Author's Notes: I should really make a CSI: EMIYA story one of these days. Dang guy probably looks good in shades and a suit. It will, of course, have to come after my FSN Iron Man story. (notserious)
- Threads of Fate -
- Chapter 7 -
- Inductive Reasoning -
"Uhh... Archer..." said Rin.
"Yes, Rin?" replied Archer.
"Where was the place again?" she asked him.
"There," he said, pointing at the house in front of them. Rin shot Archer a withering look, before looking at the home before them. His master was not amused.
They stood in front of a rather normal home. Like many of the newer homes built within the recent years to accompany Fuyuki's growing population, this one had been built by template and stood like a clone to many of the other houses beside it. The home was completely unremarkable except for the fact it was still in pristine condition considering he'd just watched the Dead battering down the house's windows and doors several minutes ago from his view atop the Shinto towers.
"There... as in the broken and Dead infested house before us?" she said with an arched eyebrow. The oozing sarcasm dripping from every word wasn't lost upon him.
With over ten years of tracking Dead Apostles, he hadn't made a mistake like this before, which is why he was certain there was something wrong here. This was the site of one of the attacks, he was certain of it.
From a nearby alley, he watched as a midnight black cat leapt up the brick dividing wall, sending one of the neighbor's ceramic flower pots tumbling to the ground. The unfortunate crash of the tulips caused Rin to turn her head towards the sound.
Reinforcing his eyes, Archer examined the situation before him. A casual examination of the homes surrounding the target location led to irrelevant data: children going to sleep, a father watching tv, a mother putting her kids to sleep, a motorcycle parked facing the wrong side of the road. This information was inconsequential and he filtered it out.
On the front lawn, he noticed three distinctive patterns on the grass. Memories flooded his mind as he remembered the days when he had had to track several vampires across forests and rocky mountains. He reinforced his eyes and examined the tracks.
He looked down at the first set of tracks imprinted on the lawn. There were numerous shoeprints upon the grass, at least a dozen if not more. The prints seemed random, their paths mingling and meandered between one another, causing the lawn to mix and churn to a muddy mess from the recent rain. From what he could recognized, however, he saw a chaotic mess. These prints were strewn all over the place; shoeprints that weaved like those at a drunken college fraternity party. Some shoeprints dragged, creating muddy streaks following each step, while others their prints slanted left and right like a swaying ship upon the sea. He stopped analysing them, there'd be nothing gained from a more in depth examination.
He looked at the next set of shoeprints; these ones separate and alone. Unknown to many people, you could tell a great deal about a person simply by looking at their tracks. The shoe's shape and wide dimensions told him the person had been male. Given the recent rainfall, soil consistency, and water penetration rate, he gauge the man's to be at least two-hundred pounds with a shoe size more commonly found in Western countries. The shoe's sole design was flat with minimal traction from the treads, footwear meant for business rather than utility. The heavy slant at the front of the shoeprint along with the wide stride told him the person had been running at a neck breaking pace.
The third set of shoe prints, from the inner toe angle and smaller print spacing, told him they were female. The flat shoeprint angle told him she had been walking, although, the way her every fourth step angled sharply to the left or right when she moved to check her surroundings told Archer she had been cautious. It also told him she'd been slow, taking each of her steps with deliberate care. Normally, when a person walked to a location their feet would naturally dig into the ground when pushing forward, creating a slightly heavier imprint at the front of the sole. Her prints were completely level. Archer surmised she was also right handed given the way her right foot strides were slightly longer in length than her left foot.
All the prints disappeared onto a perfectly level lawn several meters from the front of the house. Checking the footprints, he failed to see any signs of backtracking, although he doubted any of them were trying to evade tracking. It was as if all three set of prints had disappeared into thin air.
He focused his attention on the house. The front window was large enough that he could peer into the living room inside. The room was lit up and the television was on although he couldn't see anyone inside. It was while examining the room that he found the Dead Apostle's mistake. For all the time spent into an illusion, all it took was a single loose thread to unravel it.
