A/N DUE MY LACK IN SKILL FOR THE USE OF ENGLISH I WARMLY RECOMEND RE-READING THE LONER FROM THE PROLOGUE
THE SWORD II
(Rin POV)
"Archer, follow Lancer...if we don't learn at least his Master's face none of this will have been worth it"
(sound of a servant dissolving in a cloud of mana)
"Rin this is your responsibility. Lancer pierced him with his spear... if the heart was hit, there is no way to save him. "
"..c-cc-cold"
"I'm sorry, I'll sit with you until your time comes"
*tshhhhhhh(sound of a body delicately rolled)
"ah...arf...arf arf..N-no,Don't do this to me...why are you here? Why did you have to pick this hour on this day to be here? How am I supposed to look her in the eye tomorrow?"
.
.
.
.
"there is still a way"
(Shiro POV)
"being an hero justice... a person that define himself like one is just deluding himself
after all justice changes from person to person.
good and evil may turn in one another through someone else's eyes.
I can accept being an hero, fight for the weak and stuff. But being an hero of justice it just mean you assume you will always be right...it's arrogant"
"And what you do then if you have the best intention but end up doing something wrong, evil"
"You just go on I suppose.
knowing you might be wrong, continue to question yourself if you are doing things in the right way...
that's the only thing you can do.
and if you still have un-answered questions but genuinely feel something is right...
Just do it"
"and how is that different from do something just because you assume to be right?"
"because this time the choice you make is not arrogant, it's a choice made after getting through doubts and uncertainties... it's genuine"
"Dad, I'll become an hero of justice for you"
"is it...is my desire genuine?"
"ARhhh arf...afr"
Spear, pain, blood, warmth, cold, a voice
"ARG...what happened?"
I muttered awaking on the floor of my school
my head hurt, my chest hurt...my everything hurt. Just what did it happened to me, I remembered a spear, pain then blood...lot of blood and then nothing...just a faint red light, it seemed so far away. It was like that light was calling me, asking me to catch it.
"shit"
I whispered as my head began to spin like a spinning top
Trying to calm myself down, I started to breathe deeply, yet with each inhalation and exhalation my situation seemed to get worse. I was struggling to keep my eyes open, with each breath I believed I was going to puke and I felt cold...really cold.
"arf..."
I exhaled observing a small cloud of steam from in front of me
Out of instinct I moved my arms to hug my shoulders, I was trebling and...my chest was wet.
"U-uh"
I grunted staring at my uniform...it was stained of blood.
"So I didn't dream it...I was about to die...no I died, I was killed"
I said emotionless while my breathing stabilized and I regained something similar to calm
"No...not yet...I have still things to do"
I tried to stand up...It was hard...insanely hard .
Still forcing out all the strength I had left in my legs I managed to do it, then with the swinging step of a drunkard, I slowly moved a foot in front of another and began to walk. I knew it would have been a long way to my house and that if I dared to stop I might have collapse again...Yet as I hardly managed to move in the cold school hallway a small red glitter caught my eye.
I didn't know why, but I immediately felt the irrepressible desire to take it. Enduring a scorching pain running through all my body I kneeled on the floor and extended my hand towards the source of that small crimson glittering.
It was a jewel, a ruby to be precise...it was cold, yet in my hand was like made of fire. With a rough gesture I moved the ruby in my pocket... doing nothing different than following my instinct.
"Okay com'on Shiro one step, and then another"
I muttered starting my journey
"Okay I'm literally arrived. that's the door and that's the kitchen"
I thought as I used my last bits of conscience
Having concluded my mission to return at home, I mentally shook my hand:
"Good job Emiya-san"
"Oh please call me Shiro, Emiya-kun"
and conveyed I could take a pause, or put in other terms, I collapsed as my energies were over...completely over...like any kind of cookie/sweets in my kitchen after Fuji-nee comes for breakfast. (A/N GASP!)
Before I realized it my body had began to fall. Using all the power of will left in my body I directed my head towards a random pillow I left on the kitchen's floor this morning.
"aawwwSoftLanding-FUCK!"
I grunted while my nose missed the pillow for two centimetres and crushed on the floor...and to be clear I definitely wasn't crying.
Yeah I was sweating from my eyes!
"dammit, this was really a nice day! First Sakura got hurt and refused to let me help her, I had been under interrogation for all the lunch pause, forced to clean the archery dojo (... I like cleaning though) and then...encoutered those two the red and the blue men"
I thought rolling on the floor while the memories of those two flashed in my eyes.
their power, speed, weapons everything was so vivid yet so fuzzy in my mind. I was struggling to remember what I saw precisely...still the feeling of inferiority and powerlessness I felt standing beside them was branded in my mind.
