Fate/Far Side: Origami Blades

Chapter 8

Purple Primrose

"No, I do not believe there is anything you can do for her," Jinan-sensei said.

I was really starting to hate hearing people say that.

When it was clear that Akiha had in fact completely fled, I was ready to chase after her. But I didn't know Misaki City that well, had no clue where Akiha would go, and as I had stopped to consider the options Jinan-sensei had shown up. The composed way he seemed to react to it all almost pissed me off.

Not that getting angry helped things, but…

"If she has already lost control," the doctor continued, "it will be a losing battle from here on. If she had everything she needed, it would not be so, however…"

"Everything she needed?" I asked.

Jinan-sensei sighed. He set down the bag he brought with him, hung it on the staircase railing. "Emiya-san, I understand that your father once saved you from death."

I was wondering if we would be coming to this. It was hard to know exactly how much this man knew. If he was the type that Kiritsugu went to on something relating to magecraft, and if he understood things about Akiha's ancestry, he could probably figure out quite a bit, put the pieces together. "He tell you that?"

"An educated guess, based on things he has said and things you have said." The man played with his mustache. "Have you ever thought of how close you were to death, when he saved you?"

"Not really." And it was true. Even now, so many years later, it still felt like I had died, like my life had started over from that point on. I never really thought of it as how close I had come to dying…it was always how wrong it was to even still be alive in the first place, when everyone else didn't make it.

"Have you ever thought of how, had he not saved you, his own life might have been spared?"

I shook my head. That, for sure, was something I knew to be wrong. Even if he had kept Avalon himself, it would not have done anything for him—that look, his smile when he found me, it told me everything on that front. Had he not found somebody to save, it would have destroyed him even more than death could have. I think, to someone like Kiritsugu, there were far more terrifying things than a simple end.

Jinan-sensei was looking up in the direction of Akiha's room. "Maybe then, you might have what is necessary to help her pass in peace, perhaps. But Emiya-san, you must understand. Akiha-san has lived close to death for much of her life, not just in family that has passed on but in herself as well. She has sacrificed much for others and has nothing to show for it but this descent—and if she is not stopped soon, she may resort to forcibly taking from others instead."

"That strange power," I said.

"Yes. Her ancestors have the ability to…well, one might compare it to a parasite. The Tohno line feeds off of others in a variety of ways, ways that are too dangerous for the average person to confront."

"I get that." The way my body would feel cold, but the thing piercing me would feel hot, like it was sucking all of the heat from my body. "What is it that she would need, to have full control again?"

"Something lost a while ago, destroyed utterly," Jinan-sensei said. "There is no answer there. It is gone. So you must think of the future, of the kind of monster she will become, if you must think of anything."

Understand that sacrifice, the knight in red had told me. What I carried with me, what had brought me to this place.

Maybe I shouldn't have gotten so angry with her over doing things alone. If she's lost things and had to live with that, someone like me, who barely registers having anything to begin with probably can't fully understand her. Maybe it was too arrogant of me to try and talk down to her like that.

"What is it she lost?" I asked, quietly.

"You might as well say, she lost her life a decade ago, giving her brother a future at the expense of her own."

Misaki was not a large city, but it was one full of nooks and crannies.

My initial plan had been to survey the city from atop the taller buildings in town, something Tohsaka had mentioned she and Archer had done once upon a time. The fact that I would have to emulate him again galled me, but for everything that bothered me about his view on my dreams, he was everything I could hope to be in many ways.

I ended up on the roof of a hotel, Reinforced my eyes to take a look around. In the time since the Grail War, I had managed to—with some help—perfected using the spell on that one sense. From my vantage point, I could make out the features of people walking about the streets, their hair color, estimated height, things like that. Even with the errant car that drove by, I could usually make out the general features of passengers within.

But none of that led to Akiha and her very distinctive hair.

Part of it just came from the layout of the city. Downtown Fuyuki, for instance, was fairly straightforward and wide—even alleyways were pretty spacious and generally clean since Raiga liked to keep an orderly neighborhood. Misaki, on the other hand, seemed much more used, not quite run-down but not exactly pretty everywhere. It also didn't have the clear divisional organization, so everything was a little busier, a little more clustered. I couldn't even begin to figure out the residential districts that surrounded the downtown heart—though thankfully it sounded like Akiha had no reason to go anywhere out there.