Creating an illusion was easy. Creating an illusion that would fool people examining it was a considerably more difficult feat. All it took to unravel the best tapestries of illusions was the single tug of a thread.
He examined the pendulum clock that sat on the wall. The time on the clock was all wrong. This might have been unremarkable if it wasn't for the fact the clock hands were flipping backwards in time. A few moments of watching the clock unraveled the otherwise complex illusion. The hands would move forward by several seconds before, as if by magic, the clocks would reset itself by five seconds. Not move back but literally teleport backwards.
It was a simple mistake. A simple loose thread.
In the time it had taken Archer to surmise all this information, Rin had looked away from the commotion the cat had made and returned her attention back towards him.
"Archer, we don't have time to waste like this..." Rin said.
"There's a boundary field centered on the house," he said, interrupting her. "It's an illusion to cover the attack. Can you look for it?"
"What... how did you... I mean..." said Rin. Caught by surprise, she quickly recovered her demeanor. With a simple nod she said, "Here, let me check."
Rin slowly approached towards the house, hand held up in front of her. She stopped after several steps and waved her hand back and forth as if she were wiping dust off a shop window before nodding in agreement.
"You're right. The field here isn't strong but whoever made it is experienced with covering their tracks. I couldn't even detect the magical signature until I was right up to it," she said.
Rin placed the tips of her fingers on to what he could only presume were the edge of the Boundary Field before she began muttering an incantation. He watched as runes floated from the tips of her fingers before expanding into a larger circle. Pale blue light shone against her face as she worked to unravel the field.
"Rin, be careful," he said. Tohsaka had a horrible habit of overestimating her abilities, something that led unluckier men Archer had known to an early grave. "Nothing can stop the great Tohsaka Rin," he thought sardonically to himself.
After several moments the illusion shimmered before shattering like a dome of glass, the pieces tinkling in the night sky. The pieces of the mirage slowly disappeared into the air, revealing the beaten house before them. Upon the grass, harsh complex runes glowed blood red before dissipating. Rin turned around to face him.
"See? Nothing to worry about, Archer," Rin said with no small amount of haughtiness. The grin on her face expanded wide. Her victory, however, was cut short by small arcs of electricity that struck her before dissipating into the ground.
"Kyaaaa!" Rin screamed in pain. She flailed around with her arms before unceremoniously tripping on her legs and falling on her behind at the sudden attack. On the grass, Tohsaka muttered some unladylike comments regarding someone's maternal parentage. At least the trap hadn't been able to dull his master's deadly temper. Around Rin's feet was charred grass and he could smell the tinge of ozone and the burnt grass in the air.
"Rin, I told you..." Archer began to say.
"Oh stuff it, idiot Servant," said Rin. The twitch on her face told Archer not to push his luck. "You vampire witch! I'll make you pay for that!" Rin screamed into the air, fists curled in anger. Her cry into the night sky, however, was only met with silence. Archer said nothing in response, although deep down he was trying to suppress a grin at her misfortune. The word he was thinking of at the moment was called Schadenfreude.
He helped Rin to her feet before surveying the scene before him. What was presumably once a well kept garden in front of the house was now a trampled mess. Dozens of shoeprints and bodies had trampled over the delicate flowers and various shrubs leaving an utter mess. The main door was wide open, broken down undoubtedly by the mass of undead bodies just like the attack from before. The front house window was also shattered with bits and pieces of glass stained red with blood. The lights inside were still on but the room within was a mess of upturned furniture and other items.
In the air, he could smell the putrid stench of fetid blood. There was also something else in the air... It smelled familiar, like a mix of incense and perfume... but he couldn't quite reference it from his memories.