"who were those two? They were no ordinary humans"
I whispered inaudible, while a strong smell of blood tickled my nose
"Yo Emiya"
a voice suddenly said from the other side of the kitchen table
"...Oh God there is a thief in my house with a creepy voice!...AND KNOWS MY NAME TOO, oh wait is Hikigaya"
I screamed in my head
"Hikigaya...why you on the floor?"
I asked trying to hide my fear and fatigue
It what a stupid question, the one I just made, the answer was obvious; he must have had accused the usual symptoms from lack of sucrose and caffeine: sudden fainting!
"I could ask you the same question"
He responded kind of annoyed...really this dude
Why didn't he accepted the surrogate of Max Coffee I did for him, it was the best solution for both of us: Hikigaya drank coffee and became happy, I helped someone and became happy, WIN-WIN...the fact I didn't have to clean the stains of saliva made by an uncoscious teenager was just a side benefit.
Still, I had to distract Hikigaya so he didn't notice the smell of blood and the only way right was saying something credible and detailed
"I just say rough day"
In my head my response sounded more clever.
"Yeah me too..."
but it seemed to convince Hikigaya..that must have had a really rough day ahahahah at most hardcore hunt on Monster Hunter.
For a few awkward moments not me nor Hikigaya spoke again. As usual my inability to make small talks put me in tight spots, right now Hikigaya didn't seem prone to move from the kitchen and with each second I could feel the smell of blood growing stronger, it was just a matter of minutes before the dark haired teenager noticed something was off.
"Okay Shiro you have known this guy for a week, how can you possibly make him do something he doesn't want to do...Food!"
"Hikigaya, I don't feel like cooking tonight"
I said leaking my a bit of my fatigue in my voice
"...Should I call 911?"
responded the teen with his voice a little alarmed...was he so surprised?
"no..."
I retorted while all my kitchen tools screamed
"Are you leaving us alone!"
on a second thought
"ye-"
psychoanalysts cost to much
"no...no..nono..."
"I was thinking about pizza"
I offered putting a side for a moment by dubious mental health.
"mmm that's sound nice, is Fujimura-sensei eating here?"
he asked
"nope, just you and me..."
I responded happy that I just had to hide my blood stained uniform from one person
"It's seriously creepy when you say it, you know"
"Was it?"
I thought trying to understand a double meaning and...ewwww
"...I think it's more creepy you thought about my words in the creepy way...you creep"
I groaned with a twisted face
"don't call me creep you filthy riajuu"
Hikigaya responded annoyed
"..."
"..."
"ahhahaaha"
"ahahahaha"
It was fun interacting with someone I could be rude to
"okay my bad..."
I whispered offering a truce, fighting Hikigaya in a verbal battle was probably a suicide
"soooo what about the pizza...I'm seriously starving right now"
the creep retorted signing the armistice
"there is a calling card near the landline phone"
I said setting my trap
"...is this supposed to be a kind way to order me a to go order the pizzas?"
My trap was immediately noticed! But I could still win
"a vegetarian please"
I tried using a cheerful voice, expecting no results
"...go to hell"
grunted Hikigaya standing up and going out from the kitchen
"...It actually worked, is it my birthday? Well maybe I don't actually the date of my actual birth...aaaaahhhhh positive vibes positive vibes, my plan worked that's what important"
I muttered astonished
"it's possible I'm still dying at school and this is an hallucination?"
I thought
"How're your bruises?"
Hikigaya suddenly asked with bored voice
"Uh?...Oh normal I think, they didn't change, nor started to hurt"
I responded taken aback by the unusual amount of concern he was displaying.
"Ok"
he then said leaving the room.
For a few moments I remained speechless, unable to address the current situation, first I got nearly killed and now Hikigaya was bearable? The whole thing smelled fishy.
"Just to be sure"
*pinch
"oway it hwrt, this is real"
I said clenching my left cheek in my hand
"What a day...it was the second time I died uh?"
I sighed drawing from my pocket a crimson gem.
Staring at my reflection on that jewel I felt a sense of uneasiness, when I was stabbed someone came to help me, I clearly remember a voice...it was: feminine, familiar, pleasant and had a bitter-sweet timber, I didn't understand why but...Listening to that voice...to her voice, I could ignore the cold spreading through my body.
It was almost funny the second time I died and again I was unable to do anything.
