had enough time to get his servant out of the graveyard and bury the corpse he used. What time was it anyway?
I looked at my phone. It was November 3rd, 1:43 A.M. It seemed I managed to buy Ernest a little over an hour and a half. If I was back home in the states, daylight savings would have already come into effect. "Alright, it's your book anyways so I'll get rid of it however you want. It's in bad taste to burn good reading material, though. Another thing, are you really going to stay up that long, it's late as it is." The golden man flicked his hand. "Away with you, mongrel! Obey your king and do as I say, or die!"
Rather than a threat, the man's command sounded more as if he was warning me to not spill something on my shirt. One may think what he said was serious, but aside from the masters and their servants, nothing really dangerous should be here. Fuyuki never came up in reports as being special besides that, and with Kotomine's strange rejuvenation, anything that could have snuck in likely would have met its end by him. The man maybe could have been a magi, especially with that pompous attitude, but I could tell just by looking at him he was a regular guy, albeit probably wealthy and eccentric.
"Alright alright, I'll be taking my leave now, nameless king. If you insist on staying up just for this then I'll do the same out of courtesy, but you only have yourself to blame if we both are exhausted by the time the sun rises. Nice meeting you." With my parting I left the room and placed the book within an inner chest pocket, where I kept a Bible. I walked through the courtyard. Maybe I would be able to ask Kotomine about his secret to eternal youth after tomorrow's service. Pulling an all-nighter was never fun, but with any luck I could get a bit of sleep after getting the gold man's name.
I opened the door back into the nave and to my surprise found it not empty. The lights were on Kotomine and two people in red were with him. "How in the hell do you look so young Kirei!?" A girl with black hair and twin-tails pointed an accusing finger at Kotomine. At the sound of my entering, she suddenly became silent, and her and her companion turned to look at me. "Ah, Rin, it would seem my unexpected guest is still here."
He turned to me with a smile on his face and a devilish glint in his eyes. Without turning back to her, he spoke to me. "To answer your question, Rin, it was thanks to your late father, Tokiomi. He left for me a valuable gift that was able to grant me back my youth. With the coming Grail War, what better way to ensure its rules are followed than to have me in my best form?"
The red pair seemed shocked at this proclamation. "Kirei, what are you saying!? Is he like you?" Ah, so these two were magi. The question was though, were they masters or simply more strange friends of Kotomine? "I don't know, Rin, why don't you allow him to explain himself?" Kotomine gestured to me. Did Kotomine know I was an executor all along? Did Ernest let it slip when he registered?"
"I am an executor, yes." There was no reason to hide it at this point, my mission was completed. "In truth I came to this city for personal reasons, but Kotomine is well known among our circles. I came here and hoped to talk to the wise elder of this church and learn more about the man so renowned for his devotion and zeal. Instead I came and found a brother in whom I was able to share in grief regarding a friend not unlike his own. It was to my surprise that the wise elder I expected and a fellow my age who shared my pain were one in the same."
I walked past Kotomine and gave out my hand. "I take it you are family friends? I believe I heard him mention knowing your father?" Eying me over, she took my hand and shook it. I could just barely see out of the corner of my eye specks of red on the back of her hand. "Yes, I am Tohsaka and my friend here is Emiya. We both arrived here just a little bit ago and came to see my old… friend." The last part was a bit forced, but on her face was a perfectly serene smile. Behind me I could feel a dark sensation. "Emiya?" It was not I that asked, but Kotomine.
Emiya, where had I heard that name before? "Yes, his name's Emiya, Kotomine. He's not the magus killer if that's what you're wondering though. I heard that guy died years ago." Magus Killer? Emiya? That's it! He was one of the contestants in the previous war, a menace to magi and master of the saber servant. Details were fuzzy on what exactly happened, but he was the one that destroyed the grail and caused the massive fire that destroyed so much of the city. I could understand why one wouldn't want to mistakenly be related to him.
"Rin, you don't need to hide my father from him, he's supposed to be impartial in all this, remember?" A look of dawning horror, Tohsaka's head shot back towards her taller friend. "Shirou you idiot! We've had enough trouble with all those mages crawling down our back! This new guy could have a beef with your dad and want to kill you! You need to be more discreet about that!" Finger wagging, she ignored me in favor of lecturing the man. I looked to him and shrugged. "Eh, sometimes I kill vampires, sometimes I put the fear of God in magi, if your dad's dead and did something bad, it's not up to me to punish him for it, let alone you, as if that would do any good."