Nearly invisible on the front lawn lay three small empty blue cylinders, no bigger than his own thumb, with a brass cap at the bottom. Reinforcing his eyes, he identified them as expended shotgun shells; twelve gauge. There were cross insignia precisely etched with silver, the ornate design marked on both sides of the shell. He identified the "Holy Fire" ammunition that certain Church agents enjoyed using; blessed napalm and high explosives wrapped in a simple shell.
Although firearms in the Church weren't unknown, they were certainly rarer in comparison to the use of Black Keys. Now he recognized the odd smell of incense in the air, it was the Church's special incendiary oils. Supposedly they were specially designed to be effective against undead creatures, although he couldn't verify that claim.
There was one thing Archer recalled, however, that seemed odd. The Church was an insular organisation that was slow to change with the times. As such, Archer found it odd there was no imperfections in the silver cross insignia; every angle and line within the design was perfectly aligned without a micron out of place. He found it hard to believe the Church had suddenly adopted laser etchers for such a rarely used weapon. He'd sooner expect Rin to successfully use a computer.
"Let's go, Archer," said Rin. Her voice was level and calm, the anger bottled away for another time. He nodded and took the lead into the home. Stepping over the cracked and bloodstained main door, he headed into the houses foyer.
There were three pairs of shoes haphazardly placed inside near the door, each the right size for teens. Comparing the different knot lengths, their tightness and position as well as the different shoe sizes and styles, he concluded there were at least three teenagers ranging from the ages fourteen to eighteen within the premises; all female given shoe type.
Moving through the small foyer, he entered the living room and found it in complete disarray. Furniture and a myriad of random items had been shunted against the walls as if a tsunami had crashed down in the center of the room, leaving a clear path to the hall beyond.
He scanned and catalogued each item within the living room. A television, its screen shattered, embedded in the left wall. Several vases and its wooden stand broken into pieces from whatever force had struck the living room. Several blankets and three backpacks lay strewn about. Underneath a broken coffee table, he saw a picture of what could only be a family photo; the frame smashed and glass broken from the fighting. A mother, father and small brown-haired daughter posed in front of the living room couch. The daughter seemed younger than Rin and had a cheerful innocent smile upon her face.
There was also sand in the living room, as if an army had emptied trucks of sand within the room. They were the remains of the Dead that had been slain and crushed by Gaia's overwhelming presence.
At his highest magnification with his reinforced eyes, he saw grains of sand moving of their own accord as if they were blown by an unseen wind. He watched as bit by bit they slowly began to disappear into thin air. It took time for the corpses to deteriorate against Gaia's presence and before they finally vanished. Just like humans, you could calculating their time of death if you arrived fast enough. From the size of the piles, they had perished less than fifteen minutes ago. For a normal human, they'd still be warm.
There were still three Dead in physical form and lying in a small pool of their own blood. Each corpse had a massive gaping wound where their chest should have been; fire simmered inside their chest wound and burnt them from the inside out.
He looked out the house window to where the three spent shells lay on the lawn and then back at these Dead. Three shots, three kills.
Archer heard Rin come up from behind him and she halted in her tracks to take in the scene before them.
"Wow..." she said. He nodded to acknowledge her statement.
"Let's keep going," he said before walking through the room. The house may have been silent but there could still be lingering Dead around. He made sure to sweep the corners and keep his guard up. Only fools and corpses let their guard down near Dead Apostles. As he headed towards the hall, the heavy stench of acrid oil mixed with burnt flesh reached his nose.
He stepped into the hallways across from the living room and paused at the gruesome sight. Something that resembled a human body lay dead at his feet, however, it was a mere mockery of the human form. Muscles overflowed from the body and seemed to cover the body like some form of tumor. What had been hands and feet had transformed into massive razor sharp claws that could easily skewer a man with a single thrust. Its head was devoid of hair and the creature's mutations had covered the face, forcing it to reply upon its hearing. It's mouth was wide open revealing shark-like teeth that could rend a body to pieces in moments. Archer couldn't even tell if the creature was male or female anymore. The only trace of humanity were the shreds of clothes that clung to the body. These mutations had completely warped the body, leaving a deathly grey mass of muscle and razor sharp claws and teeth; a deadly biological weapon.