"I suppose I should thank you...Tohsaka"
I said lifting above my head the crimson jewel
"Hikigaya was right if you remain in fetal position, while fainting you recognize the voices of the people around you...I can't believe it actually works"
(A day ago)
"Emiya for dinner I think it's better fish than meat"
"Okay!...Wait, how do you know I couldn't decide between meat and fish? I discussed this topic with Sakura while you were droolling on the floor"
"Ah a trick I learned in middle school if you faint... or want to sleep on the desk, keep your ears and respiratory tracts free and you get a bit of awareness in your sleep"
"...it sounds like bullshit"
"Oi did you just insinuate I'm a liar"
"you aren't?"
"not the point"
"so let me get this straight it's like you are awake and sleeping at the same time"
"no it's like I'm sleeping but I can hear what's happening around me, my prized loner skill number 48"
"...Sure..."
"Thanks for having stepped on me by the way"
"How you know that too?!"
"You really did! I was just messing with you!"
"still...what should I do now?"
I muttered supporting my body on my elbows and staring at the ceiling.
I was in a tight spot, I didn't know what's going on, who trust and if I was safe...no I was safe, after all my house was protected by a powerful magical field a friend of Kiritsugu made, so I was sure my home was a safe place.
"besides if something was wrong a few bells would resound"
(A/N LUCK E Activated)
*tling *tling (bell sounds)
Of fucking course!
It was matter of seconds.
first some azure sparks, then a red spear and to conclude a ripped blue man, if I had to condense these three factors in one sentence I guess it would sound
"OH SHIT!"
like this.
abandoning every form of thinking and relying only on my instincts, I forced my numb legs and arms to move and pushed myself out from the red weapon's trajectory. Without any kind of grace I rolled on the dinning table and crushed on the other side of the room out of breath.
A weapon I needed a weapon, everything was fine, but it had to be sturdy and powerful, like my kitchen knives!...that were currently behind the blue man...the same blue man that had already killed me once today.
DAMMIT!
Lacking of options I grabbed the first thing I saw lying on the floor, a.k.a. Fuji-nee's poster, not the best choice or a choice at all since there was only an option, but still better than nothing.
Just gripping it I felt my hands trembling, I was scared...not for me...but for an innocent acquaintance of mine that had nothing to do with this whole mess and could be the next person to become a kebab this night.
DAMMIT AGAIN!
"One thing at the time"
I muttered standing up with the poster in my hands
this thing, this upcoming fight was nothing different from my morning spars with Fuji-nee.
I had to widen my legs, bent my knees, rose my arms and grip harder my weapon, it was easy, four movements I had done thousands of times. In a second my hands stopped to tremble and my eyes became sharper... this thing was exactly like a morning spar with Fuji-nee, the only difference was that the stakes were a bit higher.
"aha, I was trying to be considerate, figuring it would hurt more, if you saw it coming"
grinned cocky the red eyes spear man moving his red dispenser of death on his shoulder
I looked at his weapon and then looked at mine, I couldn't survive more than a minute like this
"stuck killing the same person twice..."
he continued darkly amused
I had to come out with something, I was too tired and too slow to escape, besides last time didn't end up well, I needed a better weapon to fight, a weapon that could give me a chance to win...like those beautiful swords the red guy was using.
"But I doubt they will appear in my hand" (A/N not now at least lol)
I thought wondering if dying here quickly would have saved Hikigaya's life
"I guess the human world is a bloody place no matter the era"
spit my opponent doing a few tricks with his spear at great speed and assuming a fighting stance.
It was a wide and aggressive stance, I didn't know enough about spearman-ship to comment better, still even I could see how deathly and experienced this man here was with his weapon.
I never Thought about it, but this was the first time I could square my opponent: he seemed to only follow a silver and blue color pattern, I mean his armor and hair were blue, while his shoulder straps, ear rings and the finishing on his armor were silver... there were only two things that looked out of place, his eyes and his spears both scarlet like fire...I hated fire.
"think Shiro think what would Kiritsugu do?...Kiritsugu his origin bullets"
I thought while the imagine of an old dusty suitcase and a old gun appeared in my mind
If I managed to reach the toolshed I might take this guy down.
Sure it was a desperate plan, with too many unknown factors, but right now it was my best shot (A/N pun intended!)
make it or brake it.
"TRACE ON"
One spell, one aria and a dream.
There was everything I got inside those two words that after leaving my lips activated my magic circuits.
Blue lines of energy spreaded on my arms and then on the poster in my hands. For a second the dark grin on my opponent's face disappeared and was replaced by a spark of surprise, he didn't expect I wouldn't immediately flew...yet observing an amused almost excited smile spring on the blue man face, I realized my actions had piqued the interest of a beast that was better asleep.
I nearly regretted using magecrafth and running for my life.