Emiya smiled. "See Tohsaka, Kotomine and this guy are good people." Smoke shot out of Tohsaka's ears. "As if! Kotomine is a horrible priest and I doubt this guy's any better!" Poor Kotomine. It could just be that the gold guy and Tohsaka are weird, but maybe he's just bad at preaching? It is said that no one gets all the gifts, and though Kotomine was excellent as an executor, maybe the role of a local priest didn't suit him?
Miraculously restoring his youth thanks to an ancient secret tome or artifact just so he could punch one more heretic in the face? That sounded like Kotomine. Teaching children and old ladies the Love of God? Well, I never heard of anyone saying Kotomine was bad at preaching, but a guy shredding vampires and magi seems more like the person to throw stones at bears, not sing to sheep.
"Well said, Emiya. I believe it is best that we reveal a certain secret our executor friend here may not have been aware of during this serendipitous visit of his." Tohsaka turned back to Kotomine, her anger even greater than before. "What!? You can't be serious Kirei! You can't tell me he didn't know what was happening here!" Kotomine laughed. "Not every executor knows everything all the time. I certainly doubt that an executor from far flung America would even know this was happening, let alone manage to come here just as a master and her apprentice would arrive. Truly, the Lord works in mysterious ways."
The sound of her grinding teeth filled the church, but eventually they relented. "Fine. You!" She pointed to me. "Right now there's a super dangerous magical ritual going on. I'm a master" She held up her right hand showing the command seals. She then pointed to her companion. "He's a master. Both of us have been given super powerful familiars with the strength to rip ten Bibles in half with just their pinkies! So if you don't want to die, stay out of our way and don't tell anyone else about who we are!"
She shifted her finger to Kotomine. "The only reason I don't tear you in two right here and now is because Kotomine here would complain about me breaking the rooms and rules, as if he cares about them." She lowered her finger and stared at me. "Got it?" Two masters then? "I got'cha. Keeping things like this a secret is a part of our job description. Thanks for the heads up though. I didn't really come here looking for a fight if I could help it." Emiya looked on to me in sympathy.
"Rin's right. Other magi are heartless. If you finished your business, you should leave here as soon as possible. It would be better if everyone could leave, but that just means we'll have to make sure the other masters don't go crazy and destroy the town." Kotomine spoke up. "So, Emiya, you wish to be a hero to these people?"
Emiya shook his head. "No, I'll leave the heroics to the actual heroes. I just want to help as many people as I can." As soon Emiya uttered 'no,' the air in the church wretched. Static once more filled my vision and I caught a sudden glimpse of a field of blades before it just as quickly disappeared. I had the distinct sense that someone was angry, but I couldn't tell who it was exactly. Rin looked as though his response was natural, and Kotomine looked between a mix of surprise, and maybe even a little disappointed, but no real fury was on their faces. What was it that I felt then? This pricking sensation of blades on my skin?
"I suppose I'll leave then. I am sorry to say that I'll be back in an hour or so, Kotomine's friend asked me to run an errand for him. You have my condolences, Kotomine, he's a real oddball." Tohsaka and Emiya looked to him. "Kotomine, are you…?" Kotomine laughed. "Of course not, Rin, believe it or not, I do have friends, and one asked to stay with me for a while. He has no affiliation with magi or the Church, though, so be my guest if you want to convert him to your evil ways." Tohsaka glared at him.
Emiya spoke up. "Do you need help with your errand?" Truly this man was a saint. Unfortunately the last thing I needed was for them to follow me to the temple and discover Ernest. "No, it is alright. Kotomine can attest, this man likes his pranks, and made a wager with me to bring a children's book to the temple on the mountain. I am not unfamiliar with nightly jogs, and the coolness of this city is not as bad as America. A good jog there and back will be enough to fulfill my end of the deal." I smiled at them. Emiya smiled back. "Of course, though, we will travel the same way for a bit, us and our servants can accompany you."