He recognized the signs of magic before him because it was the same type of magecraft he used: Reinforcement. However, if his reinforcement was like a well maintained rifle then whatever had happened to this creature was more like a crudely made blunderbuss. The creature's lifetime would have been measured in mere hours if it were lucky. The thing was like a runaway train and the engineer was shoveling in more coal than the engine could even use, powerful for its original frame but the power was short lived. The strain of reinforcement on the body would rip muscles, tear arteries and rupture organs; destroying the body even while providing it unnatural strength.
Luckily, the flaming and gaping hole in its torso and its unmoving form told Archer it was already dead; its mouth hung wide open in its death throes. In the hall in front of him lay six more of the enhanced corpses lying dead upon one another... and sand... piles upon piles of sand. Whatever had happened here, they'd missed the big battle.
Blood was smeared and splattered across the hallway walls in long and short streaks as if the white walls were some artistic canvass. There were two other rooms that forked from the hall and one at the end, but only the room at the end had lights on. The door was battered and the wood containing deep gouge marks from sharp sharp claws, most likely from the four enhanced Dead piled in front of it. In the center was a perfect circular hole easily larger than the size of his fist, the edges burnt black.
The four enhanced Dead at the door had been cut apart by what Archer estimated to be a wide beam of energy roughly six inches in diameter. Looking at the wounds, blackened charring inside and outside the wound told him it had been high enough temperature to cauterize anything it touched. Looking at the wall behind him, he saw a long horizontal scorch mark that had burnt through the drywall, ; the width about the same size as the hole in one of the Dead.
However, unlike the "Holy Fire" rounds from before, there was no fire or flames. Analysis? The only thing that matched this description was a direct energy weapon. Laser weaponry.
Utterly impossible.
Laser technology like that didn't exist yet; at least... nothing existed like this that didn't require a truck sized power source. That left the Magus Association and its casters and spells. He remembered back to the two unknown Dead Apostle hunters from last night... It seemed like they'd partnered the gunman with a mage... or was it more like they assigned the mage with a protector?
He glanced across his shoulder, expecting Rin to be right behind him, only to find her missing. Looking back into the living room, he saw Rin moving aside pieces of glass to pick up the broken family photo on the floor.
Her eyes went wide and he could see pulse was increasing and pupils dilating. Analysis? Most likely a relation between our victim. Results: Increase in erratic behaviour and higher urgency from Rin. New factors accounted for.
She dropped the book and quickly rose to her feet. "Archer, let's go!"
With renewed vigour, she ran towards him into the hall. Rounding the corner, her eyes grew even wider she halted mid step; her fear stymieing her courage and anger. Tohsaka's magic crest glowed under her crimson shirt as she flooded her circuits with prana.
He placed a reassuring arm on her shoulder. "They're dead, Rin."
Rin nodded wordlessly at him but didn't seem convinced, her eyes still staring at the monstrosities lying in pieces before her. Archer could hardly blame her. Even for a Magus, fighting horrors like these things wasn't common. Only the Executors of the Church, trained killers, dealt with issues like these on a daily basis. That... and a foolish man that had wanted to be a hero.
Taking the lead once more, he stepped over the enhanced corpse's body and headed down the hall, opening and clearing the rooms one by one with Kanshou in his hand; the hall too narrow for both twin blades. The two side rooms led to empty bedrooms. Behind him, even though she hadn't said a word Archer could feel Rin's presence as if she were shouting. It was the way her once calm and controlled master's feet failed to stay in one place as he moved forward or the way her hands continued to scrunch the bottom of her crimson shirt in nervousness or the way her eyes darted around the hall. She was worried about her friend.
Finally, Archer stood in front of the door at the end of the hall. In the distance, he could hear gunfire echoing in the distance but that didn't matter; there was only the here and now. He readied to himself to kick down the door before a sudden thought came to him.