"Find you way to the other side this time, boy"
said the spearman doing a few side steps to study me.
mimicking his action I was tempted to respond "no thanks i'd like to live a bit more", but I had more urgent matters to deal with now.
"strengthening components and materials"
I said mechanical to complete my reinforcement magic.
Fortunately for me my spell worked properly this time, so the paper poster didn't exploded in a bunch of confetti and turned hard as metal. I could do it, I could survive this night and this guy!
with a swift movement the blue spearman I labelled as Lancer-san, thrusted his crimson weapon against me... It was so fast. I barely managed to deviate Lancer's blow with my poster, but it wasn't enough, the crimson spear ignoring all my efforts left a deep gash on my right arm.
Aware I just avoided another stab on my heart, I barely reacted when a scorching pain began to pulse on my arm...the only thing that made me wince was the cold of the blade as it pierced through my flesh and skin.
"Oh?"
grunted Lancer lowering his spear
"precious seconds to breathe"
I thought pressing my new wound to slow down the blood loss
"that's an odd style"
he commented my basic kendo stance
"Step back Shiro out from his spear's reach"
I continued keeping to think...I had to remain calm,lucid
"ahah it's faint, but I sense mana. So that's why you're still alive after having your heart skewered"
Lancer said...leaving in my mouth a bitter after taste mainly for two reasons
first because my magic was so weak that this dude thought I said "Trace on " Like... some kind of random mantra?
And second because he believed I healed myself from his other attack...sure it kind of flattered me he thought I could achieve a self-healing spell, but this also meant he will make sure to permanently kill me this time.
"Step back Shiro step back..."
"This might be fun after all"
Lancer concluded the conversation and rose his spear again
"NOT FOR ME!"
was my last thought as I moved my poster to intercept a new incoming blow
Good news I managed to block it
Bad news the blunt power shot me out of the kitchen.
Flying in the air like not-very-graceful bird I collided with one of the external walls of the house. Just how strong was Lancer?
After landing it was like my entire body had been under a roadroller.
"Dammit"
I grunted biting my tongue making warm blood splash into my mouth.
I couldn't afford to remain on the floor so I self-inflicted pain to distract myself from my aching body. All my muscles and tendons screamed in protest as I stood up and trudged the hallway. My plan was simple and crazy: ideally I would have broken a window of the hallway with a shove, ran in the tool-shed, found Kiritsugu's gun and survived...a plan with 1000% success probability.
Yet an unexpected factor overturned my plan: the skinny silhouette of Hikigaya projected on a paper wall facing the hallway.
"Why is he here! he should be in the other side of the house ordering our pizzas"
I screamed in my head making me do the worst thing possible in my situation
hesitate.
What happened next was only a collection of phonograms my brain memorized.
Lancer's leg aiming at my ribs
my poster moved to protect me
the sound of metal bending
the air in my lungs forcefully expelled
a thin wall tored apart
my ankle bending into a wrong angulation.
Yet again I could nothing against Lancer, I was too weak, too slow, too myself.
Still yet again I refused to give up and then did the only thing that could still help someone else: SCREAMING
"HIKGAYA RUN!"
(Meanwhile)
"Hang on..."
"What is it, Rin?"
"When Lancer's Master learns the witness they thought they'd killed is still alive..."
"he will probably Lancer back to finish the job"
"Archer...let's go"
One time Kiritsugu said to me that pain was my friend...because it taught me what I could do and what I couldn't do, it always reminded me I was still alive.
Unfortunately my dad never told me how to react when even pain started to fade away.
"you have to run...Hikigaya...run"
like in this case.
After crushing in Hikigaya's room everything around me seemed dizzy and shapeless.
My sight wasn't working properly, in fact inside my eyes confused color stains and black spots were the only things to be seen. My head was spinning as if my brain had decided to go on a roller coaster.
Was I standing? Was I sitting? Was I lying on the floor? Sure thinking logically it was of course the latter, but standing to my senses I was doing all those things at the same time.
"Oh there is another"
I heard far away
"Yo servant-San
Hikigaya...
what I can do for you?"
why was he so calm...no he wasn't calm...his voice was too flat, he was terrified...
"Ah? You know about servants
servants?
are you a Magus? "
Hikigaya a Magus?
"Mmmm Kinda...can you please tell me why you are trying to turn my landlord into a kebab?"
"What the hell is going on?"
I thought as my sight resetted and returned to work properly...kinda
Maybe I was still seeing strange things: the Hikigaya standing in front of me seemed to have fallen from the stairs and then into a bin of ketchup, I mean his clothes were all tored and dirty of blood...did I hit my head harder than I expected?
"He saw something he shouldn't have, like you..."
said Lancer darkly and as much as it hurted to admit it was official
We were both dead...