Tohsaka's face seemed conflicted, but accented. "Yeah, even if you're as bad as a priest as Kotomine, we at least could make sure you don't get your soul eaten because of him and his friend's whims." Before we made way to leave the church, she turned to Kotomine. "We have Saber and Archer, how many other servants have been summoned, Kirei?" Kirei shook his head. "I have only heard of one other, and she was the one you saw leaving with that man and woman." She scowled. "Tch, figured as much." Emiya put his hand on her shoulder. "Hey, at least we got saber like you wanted…"
Tohsaka twitched. "Yeah, Emiya, yeah we did."
And thus we exited the church. Kotomine followed us out. "Farewell, Rin, Emiya, and…?" I turned back to him. "I'm Seth Ward." He nodded. "Yes, farewell Ward. Stay safe on your travels." As Kotomine finished his farewell, the two servants materialized and greeted their masters. "Who is this?" Came a female voice from beneath a yellow raincoat. Emiya answered. "Another person from the Church like Kirei. Don't worry Saber, he's just here by coincidence and is walking back with us until our paths split."
"I don't like this, Rin. How do we know that he isn't a spy?" A knight in full bronze armor stood in front of me. Covered head to toe, underneath the armor was some kind of black cloth or fiber that hid his skin. "If he tries anything Archer, you can cut him down." She coolly flipped her hair in the moonlight. Archer countered. "Just knowing our classes is bad enough. We should destroy this place and leave no trace." That was a rather horrifying statement. Who just blows up a church!?
"No Archer, we're not blowing up the church. Come on, the sooner we get moving the sooner we can ditch this guy." Archer faded away and Tohsaka went on her way. Following after her, Emiya shot me a look of sympathy. "She means well." The Saber under the Yellow Hood further affirmed his statement. "As a knight, it is my duty to protect a man of the cloth. So long as you do not do anything untoward, we will see to your safety for as long as we travel with you."
Like night and day, the two were. It was a wonder how they decided to ally with one another. We continued down the roads without interruption, until our inevitable split occurred. Before we parted ways, Emiya held out his hand. "Here, take this. If you run into any trouble, break it and we'll come running." It was a small blue sapphire. Finely cut, it likely cost a couple grand at least. "Are you sure? This seems quite expensive." Tohsaka stared holes in him, but said nothing. "I'm sure, we have plenty of these things to go around, anyway." I thanked him and waved the four goodbye. In my chest pocket, I placed the gem, next to the comic book and Bible. The compartment was getting quite cramped.
Now alone, I continued onward. Gazing up at the moon, I thought perhaps that they would be the last people I saw roaming the streets, or at least I did until….
I ran into them.
"I told you, gamer girl bath water is the best method to store mana!" The blue haired man yelled. Hehhhh, this was going to be a long night, wasn't it? "As if! Even if by some miracle you managed to actually condense more mana into it than blood or even gems, it wouldn't change the fact that its disgusting!" The man with long black hair yelled. Beside him, a woman in a black cloak seemed to cringe at the blue haired man's ravings. To my shock I recognized the latter pair instantly. Really, who would have thought that such famous youtubers were actually magi?
"Case Files?" I asked. The trio turned to me in shock. "Oh great, now we have a rando to deal with." Said the blue guy. Waver chided him. "There is no need to be so rude Shinji. This man of the cloth must be a fan of Gray and mine's channel. Is that right?" I nodded. "Right, well, we have yet to announce it, but Case Files will be soon doing a collab with the Sanji Matou channel later this month, look forward to it." As he started toward me, from out of thin air materialized a giant ivory statue.
"Disengaging automatic response and pathing system." The soothing voice was reminiscent of a fine gentleman, deep and baritone. The voice that came after, definitely, was anything but regal. "Eh!? What now!? I just got a sixty-nine kill-streak in Call of Duty, nice! Eat it noobs!" A feminine voice. I supposed that meant that this statue was a servant? A servant that played Xbox, without a console, controller, or even normal hands? Case Files and Shinji (or was it Sanji?) Whipped their heads back and forth between myself and the statue.
"Wha-? I have to give you a literal mountain of deserts just to get you to talk normally ONCE and now you do it now that we've met some random priest!?" Shinji berated the servant. The statue… shrugged? "I dunno man, whoever this guy is must be pretty dangerous, my automatic system started going haywire and blared warnings the moment he showed up. Let that edgy murder hobo deal with it. I'm gonna keep gaming."