"No... they couldn't be that stupid," he muttered.
Archer casually turned the door handle and pushed the door open. He had to force himself not to laugh at the situation. He walked through the doorway into what must have been the kid's bedroom, although the room was definitely larger than might be expected, with the walls being painted a welcoming peach cream color that ran against the rest of the white motif of the home. On the bookshelf and wooden desk were cute stuffed animals, manga, and popular anime figures. On the opposite side of the room, a bed frame and several chairs had been forced against the room's window as a temporary barricade.
All of this Archer would examine later as at the moment there were three enhanced Dead in the room. It seemed as if they had been examining various mundane objects in the room but switched their attention towards him at the hint of new prey.
The one nearest to him gave a long hiss, its deathly grey skin growing taut as it flexed its muscles in anticipation, before lunging towards him. Flesh rending claws claws spread wide and its mouth opened to reveal bloodstained teeth ready to dig into Archer's flesh. Its two friends were right behind it, baying for blood.
Archer hurled Kanshou forward and the midnight black blade pierced the grey hide of the first Dead, slicing through its shale color skin and severing its spine. The creature flew backwards and embedded into the wall and hung limp like meat upon a butcher's hook. Bakuya materialized in his grip even before its sister blade had flown from his hands. With years of practice, he threw the other twin sword that bisected his next opponent. Blood and organs spilled to the floor in a messy heap.
That left his final opponent, the last Dead still running towards him. Both hands still empty at his sides, Archer simply shook his head before giving a cocky grin at his opponent. He took a step back and placed his weight on his rear leg before raising both arms in a fighting stance... and then simply waiting. Prana flowed through his body as he prepared for his attack.
The thing leapt forwards off the ground, one of its claws held behind it with the intent of disemboweling the servant. Saliva dripped from its open maw as it gave off a feral growl that would have shaken even knights of the Church... But Archer was no mere knight
Archer replied in kind, giving off a deep deafening warcry that made Rin's ears ring behind him. Stepping forwards he delivered a lethal thrust kick to the Dead's chest. The blow connected with the power of a tank shell, sending a shockwave through the room that rattled cups and fluttered paper. The creature was hit with such force that the sound of its ribcage and other bones breaking could have been heard outside the house. The Dead flew into the wall behind it and fell forwards in time for the tanned Servant to grab the beast by the head and slam its misshapen head with his knee, sending the body flying upwards almost to its full standing height. With speed that would have appeared like a blur to Rin, he moved behind the Dead and brought the heel of his boot down on the back of the creature's knee, breaking bone, and tearing muscle and tendons together before finally finishing the creature off with an elbow down upon its spine with a sickening crack. Finally, after all this, did Archer let the Dead fall to the floor for the last time.
Analysis. Sternum broken, every rib cracked and massive hemorrhaging of its internal organs. Skull shattered and brain liquified. Left leg useless and spine broken in two locations. Conclusion: Threat neutralized.
From the doorway behind him, Rin simply stared in silence. "My God, Archer..." she said, eyes wide in amazement. He replied with a simple smug grin.
He looked around the room once more.
Blue shells littered the room along with.40 S&W and .45 ACP brass casings. On the carpet were the same muddy shoe prints he'd seen outside. There was a wide bedroom window that revealed the the backyard outside. He looked outside.
The smoldering corpses of over a dozen of the enhanced Dead lay dead, like the ones before. Most of them lay dead facing the building, although three appear to have been... running away? No... He looked at the scene again
Scuff marks and fresh claw marks atop the wooden fences told him where the Dead had crawled or leapt upon the walls. The wooden gate to the backyard had been broken open by one swift kick, the fresh mud and bootprint upon the frail gate easy to see with his reinforced vision. On the lawn was an abundance of muddy tracks on the soggy grass, mostly claw prints but he could make out two distinct shoeprints heading away from the house.