"Now who's gonna feed Fuji-nee"
I thought bitterly while my guts twisted
"Don't give me this crap...it can't end like this"
I tighten my grip around the poster I still had in my right hand.
I could still fight, I still had to fight. I just needed a moment in order to have my stupid body return to work properly.
"Hachiman please stall this game for another bit"
I thought trying to stand up one last time.
"Oh what a pity"
Muttered the dark haired teen while his eyes left aside their bored look and usheated a cool and lethal sharpness.
It might have been only me, but for a second I saw Lancer's face freeze. What happened next was a flash:
the first thing I saw was Hikigaya, emotionless as usual, throwing violently his laptop at Lancer.
"A move free of any purpose"
I believed as Lancer pierced the pc with a single movement.
Yet I had to change my opinion when my eyes noticed the dark haired teenager dashing at insane speed towards the blue man. From my position I couldn't hear anything but I was sure Hikigaya was muttering a spell as his left and right eyes turned in a pit of whiteness and blackness.
" he can do it "
I thought full of hopes, before...
"AAAARRRRGGGGHHHHHHH"
*Crash (sound of an over confident teenager getting splatted on wall)
all of them turned into dust.
"Ahaha that was a nice move kiddo you surprised me"
Said Lancer surpassing me
" that's how you react...when someone surprises you?...guess nobody throws a surprise party for you uh?"
Hikigaya whispered poisonous...I didn't know, but in my opinion taunting the person that was about to kill you didn't sound too smart
"Pffff nice reaction bozu, but it won't save your life "
as I wanted to prove
"Really? Well at last I will go out as a badass"
responded the teenager totally in the grip of a delirium forcing Lancer's spear inside himself.
"The fuck is he doing? He has gone crazy"
I grunted putting even more effort than before to stand up
I felt so powerless as I was barely lifting up my body while my...friend, yes friend, had completely lost his mind, what he was hoping to do blocking Lancer's spear with his own body?
"That sick bastard!"
I exclaimed as I realized that was his intent
-Dolor meus et fortitudinem-
Hikigaya said while a bit of blood came out from his mouth.
"A spell"
I whispered as the left hand of the dark haired teen started to transform.
It happened pretty fast but I clearly saw Hikigaya's hand be covered in thousands of injuries: cuts, burns concussions and many others I couldn't identify, before turning in a pitch black claw.
"Emiya run !"
He screamed blocking Lancer's arm
"you're joking..."
I grunted finally obtaining a decent footing and dashing towards Lancer.
"AS IF I WOULD LEAVE YOU BEHIND IDIOT!"
my brain screamed while I swinged with all my might my poster on Lancer's head
I refused to be saved again this night, I refused to be just a victim that had to be protected I wanted to be an hero!
...yeah
a
hero
*tun( sound of a Poster doing absolutely nothing)
"Oh for goodness sake!
I meant run away, fucking moron"
"Gosh this sight is too pathetic bozu listen to your friend advice here, Start running I will finish him off and then chase you again"
"H-hikiga-"
"Go dammit!"
*shit shit shit (sound of a limping auburn haired boy realizing that the gun plan was better than the poster one)
"Fuck Fuck and FUCK again"
I grunted limping in the back yard
Everything was wrong too damn wrong. I was supposed to be the one that sacrificed himself and let the other escape
"Dammit"
I cursed slipping and falling on the ground
"AAAAAAAAAA"
I cried as there wasn't a single part of my body that wanted to move
STILL I REFUSED TO END IT IN THIS WAY
I was about half of the backyard I could still do it, I could still do it
"C...OM'N"
I whispered sinking my left hand in the ground
starting to crawl like a worm towards the toolshed I felt my eyes sting, all my face was covered in dirth.
"Please please don't die yet Hikigaya"
I started to use also my chin to move faster.
From outside my sight must have been pretty pathetic...no very pathetic, but I couldn't waste time thinking about pride or anything useless at the moment. I still had change of victory. I couldn't give up, I mustn't give up.
"get Kiritsugu's gun, get Kiritsugu's gun"
That was the only thing I thought...probably in a small corner of my brain I knew all my action right now were meaningless, but when you had only a hope (dream) to grab to how was it possible to just let go.
"G...e...t Ki...r...i...tsu...gu's...ugh ugh...dam...mit"
I choked in the dirt as Lancer appeared beside me.
"End of your run boy"
the man whispered with a complicated expression.
*Thrust
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA"
I cried
It hurt God how much it hurt, my left leg had been pierced by Lancer's spear...but did it matter? I wasn't using them to move right now, it was fine IT WAS FINE I COULD STILL MOVE!