Me, dangerous? I supposed that wasn't wrong, but I never would have thought I would set off a servant, unless…? In front of Waver, a man dressed in all black and a red shroud appeared. Gun already raised… Static flooded my senses. Three gun shots ran out, all aimed for my head. In response, my arms shot up and in my heart I hoped the Kevlar and blessed cloth would be enough to stop them. The static immediately cleared, with my arms still raised.
"Eliminating potential enemy master."
*CLICK*
*CLICK*
No bullets came. Did it jam?
*BANG*
I was launched several feet back and slammed into the ground. I could no longer breath and my chest felt entirely numb. My vision went immediately and I could only make out the shrill scream of "OH SH*T" before my consciousness completely collapsed.
…
…
…
I was tied to a stake. Fire burned my entire body. I could not breathe. I could not scream. My body bound, I did not have the strength to rage against the bindings. All I could do was seethe as my body roaster. My eyes drying, I could see only a little beyond the fire. Smiling, jeering smiles. "Burn the witch! Condemn her to hell! Death to the witch!" Cursers flung those words at me. What did I do to deserve this?
I opened my eyes. My body was engulfed in flames. The burn was not immediate, thanks to the flame protection blessings embedded in my clothing, but it would likely not last much longer. Fueled by the anger I felt in my dream, I managed to stand. I could not see the magi and their servants any longer. I turned my head. They had already made their way down the road towards the church.
It was darker than it had been before, as though the moon itself was gone.
"Hey." I called out to them.
Waver was the first to turn. "Sh*t he's still alive! You fat blubbery buffoon, prepare your noble phantasm again in case the servant can strike!" The shrouded servant appeared once more.
*CLICK*
*CLICK*
*CLICK*
More misfires. His gun fading to mist, he drew a knife and rushed me. Fast, efficient, I had no doubts about this servant being faster than me the moment he practically teleported in front of me. Without fail, he would surely go for my throat. In my two hands I had them ready. I leaned back, his knife missed, and I allowed his forward momentum to pierce his chest on the black key I materialized in my hand. It sliced through the servant's chest like butter but missed his heart. It would likely not be enough to kill him, but the shock caused by the damage it gave bought me enough time.
Enough time to let me drop a second black key into his shadow. Frozen in place, the servant was trapped by the rite invoked by the key. With only burns from the ongoing fire, I was able to limp my way over towards the group. With my bruises and burns slowly healing, my gait gained strength and confidence.
My back turned to the servant; I held no fear. The shrouded servant would not be able to escape. That only left the masters and the statue to deal with. The statue, however, was gone, and instead was replaced by a woman with long brown hair. In her eyes was absolute terror. She was likely that statue. "Holy crap you're still alive!"
After I defeated that servant, I would be able to finish off the shrouded one. Even as the fire continued to singe my clothing, I could tell it would not hinder my movements. "Sir, should I engage?" Gray spoke up. Waver held her back. "Look for an opening to free Assassin while our other servant engages. Even magical weapons shouldn't be able to affect servants that easily!"
Clearly the man did not understand the power of faith. "Through God, all things are possible. You started this fight, and I will finish it." I continued slowly closing the distance. Time would only serve to strengthen me. Shinji slapped the back of the head of brown-haired woman. "What are you doing, if you're not gonna protect us, then fight this guy!" With a grimace the girl brandished her axe and stood in front of the group.
"Ash Lock Release: The Word of The Lord is my Sword." A back-up at best, in my hand materialized a silvery sword. Effective against spiritual and material beings alike, I would surely cut this servant in twain. The girl spoke to me. "You should just run away. A human can't possibly fight a servant." Her hands were shaking.
"A human cannot fight a servant. If that is a rule of magi, then I suppose it may be true. But all I see in front of me is a girl with a fancy axe." Servant or not, she and Assassin were clearly human. "I am sorry." With all my might I swung my sword. Much slower than Assassin, she only just barely managed to deflect my blade. Her single swing held the strength of a mountain, and there was nothing I could do to keep my sword from being ripped from my hands. Her fright burgeoned into a newfound confidence and she shouted out "Woo! Take this for making me workout!"
Her free hand rocketed out to me, and I crossed my arms together. Rather than the expected punch, her fingers came together and gave a gentle flick to my arms. This gentle flick, however, had enough force to send me skidding past Assassin as I did everything to maintain my balance.
