Chapter 3: The Beautiful Ninja
"Master?" said Hisashi with a hint of confusion.
"Yes, you are my Master am I correct?" asked Archer.
"Uhm," said Hisashi stuttering wildly, "I...mean, I don't think so. It was my sister who did most of the work." Hisashi looked over at Natsumi who stared at Archer with a sense of hidden awe, as if she could not believe that a Servant was standing right in front of her.
"That may be true but you are the one with the command spells, thus you are my Master," said the girl looking at Hisashi's hand.
Hisashi peered down at the back of his right hand and noticed that a large red symbol had materialized on it. It was split into three distinct pieces each one different from the last. He tried to remember what exactly they were but at the moment his mind was completely overtaken by panic. All he could think of was his mother, he had to save her.
Suddenly, a sleek blade pierced through the wall of the shed and carved a piece of it out like paper. There was the white samurai, Berserker. His helmet was destroyed and revealed the horribly scarred face of the man underneath. On his blade Hisashi could see fresh blood trickling down the beautiful silver katana and in an instant his fears were realized.
"What did you do to my mother?" yelled Hisashi.
Berserker simply looked at him, a cold, emotionless stare in his beetle black eyes.
"I..." said the samurai, his voice cold and raspy like that of a demon, "Made her suffer." In an instant the samurai closed on Hisashi with a single bound, the wind screamed as it made way for the vicious being that rushed through it.
Hisashi saw the blade fall upon him but it was instantly blocked by a pitch black sword. Archer had saved his life. Between him and certain death was the beautiful girl that he had summoned. Archer swiftly deflected the monster's blade and kicked the samurai square in the chest, sending Berserker reeling backwards through the entrance he had created.
"Get out of here," ordered Archer calmly, as if she were not engaged in a fight at all and she disappeared in a blur to pursue her opponent. Hisashi took a minute to register her command and quickly headed to the outside. He glanced at his sister who continued to stare off at nothing. Hisashi attempted to grab her hand only to have it quickly slapped away.
"What the hell? I'm trying to get you out of here!" his statement was ignored and Natsumi briskly walked outside. Hisashi, after rubbing his hand, followed after her.
Once he exited the shed he lost sight of Natsumi and not too far away from him was Tanaka and Berserker standing side by side, a unified force. In front of them stood the stalwart Archer, she was no more than 10 yards away from the duo and her black blade was firmly in her hand. Hisashi attempted to get closer but a quick glare from those blue eyes convinced him to go no further.
"So this is your Servant?" questioned Tanaka with great disappointment. He shook his head and chuckled to himself. "You are pitting this tiny girl against my blood hungry samurai? You must be joking."
"You men are all the same," remarked Archer, "Confident that your brute strength will save you."
"What else is there if not brute strength my dear girl?"
The girl said nothing and her sword seemed to turn into a swirling mass of shadow and in it's stead was a black sickle. On the end of the sickle's handle was a long chain, Hisashi determined it to be about 10 feet in length. The chain was a dull silver and on it's very last link was what seemed like a weighted ball. Hisashi recognized the weapon as a kusarigama, he remembered seeing them from numerous ninja movies he had watched as a child.
"What sorcery is this?" gasped Tanaka, his confidence drained.
Archer continued to remain silent and her reserved behavior seemed to irritate Tanaka. His brow twitched in rage and his eyes sparked with a violent fury.
Tanaka snapped his fingers and like an attack dog Berserker instantly converged upon the girl in black. Once again the wind screamed at the samurai's movements and his blade seemed to wound nature itself as he ran. The blood on the silver sword did not so much as move, as if it were attracted to the sword like metal to a magnet. His pitch black eyes that were once filled with nothing were now full of a lust for blood and gore.
However, before he could even get near Archer, he was struck in the chest by the weighted end of her chain. The impact was so great that it could be heard from even Hisashi's position, it was comparable to hearing a wrecking ball strike a wall of granite. The samurai stopped dead in his tracks and a stream of blood could be seen ebbing from his scarred lips. In a split second Archer withdrew her chain and lashed it out at the samurai in white a second time, the chain's weight arced from below and slammed into Berserker's lower jaw. The samurai is sent flying backwards and plummets into the ground, uplifting dirt and grass.
"What?" exclaimed Tanaka in surprise, "How is this possible?"
Hisashi was awestruck at Archer's ability to fend off Berserker with such little effort. He was sure that there was no way she could have won. Simply looking at the two combatants one would think Berserker had the advantage, he was imposing and looked to be a very strong opponent compared to the lithe Archer. However she managed to fend him off as if he were nothing more than a mere annoyance.