While I couldn't find her immediately, it did give me something to work from, as I could map out a large portion of the city in my head and use that as a guide. Unfortunately, it was already getting late and the thought of Akiha out there, alone, afraid and possibly losing control grew in my mind's eye. If she really did start hurting others because of all of this, forget what I thought about death and pain, whether she could come back or not might be irrelevant if it transformed her mind. Blood-sucking demons often had much more animalistic traits from what I understood just by the very nature of what they had to do to survive—though Akiha was consuming something else, I could only think that it must be similar psychologically.

With no other options presenting themselves, I started systematically from the opposite side of the city, taking main roads and peering down in between buildings and into alleyways I could not see from the hotel. I felt that if she were to be hiding someplace, it would be away from prying eyes but still, possibly, within reach of humanity—trying to keep herself under control, unable to resist the urges her body was giving her.

But besides the occasional drunkard, the random homeless person…nothing.

At two in the morning of the next day, I took a little while at a bus stop to rest, falling into a half-sleep, half-zoned trance, something I was sadly very used to doing in the immediate aftermath of the Grail War. Then, it was just a punch-drunk sort of state from everything that had happened, my mind still trying to process the prior two weeks and failing miserably.

Now though, I found myself clutching the keychain, drawing the energy I needed from it. Every once in a while I would find myself doing so to travel further and keep awake longer, my mind wandering off to faraway thoughts and my feet taking me in some random direction in the process. I wondered if Saber, in her time as a King, had slept at all on the eve of battle, or if during a crisis had used the power in her to just stay awake the entire time, ready for anything.

Once again, I would be borrowing that power.

I briefly stopped at a convenience store to grab something to eat at seven in the morning, having worked my way completely through three distinctive areas of the city, working my way through the fourth, now a lot closer to the hotel I had started from. I also briefly called the Tohno mansion to confirm that I was alive and find out that Akiha had not in fact returned. Jinan-sensei had decided to stay with the maids until we learned what had happened, which relieved me somewhat: if Akiha did lose control and returned home, I had a feeling that the doctor would find a way to get the sisters out safely.

With every area that I explored, though, I started to feel more and more anxious. That there was no sign of Akiha whatsoever made me consider that she might have fled into the wilderness, which brought an entirely different set of problems to mind. While it would mean an easier use of magic to contain her, it also would be even more difficult to track her. Too, if I had learned anything, it was that things such as demonic energy attracted other kinds of threats, other antagonistic creatures and spirits. Such spirits converged easier where nobody was looking.

In this world, I'd learned that if a tree falls out in the forest and nobody was around to hear it, it was probably caused by something ripped out of a child's nightmares.

Another full day, and I still had nothing.

I'd made it back to the center of the city, past the hotel—meaning I was roughly halfway done. Now I was wondering if Akiha didn't have some sort of specific place she had hidden, some kind of thought process I just didn't have the information to follow or track completely.

It was not quite midnight when I settled into another bus stop, tried to clear my head and concentrate. Drawing energy like I had made my body feel fine, but my mind would still feel like a jumble of useless facts, almost like a computer with an overloaded cache.

I leaned back in place, crossing my arms and trying to put myself in Akiha's shoes. Afraid. Angry. Feeling abandoned, maybe betrayed. Not suicidal, but not capable of facing the overwhelming sense that fate had it out for you. Both empowered and yet deprived of control.

My thoughts inevitably went to a girl that would claim she was my sister, that my side of the family had in fact abandoned her. She, too, destroyed by the hand dealt to her, nothing in me capable of having protected her from a cruel existence. Destroyed so I could live.

Understand that sacrifice. I was such a bad learner, though, it had taken even more sacrifices to get it completely.

"Mister?"

My eyes flew open to greet a flashlight pointed at them—a police officer standing over me. I blinked away at the spots that formed in my eyes. "I'm awake, no need to flash that at me."

The officer lowered the light, looked down at me with a frown. "The buses do not run at this hour. If you need a place to stay, you must find a hotel."

"I was just wandering, thinking," I said, sitting up and glancing at the time flashing from one of the marquis down the street. Twenty minutes since sitting down, only just past midnight.

"Then please be on your way," the officer said. "There was a report of an attack nearby, so please return indoors if you have no further business about town."

An attack. So that's why he's out patrolling. Often police might not bother with people sleeping at a bus stop or whatnot, usually focusing on belligerents and other issues. And I guess I didn't look like the type to be an attacker; in fact, I could imagine Tohsaka laughing at the very thought of me being put in a lineup. Anyway. "Where was this? What happened?"

"In the park down the way," he said, flashing his light down in one direction I had not explored yet. "An assault on a young couple. Nobody was gravely injured, but I would err on the side of caution."

"I see. Thank you for the warning," I said, bowing and brushed myself off, before heading in the opposite direction.