Arms hanging limply at my side, the force of her strange chastisement broke both of my arms. Even still, I continued back towards her.
"Just stop it already and run away!"
I stared at her.
"I made a promise. A stupid promise that no sane person would have ever kept to a man I just met."
The fire finally was beginning to reach my flesh. Without my arms, I would have to finish this fight fast. I only had one shot.
"Throughout this night, I have helped a graverobber, met a brother in Christ my age who was old enough to be my father, a golden weirdo who thinks he's a king, met the crimson magical equivalent of Bonny and Clyde, a knight yellow as a duck, a knight that wanted me dead." I took a pained breath. "I've met one of the most famous youtubers on the planet, been shot, been burned, and now my arms are broken."
My each pulse of my heart sent shudders down my body. My breathing was choked from the growing smoke. I loosened my left shoe. On its sole was a hidden blade, one akin to a black key in effectiveness. If I could launch it at her throat, it would be able to pierce and kill her. My throat tore as I screamed at the servant. "IF YOU THINK I'LL GO FUCKING QUIETLY INTO THE NIGHT, YOU'RE DEAD FUCKING WRONG!"
Hotter than ever before, my body burned. It burned hotter than the flames that ate away at it. Hotter than any fever I ever had. My entire body became as dry as jerky and like a puppet with cut strings, I collapsed. In the corner of my vision, I saw the servant rush me as I fell. With my body now cold and hollow, nothing would stop my skin from receiving the hard reprimand of the dark road. I was proven wrong, though, as I was caught held delicately in an armored hand. The flames on me disappeared and I heard a *fwoosh* as cry of pain rang out from the enemy servant.
I no longer had the strength to stay awake.
…
…
When I awoke again, I could not feel any pain. I however, could not open my eyes. Dried shut, I reached out for some water. When my hand felt purchase, I knew who must have saved me.
Echo.
With her power, she was able to heal far better than I ever could and was the only possible explanation for why I wasn't a blood-ridden, desiccated effigy. She also would have been considerate enough to leave me a drink. A jug of some kind, I downed a half-gallon's worth of water when I heard shifting.
"Ah, Echo, is that you?" A woman's voice I didn't recognize answered me. "No, they're both outside setting up traps in case anyone figures out you're here. Shielder's with them too." Shielder? That didn't sound like one of the normal classes I read about. "Who are you then?"
"The person that saved your life, idiot." Who could that have been. The only people around were Emiya and Tohsaka, and this person didn't sound like the latter. "Yes, thank you. I had a rather trying night and wasn't quite myself." When I encountered the servants, with my life under threat, some strange rage had overtaken me. I could only see victory against them, so I was compelled to see them dead and buried rather than flee.
"You're lucky you had all that garbage rolling around in your frock." I had my Bible, that sapphire Emiya gave me, and… "This especially helped." She forced something dry and charred into my hand. Smaller and lighter than the Bible I carried, I attempted to open my eyes confirm what I thought it was. Blurry, with a few blinks I could make it out clearly.
A hole punched in its center, blackened and missing a number of pages, was the manga the golden man had given me. Flipping it over I could see that the bullet hadn't exited out the other side. Flipping through the remaining pages, I found the one near the manga's end where the bullet had stopped and flattened.
Smack dab in the center of a panel that took up the whole page was the bullet. The panel itself held only one drawing, a magic circle of some kind.
I looked up to my savior. The sunlight from the room's windows glinted off her black armor. Beneath the black armor was a white coat lined with gold that was open at the front and reached to her legs. On her head was a black helmet that resembled an armet. Outlining its face was an extra layer shaped almost like an 'M' that ended with some rather sharp points. Flowing out from the armet was hair white as bone that reached down to her knees, but not as far as her coat.
I looked back down at the manga.
I felt my chest beneath the covers. A jolt of phantom pain from the bullet slamming into my bandaged chest caused me to shudder.
"That thing kept the bullet from reaching your heart, you would have died without it stopping the bullet. You ought to have died twice over by now! You better show some gratitude to me!"
I smiled at her.
"Thanks again." I chuckled to myself and held up the book.
"I guess this is what you'd call 'writer's block,' huh?"