The footprint depth was slanted forward indicating more pressure on the soles of the feet... they had been sprinting. Both footprints led away from the house to the perimeter fence and beyond.
So... the two Dead Apostle hunters had made a run for it... Pushing out after they'd found themselves being surrounded and outnumbered by these new Dead. That made sense... That just left where the three girls were.
He turned his attention back into the room to see Rin standing in front of the bedroom's side bathroom door. She traced her finger down the length of the marred door before turning back to Archer. "There's a boundary field on the door here..." She said, before pointing to the last two runes that were inscribed on the door. "These fields are normally used to prevent people from entering a location."
"Like the boundary fields Dead Apostles use to hide from the Church and Magus Association?" said Archer.
"Yes... How do you know that...?" said Rin, giving him a quizzical look. He shrugged.
"I seem to know a lot about hunting vampires..." he said. "More than you could possibly realize," finishing the sentence in his head.
Rin turned back to the door and studied the design. "Although the design is considerably less intricate. It's odd though... the inscription technique is definitely different from the boundary field that was outside," she said.
"Shall I?" said Archer stepping forward as he traced Bakuya in his hand, ready to cut straight through the wood door. However, Rin gently placed her hand upon his and stopped him. Tracing figures upon the door, she muttered a simple incantation. Several bright blue runes flashed upon the door for a moment before fading. A silent moment passed before, with a click, the door creaked ajar.
"Saegusa? It's Tohsaka. Are you in there? Are you alright?" called out Rin as she moved to open the door with Archer following close behind. He could smell the tinge of copper that emanated from the washroom and felt a sinking feeling begin to grow from the pits of his stomach. This would not end well.
They entered the bathroom together. It was dark inside, with only the light from the bedroom to illuminate the sterile white bathroom within. However, even with the lack of light Rin could see the crimson stains that covered the shower curtains. She stood, looking at the white curtains like a child too scared to open a shadowy closet door.
"Rin..." he said. What did he want to say? Don't open it? Stay in the other room? Turn away? He wanted to say them all but he knew it'd be futile. Rin Tohsaka wasn't one to turn away at the last step, especially not with someone she knew involved.
Taking the shower curtain by the edge, Rin ripped it aside.
Her first expression was shock, as Rin's brain processed the scene before her. What followed was disgust as she examined the sight of the gruesome murders. Finally, nausea overcame all of her other feelings and she pushed past him into the fresh air of the bedroom outside.
Taking a moment to make sure Rin would be alright, he turned back to examine the blood bath before him. Three girls lay dead with numerous lacerations and stab wounds in the bathtub.. Blood soaked their clothes and collected into the tub drain.
The youngest of the three girls sat peacefully in the corner of the tub, her headed nodded off against the wall. Dried blood was caked against her short auburn hair and her shirt; the cute lion and giraffe design on the front juxtaposed with the death around it. A single penetrating incision to her stomach had ended the young girls life, eviscerating her body and leaving a gaping hole in her abdomen.
The second girl wore plain glasses and had flowing grey hair that slid past her shoulders. She sat motionless next to the first girl, a single slash wound ran along the width of her throat that had leaked enough blood to stain her entire white dress shirt. She must have enjoyed playing an instrument, perhaps a violin, given the calluses on her fingertips.
The last one, skin tan from the sun and body lean and athletic, lay stretched at the end of the tub with a single stab wound to the chest.
However... something seemed off.
Fresh blood smelled like copper or just a strong smell of metal depending on the environmental conditions. Left alone to dry in a small room for several days and it would drive most inexperienced people to the ground, upending their last meal. It was the smell of rot, like a full roast several weeks old, that he could smell right now... The scent of death... which was odd considering the attacks had only started mere minutes ago.
He examined the blood on the shower walls.
The blood splatter was all wrong as well. He looked around the room then back at the girls. These deep stab wounds should have produced incredible arterial spray; especially with a slit throat. Droplets should have dotted the bathroom mirror, lights and even the ceiling. The blood on the shower tiles were also wrong. If the girls had been killed in the tub, then why was there blood on the outside of the shower curtain yet none on the floor or sink? This was sloppy work he'd expect to see from movies. All shock and show but no substance.