When I got to a cross-street, I headed down one direction, making sure to place buildings between me and where the officer resumed his patrol. After I made sure I was out of sight, I took off full-tilt toward the park, something about that description sounding just about what I was looking for.

The park was fairly large and probably looked quite nice otherwise, though the winter months had stripped all of the deciduous trees of course. Blooms were just starting, so everything still looked stark and harsh, and the way the branches loomed and casted serpentine shadows from the street lamps scattered about, it looked vaguely reminiscent of things I would rather not think of.

"Akiha!" I shouted, "I know you're here!"

Which was a lie, but…

That same feeling as before, a sense like there was something stinging my body happened, and the warmth hanging around my neck felt like it grew, as if Saber could reach out with her own senses. Still, it wasn't something I could completely follow, just vague feelings, and Akiha's Origami, from what Jinan-sensei described, could attack me so long as she could see me. It was invisible when it was not actually plundering heat from something.

But the time from before had given me an idea.

"Slash the heavens with your wings, imitation sword of storms Totsuka."

The sword that formed in my hands was longer than I was tall, shaped generally similar to Kusanagi in a Chinese fashion. I poured prana into it until it broke, then heaved it into the air.

I'm pretty sure that if any magi were around, they would come to kick my ass right about now.

Further than my throw could ever have taken it, the sword swooped up into the sky, winds swirling around it. Unlike Kusanagi, the winds were not directional, instead forming a storm cloud around the blade like a dark flower blooming in the air. The anvil-like appearance of a thunderstorm converged within the sky, like the gods had been summoned to bring an anvil to hammer down the blade flying to them.

The sword of Susanoo exploded like a lightning flash, and with it, the pressure change in the air shifted, and rain started to fall.

Beyond the tapping of water on the walkway, I could make out hissing beyond the shrubs in one direction, like dumping liquid into a heated pan. I grinned, but before I could make my way there, the hissing shot out at me, and like before, tendril-like things charged in for me.

"Trace, on!"

I brought blades down again, tried to cage them down on this strange power, but out in the open like this, it proved much more futile as the hissing things wove in and through each cluster of blades. Gritting my teeth, I formed a barrier wall between us, layering in rows of blades to completely obscure myself from sight.

"Akiha, come out! I'll find a way to help you!" I shouted.

The hissing did in fact come closer, the brief sound of sudden flame sounding, then more sizzling. I dared to peek out to one side of the blade-wall I made, and there she stood, scorched and sizzling bushes directly behind her. "Get lost," she said, her voice almost as deep as mine.

"You know I can't do that," I said.

Another tendril shot out toward me, the rain sizzling in the air my only visual cue. I darted back behind the wall of blades, only to scramble even further when the furthest weapon at the end suddenly sparked, lit up, then crumbled away like ash.

Well…damn.

"I've already hurt two people," she said, her tone shifting. It was now like she were reciting facts, annoying facts, like getting a bad grade and having to tell one's family about it. "Just because they irritated me, even."

"Couples can get irritating," I said, moving even as I did so. If she could attack me based on where she heard me…

"Do you know what this place is? This park? He hides it well, but nii-san met with someone here. The one he's out with now."

So…that's the connection I was missing. It would really have been nice to know these things ahead of time.

"He met her here to do her dirty work, came here to fight someone. I remember that night well…the pounding of his heart, the pumping of his veins. He was scared at first, absolutely terrified. But he eventually came through, helped her with killing something. Not even thinking once of how hard it was on me."

Three more blades at the same end of the row combusted, then scorched into ash. I briefly considered Avalon, but there was no way I could continue communicating with Akiha through it—complete isolation was a double-edged sword.

I brought more blades down even as I moved laterally along the previous wall, forming a T-shaped juncture and putting another barrier between Akiha and myself. I wished that I could form stronger blades, but all of the ones that were tall and thick had no special properties against this kind of attack.

Pulling the petal-shield from my mind, I held it out with one hand, waiting for the moment I could see another attack coming. I only hoped that the rain would continue coming down—the Totsuka was powerful, but doing something like causing a rainstorm that was not naturally occurring gave it the properties like a Reality Marble. The world would crush the inconsistency eventually.

"I'm just like a tool, something useful and discarded," Akiha said, her voice rising in pitch. "Something invisible until you realize it's no longer there when you need it." She laughed, loudly, a bitter edge finally taking hold. "I guess I'm no different from Kohaku, in the end, am I?"

"Neither of you are tools," I said, readying myself. Blades were evaporating left and right now, and her Origami power seemed aptly named—it was like everything burnt up like how hair was entirely too flammable. "Take it from someone whose only desire is to be a useful tool."