"I...can.. go... further"
I whispered to none in particular ignoring the pain and keeping to move
"...You're really going to make me do it like this uh?"
Lancer asked me using a bitter voice and rising his spear again
I was sure that this attack would have been the last one, Lancer had already played enough and now wanted just to conclude his hunt.
"WWWWWWWAAAAAAAAA"
I roared desperate.
Everything was like in slow motion, Lancer's red weapon descending, my body rolling on my back and the poster I still held firmly in my right hand spreading
*DWAAAAAAAMMMM
a blinding explosion engulfed my backyard as my brave poster managed to block a crimson spear, but paying the price of turning in a bunch of confetti.
"Pff you're really a piece of work, you know that"
Laughed the blue man bitterly before kicking me with his super human strength
"uuuugggggggggaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!"
I moaned afflicted by an intense attack of motion sickness before crashing in the tool shed
(memo for me do not get kicked at speed sound anymore).
pipes, old domestic appliances, boxes and everything I had kept in order with maniacal care in that shed for years, in less than a second scattered around...
"mmm tha's what would have happened if I ever let in Fuji-nee for more than ten minutes"
I darkly thought from the box I landed on as the whole scene in front of me embodied perfectly what this day had been for me.
A human sized arrow that suddenly destroyed years of precise unchanging order.
It was over, wasn't it?
"Checkmate... that last move of yours was pretty surprising boy, still It's time to end this little game, you played well but you couldn't win from the beginning...it's strange though, both you and your friend thought fast with you feet, but none of you was nothing more than hopeless, you with your half-backed reinforcement magic and the other guy with...whatever was that claw thing I could feel his magic circuits pop all over his body. Maybe one of you were meant to be the seventh...Well even if you were it doesn't matter now, just stand still and let me give you a less pathetic death."
" ...Hikiga...ya"
"Who?"
"the other boy..is he d-d"
"death? No, not for now at least...he managed to sway my spear away from any vitals, clever of him, still he had already lost too much blood before even meeting me, I highly doubt he will survive more than, 3, 2,1 now"
FUCK
"Bastard..."
"yeah swear as much as you like kid...there is nothing left you can do now"
SCREW THIS
MY LIFE WAS SPARED
MY LIFE WAS SAVED
I COULDN'T DIE SO EASILY
I HAD TO LIVE AND FULFILL MY OBLIGATIONS
(Flashback)
"Oh for goodness sake!
I meant run away, fucking moron"
"Go dammit!"
...
"who am I kidding, from the very start I couldn't save anybody"
I thought staring at Lancer's red spear
"Maybe if I just gave up from in the kitchen I would at least saved one life"
I continued remembering a small chess board that now none could play with me on
why it is over like this
it can't be over like this
(A/N Luck E)
(A/N Luck E*)
(A/N Luck E+)
(A/N Luck E#)
(A/N Luck E§)
(A/N Luck E&)
(A/N Luck EX)
BAM BAM BAM
Three shots resounded loud and clear; Three comet like violet bullet that rushed against the man that had already killed me once today.
twin twin twin
the three projectiles exploded in a shower of sparks before touching Lancer
"OH COM'ON is it possible that bullets never works on the likes of yours"
in the backyard...an annoyed voice erupted from outside it was like thousands of people whispering,
"Uh?"
groaned Lancer slowly turning himself
"a life of convictions just turned into ashes, Bullets hurt people easy, why today this rule seemed to have stopped existing"
the voice belonging to a humanoid being coated in black smoke and blue lightnings continued
"And now who are you"
asked Lancer rising an eyebrow.
"would you believe me if I said I'm the pizza delivery guy?"
"...What's a pizza?"
"I see...I'm just an observer, this guy's death serves no purpose for the Holy Grail War, let him go"
"If I said No?"
Asked Lancer parrying with his spear an obsidian tentacle coming out from the side wall.
"I'd convince you"
said emotionless the smoke human...before he and Lancer disappeared in a sonic boom
What defined one's power?
What defined skills?
What defined genius?
I'd ask myself those three questions each time I met a wall I couldn't surpass, it didn't matter whenever the wall I was facing belonged to the magical or athletic field. I would always ask myself those questions.
To be honest I never reached an answer...but if I had to picture it, it would be the scene before my eyes.
Two beings beyond human comprehension fighting against each other doing everything possible to win.
From the tool-shed the only thing I could do was watching a dark blue, silver and red line clashing against a black and electric blue one, two confused lightnings going on rampage in my backyard, they were so fast I could only see them clearly when they came in contact with one another.
BAM BAM BAM
I listened emotionless to countless sound explosions roaring a few metres from me as show I couldn't describe with words was on the stage.