There was also something missing... If looked as if all three girls had simply laid down and died. They should have been screaming in panic, fighting or struggling against their attacker; the mirror should have been broken, walls dented or tiles cracked from a fight. should have been wide open as their assailants took their lives, the light in their eyes slowly fading as they realized no one would come to save them.
It pained him to know that he'd seen enough death to know which ones were genuine and which ones were fake.
Kneeling down next to Himuro, he gently placed his hand upon her neck. From his hand Archer could feel the beat of a strong and rhythmic pulse. Life.
He smiled.
After what felt like a lifetimes of butchering and killing as a servant of Alaya, he'd almost forgotten this odd feeling. It drove away the bitterness in his heart and eased the dread that had been gripping his chest.. at least for the moment. It was was joy. He missed that old feeling... when there'd still been light in his life and hope in his naive eyes.
It was at this time Archer noticed something inscribed on the tiles behind one of the girls. Taking care to shift the unconscious girl to the side, he inspected the glowing runes etched on the tiles; tracing the edges of the inscription with his fingers. Rune creation was similar to handwriting in that they were unique to each caster and the one he was looking at was definitely different from the one that had been made outside... It was too neat... too pristine... and blue too.
Although Archer doubted he'd ever reach Rin's level of magecraft, he at least knew how to disable an illusion boundary field like this. Long years chasing and tracking Dead Apostles and their ilk had made sure he'd had plenty of experience with that. Checking and finding no counter-enchantments like the one that had zapped Tohsaka before, he drained the prana from the runes and depowered the field.
At once, the room shifted around him. As if a wave was washing through the room, all the blood and gore fading away like fresh paint against the spring rain; cleansing the grim scene that previously occupied the room. In its place were three girl, soundly sleeping in the washroom tub.
Archer checked over the other two girls just to be certain before heading back outside into the bedroom where he found Rin sitting silently with her back against the wall. His twin-tailed master hugged her knees with her arms and stared blankly at the empty wall opposite to her, her mind lost in thought. Occasionally, he thought he could hear the occasional muffled sniffle. If Rin had noticed him standing beside her, she didn't show it.
"Rin," Archer said, trying to rouse her attention. Tohsaka's blue eyes didn't move. Archer stepped in front of her and knelt down.
"Rin!" he said louder this time, shaking her by the shoulder. That got her attention. She looked upward to his face.
"Archer?" Rin said, as if she only now noticed his looming form in front of her. He grabbed her by the arms and tried to tug Rin to her feet.
"Rin. Come on," he said, trying to pull her to her feet.
"No... Just... away," she muttered. She shook her head at Archer like a kid refusing to go to the doctors.
"Rin, it was a fake. An illusion. Come on," he said, finally able to pull his master to her feet at least.
"Archer... that's not funny," she said, anger replacing her grief for the moment. He pulled her into the room until she finally saw them. His master froze at the sight, mind unable to comprehend the sudden change of the situation. Her emotions changed from surprise, happiness, shock and confusion as Rin looked back and forth between the girls and Archer. Although her mouth was open, no words came forth. She stood like that, stunned in silence, before she was able to collect her thoughts back together.
Taking a deep breath, she kneeled over one of the girls and placed her hand upon her neck to check her pulse. In the process, the girl groggily began to open her eyes.
"Eh," said the girl sleepily. "Tohsaka Rin?" Saegusa's words were slurred, still under the effects of the spell.
"Shh..." said Rin. "Just sleep. It's alright now." His master muttered a quick incantation and the girl fell back into the darkness of sleep. Without turning around, Rin quietly called his name.
"Yes?" Archer replied.
"Thank you," she said before giving a sigh of relief. Archer couldn't see it, but he knew there was a smile upon her face.