"Then learn to be discarded," Akiha's voice crept up from behind me.

I spun as fast as possible, ready for such a turnaround—it would have been an extremely stupid death if I thought she couldn't just come around the other way. Rho Aias was between us faster than her power could move, and they slammed into the shield, flames licking around the edges.

"Not enough," she said. "It is called a cage for a reason."

Even as tendrils ripped into the petal shield, heat lanced into me from behind, and I cursed in pain even as I realized what was going on. Rho Aias' protection was technically directional, though from anywhere I recognized as "the front" would be protected since it was more like a bounded field than a physical item. But Akiha must have been using the torched blades as a distraction, the lines of her power hiding beyond the sudden steam caused by the swords combusting. If she could still keep them there, circle around and then let them strike when I was facing her—

"Even I can't see it," Akiha said, her voice falling as she stared at me through the shield's pinkish transparency. "I can't fully control it. This is your last warning. Go away."

One of the tendrils pierced my back, just above my kidneys, while another struck like a whip, scorching me with that same burning heat that had destroyed my swords. Compelling me to flee, promising even more painful punishment if I stayed. I felt my shirt tear and the muscles in my back seize, and even as the burns were healed, more appeared to lash me with pain. At the same time, two of the petals of Rho Aias shattered, and I groaned.

Yet she claims she can't fully control it…

No, that wasn't true. "You're wrong, Akiha. You're not a tool, and you're not going to be discarded. Just like you can control this." I gave her a smile. "I'll show you what you can do. Give me everything, Akiha. I'll shoulder it all. I am the bone of my sword."

I waited for the next strike, reached back and grabbed hold. My skin started to sizzle off immediately, like grabbing a hot iron rod. At that Akiha seemed to pause, like she was unsure whether to withdraw the attack or press in further, and I grinned despite the pain.

I gave her the chance, dismissed Rho Aias. The tendrils of her power shot in at me, struck me from every side. But each one seemed reluctant, only dug into my body faintly, less than before, something that if I pulled away, I could escape from, like a shallow cut. I continued my aria, looking her in the eyes the entire time, watching her eyes grow wide—she could stop me at any time, pierce my throat to halt my words.

But she didn't.

"Steel is my body and fire is my blood.

I have created over a thousand blades.

Unaware of loss, nor aware of gain.

Withstood pain to create many weapons.

Yet these hands may never hold anything.

I have no regrets, this is the only path.

My whole life has been: Unlimited Blade Works."

My flames consumed hers.

Blades grew from the ground as the sky fell away, replaced by distant light. Blades caged her as she caged me.

At that, I did pull away, tearing out of her power's grasp and rolling back until I had some distance on her. I grabbed hold of one sword, pulled myself up straight with it as my crutch, laughed to myself when I realized it was Excalibur. "Sorry, Akiha, but now I literally can't leave."

"What is this place?" she growled, looking around. Her hair danced about her head, waving like a nonexistent breeze moved through it, and for the first time in this place I felt heat and fire, felt what ought to be in a world born out of fire.

"This place is me," I said. "I told you that I'm the mere tool, a weapon, nothing else. Everything here is worth discarding, worth ignoring. Worth nothing." I brushed my hand along Excalibur's pommel, along the golden cap at its crown. "Even if it's a perfect replication, it isn't the original. All of this, here, worth getting rid of. Not like you."

She stared at me then, long and hard, trying to add up what I was saying. A blade to one side surrendered to flames, burning up and turning to dust, as if to punctuate my point.

"I told Kohaku I would bet my life on this," I said softly.

Akiha kicked at the dirt beneath her feet, stomping down on the dust that flew into the air. "You think I won't kill you?"

"No, Akiha," I said, plucking another sword from the ground. The air around me started to thicken with heat, and a wide swing over my shoulder with the blade at hand tore the weapon from my grip, scorching the air as the blade caught aflame. I looked up at where Origami had taken the blade, then grabbed another, readying myself. "I think you can't."

Origami Blades: Purple Primrose, End

As Fuyuki is based on Kobe, Japan, it isn't a stretch to imagine that Raiga Fujimura, cited as a yakuza leader, might actually be the stand-in equivalent to the Yamaguchigumi leader.

No, not that kind of Origami. 檻髪 means "cage hair." Basically, for those unfamiliar with Tsuki, she has invisible hair that can strike within line-of-sight and plunder heat from a target. Like vectors in Elfen Lied, only less bloody and more fiery.

Yes, I am aware the aria is mixed up. There's a reason for that.