I had to literally focus as much as I could to get a barely-clear vision of what was going on. From one side there was Lancer making use of all his prowess with his crimson spear and from the other side there was the mysterious smoke-man, who was keeping to create black and roughly shaped spikes, swords and daggers: they were made of some kind of obsidian crystal and even if they looked pretty sturdy, they could only clash one or two times against Lancer's spear before exploding into a thousands shards.
Looking from outside it was clear that Lancer had the edge in both power and speed, yet the smoke-man keeping his movements to a surgical precision level was enduring Lancer's merciless assault.
"Too slow"
Shouted lancer suddenly speeding up and thrusting his spear faster than any human could... faster than the smoke man could dodge
*swaaam
The crimson weapon pierced through the smoke man's left hand and came out from the elbow with a wet sound.
"Oh I was aiming heart, you have some nice battle senses Smoke, still this is the end for you scream while you still can"
grinned Lancer
"...Nope"
responded Smoke with his thousands voices.
apparently he was totally unfazed by having his left arm nearly mutilated, and instead of screaming, grunting or anything else he just whispered a few words
"you're going to scream".
As soon as Smoke stopped to talk a dark flash erupted from his forearm, then hundreds black arms surged from his wound and rushed against Lancer. For three long seconds an unstoppable hurricane of obsidian fists stormed on the blue servant , who on the other hand stood still unwilling to lose the grip on his crimson weapon.
"Amusing"
commented Lancer once the hurricane had ended while a little stream of blood was coming out of his mouth
"Magical defense...?"
asked smoke annoyed not to have beat Lancer into a bloody pulp
"default ski-*puf defaul-*puf default skill of the Lancer cla- *puf STOP ALREADY"
inspired Lancer while several smoke tentacles kept coming out from the smoke man's body and continued to dissolve before they could land a hit.
"TSK worth try"
muttered Smoke creating a dagger in his healthy hand.
It was incredible that dark man really didn't want to give up, with a snake like movement he moved his newly made weapon to stab Lancer's eye, yet the fearsome servant grabbed the black wrist of Smoke with ease before the blade managed to reach its target.
"So you aren't a servant after all... you're too weak to be one, yet I admire your guts "
muttered Lancer tightening his grip until Smoke's wrist started to crack
I expected to see a fountain of blood starting to splash all over the place, but with my surprise only a dark mist came out.
"mpf"
grinned Smoke with a silver smile visible even under the smoke cape he was enveloped into.
In a second, I saw all the black mist coming out from his wrist flow in the crystal dagger he was holding. Suddenly the small dagger's shape changed turning into a sword that like a lighting made of darkness fell towards Lancer's eye
"RGHA"
grunted the spearman avoiding to have his left eye taken, but losing his ear instead.
"Tricky bastard"
Lancer roared furious kicking Smoke away with all his might.
Having experienced on my skin what meant receiving one of those blows, I couldn't help but feel chills run on my back as Smoke crushed in the one of the lateral wall of the backyard, still with the sword in his hand and the spear embed his other hand.
"Ku Ku KU Ku I see the magical defense is only of level B, you are unharmed by my magic when it's not condensed or too little, but with the right quality and quantity. I. CAN. HURT. YOU. AHAHHAHAHHAAHHAHAHHAHAHAHAH"
Whispered Smoke with a voice not short from the epitome of madness.
"Just die"
said the unarmed Lancer tracing with his index four blue runes in the air and thenshooting them as fire bullets
"Not yet"
-Pura ei tormentum-
(pure agony)
Muttered the smoke man still stuck in the wall releasing barrage of obsidian bullets from all his front...they were crystral like agglomerates of condensed smoke
*Twooo *Twooo*Twooo*Twooo
Blew up Lancer's runes against Smoke's crystals
"He won, there's no way he could dodge them all."
I thought staring at dozens of black comets flying against Lancer,
Yet my believes were proven wron as all the crystals one they entered within a metre from Lancer were deflected by a mysterious force and scattered all over my backyard.
"It's useless Smokey, you can't get past through my protection from arrows"
grinned cocky Lancer, while a rain of black cystals was falling on the ground
Defense from ranged attacks and magic wasn't this blue dude unfairly safe from too many threats?
"ehehehehehehehehehheheheheheheheheheh is that so?"
Retorted Smoke still stuck in the wall
"It seems I have to change strategy"
UIAM NIGRUM
(Black Maze)
He screamed with his thousands voices.