He glanced over at Tanaka and could see the panic in the man's eyes. Without a word Tanaka quickly fled into the darkness. Berserker rose from the ground showing not even a hint of irritation from his wounds and simply stared at Archer with his cold black eyes. In an instant he disappeared into the night to follow his master.
"That was amazing," was all Hisashi could say to Archer as her chained sickle changed back into a sword.
"It was nothing," replied Archer, approaching him as she sheathed her weapon.
Hisashi would have praised her further but his mind was far too focused on the safety of his mother. He ran to the house and quickly opened the door, only to have his mind put at ease.
"Good job," he saw his mother leaning on the shoulder of Natsumi. His eyes were automatically drawn to the horrific wound on her stomach.
"Mother! Are you alright? That damn bastard Tanaka, he'll pay for this!"
"It's alright Hisashi, the wound isn't fatal. There is something far more important we need to discuss."
It took about an hour for Natsumi and Hisashi to bandage the large wound on their mother and use the power of a gem to help ease her recovery. Afterward, they gathered around the dinner table, Hisashi seated himself in a chair in front of his mother and sister who sat side by side. Natsumi monitored Rin closely, probably to ensure that the wound did not trouble her further. Archer remained in the corner of the room propped up against the wall, her eyes closed as if she were asleep.
"Hisashi, I did not plan on getting you involved with this affair due to your condition. But it seems I have no choice now that you are Archer's master."
"What do you me-"
"Just shut up and listen Hisashi," snapped Natsumi coldly. Her usual cool demeanor was suddenly broken and replaced with great displeasure.
"Calm down Natsumi," scolded Rin. Natsumi nodded slowly in response.
Hisashi remained quiet. He was overwhelmed. What was he supposed to say at a time like this?
"Hisashi," continued Rin, "You remember those stories your father told you? The stories about the Holy Grail War and the battle between servants?"
"Ye...Yes," stuttered Hisashi.
"Do you remember what happened to the Holy Grail?"
"He said that Servant Saber destroyed it and that whatever remained was dismantled by the Mages' Association...Right?"
"That's correct," replied Rin, "Well, a few months ago your father and I received a letter from the Mages' Association. Someone had stolen the documents regarding the grail's destruction and subsequent dismantling."
"What does that mean?"
"With those documents and the information within them someone could very well recreate the grail for his own purposes. What he or she is trying to do I have no idea."
"So is that why dad left? To stop that thing from being remade?"
"Yes," said Rin, pausing for a moment. "He left to find the culprit behind the documents theft. He and I both know about the grail's inherent evil and it was the last thing we wanted brought back into this world. I, however, had the feeling that the grail's recreation would spark another Grail War, so I had Natsumi create a summoning circle so that we would be able to summon a servant of our own for protection. You becoming the master was something I did not expect however."
"Well, why don't we just transfer the command spells to Natsumi then? It's possible isn't it? She'd make a much better master than me. Hell, she knows a lot more about magic than I do."
"It's possible but with your condition the transfer of the spells could kill you. And that is something I would like to avoid." Rin gave Hisashi a bright smile as if to comfort the panicking boy. Rin looked over at Archer, "I apologize Archer, but I intend to destroy the grail at the end of this war and you probably will not get the wish you desire."
"I do whatever my Master commands and that is all. If it involves destroying my one chance at a wish then so be it," replied Archer flatly.
"As expected of a ninja. Good to hear that," said Rin with a small smile. She glanced over at Hisashi, and held his shaking hand. "Get some rest Hisashi, you'll need it to help clear your head. This was a lot to take in one night. We'll talk more about this tomorrow."
Hisashi nodded and got up from the table. He wanted to head towards his room, but he felt drawn to the patio where the battle had taken place. He sat down on the porch and looked at his right hand, the hand with the symbols. He was too distracted earlier to recall what they did but now he was fully reminded. They were command spells. They allowed him to command his Servant to do anything he desired and they also marked him as a Master of the Holy Grail War. A responsibility that he did not want. It was way too much for him to accomplish.
He snapped his head backwards as the sound of footsteps approached from behind. It was his sister Natsumi and she simply stared at Hisashi with a disdain in her eyes.
"Natsumi?" asked Hisashi meekly, "Is something wrong?"
Natsumi remained quiet, her cold eyes stared straight into Hisashi and pierced him like spears. Without a word she turned and headed back into the house, disappearing into the dark.
Hisashi turned his head to see Archer standing in front of him. Her beautiful face was only made more so by the brilliant moonlight.
"What do you think Archer?" he asked, "Do you think it would have been better if Natsumi summoned you instead of me?" Archer simply looked at Hisashi and without a word leaped onto the roof of his house, disappearing like a ghost.
Sighing heavily, he took one last look at the night sky and quietly walked to his room.