Suddenly all Smoke's crystals that had falled on the ground started to grow like dark bramles turning the backyard in a maze of spikes. A true labyrinth built with a shapeless mass of black and sharp crystals
"ghaaa same trick doesn't work twice"
grunted Lancer twisting in mid-air to dodge all the black vines incoming.
"It wasn't supposed to, I just wanted a bit of environmental advantage"
Responded Smoke dashing out of the wall leaving behind only a crimson spear and his black sword that was now turning again into smoke.
(A/N recomend listening the 13 op of Gintama "Sakura Mitsutsuki" from the 58 seconds)
In a fraction of a second the humanoid being surrounded by a thick black mist began to run and turned into a lightning looking speed demon.
He was so fast that I couldn't see his siluetthe anymore, my eyes were only able to follow a blinding line of light darting in the backyard dancing through the maze of crystal bramles.
I needed a moment to realize that the battle Lancer was winning across the board, had now changed its flow. The black maze Smoke had created was the perfect trap to limit Lancer movements and to increase the fighting abilities of Smoke that was currently using all the black vines in the backyard as rebound points to keep his movings unpredictable.
Like a mad lightining he kept dealing an insane amount of blows against Lancer, who remained trapped by all those the black vines that kept moving to get in his way.
"WAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"
Screamed Smoke...no more Lighting now, speeding up again
"uhg dah rrgg"
Groaned Lancer while his face torso legs kept were hit at insane speed
"COME !"
He then shouted to someone
"No not someone something"
I thought seeing his crimson spear fly towards him through the black maze like a red rocket
" NOT SO FAST!"
Roared Lightning drop kicking away the weapon in mid-air before it could reach his Master
"pff this bait always work"
Grinned Lancer dashing towards Lightning.
unleashing an unheard of brute force the blue servant broke through all the black bramles in his path, crimson streams of blood started to run across all his body, yet he didn't care, in that momemnt he only had eys fro his prey.
"YOU'RE OPEN!"
the spear-man screamed moving his fist to punch with the same power of a tank Lightning
"that makes two of us"
Responded Lightning receiving the devastating blow on his right shinbone.
*CRACK *PASHH
Two distinct sounds responded in the backyard, the first was the noise of Smoke... I mean Lightning's right leg's bones shattering, while the second was the sound of his left heel smashing against Lancer's face.
To be honest I forgot to breathe when I saw the humanoid being covered in smoke and lightnings, tank Lancer's punch and use its power to perform a spinning left heel kick
"DAMMIT!"
cursed Lancer crushing against the last untouched lateral wall of my backyard.
"ahh ahh awaaaaaa"
volubly responded Lightning shamefully landing on his back on the ground.
"do...not...go...bersek"
he muttered beginning to throw up blood on the soil beside him.
Lightning, Smoke or who ever he was had reached his limit, I could see it; the lightnings of mana around Smoke's body now were nothing more than a few sparks and all the black crystals maze he had created was turning into smoke. Besides Lancer's last attack had left quite the mark...I just say I nearly threw up when I saw the bloody pulp Smoke's right leg had turned into.
"No get up, get up "
I grunted seeing my nearly-saviour defeated on the ground
"Double Origin"
suddenly said Lancer stuck in the wall
"now I remember how your breed is called Smokey, Double Origins a bunch of narrow minded people able to perform only spells related to a precise concept with No matter the lineage little mana reserves. At first they are all so weak and useless that they fall behind even against the most mediocre conjurer..."
The servant continued breaking free from the wall and reclaiming his red spear.
"Yet once they understand that they're different from other mages, once they realize that their power doesn't come from mana, but from somewhere else, they can grow enough to become a threat even for a creature like me"
*clan *clap
clapped his black hands Smoke still lying on the ground
" ahahahahaha Nice!, you seem to have done your homework! That's right Double Origins like me have a defined amount of power confined in a different dimension, we can make that power grow forever, but it's up to over low mana reserves open a breach in this world's reality and let us materialize our magic, that unless normal magecrafth is only controlled through mind and body... Magi said it has side effects, But I DON'T THINK SO, YES I THINK SO, No I tHink AHAhaHaHaHAhAhAHAHAHAHAHAH "
exploded Smoke in a mad laugh...I guessed that double origin had its fair share of side effects
"pff you must be an incredible human to have endured a fight against me this long...I could feel it, all your magic circuits were constantly exploding and regenerating, because your magecrafth is too strong for your body and those bracelets around your wrists ahahah, your muscles had kept tearing and re-sewing together. It's almost amusing see the state you have reduced yourself into"
grinned Lancer slowly moving towards Smoke
"fuck "
I thought angered as all my body still felt numb and insensible
I knew I had to do something or another person would have died in my place tonight, but what could I possibly accomplish in my state?
"dammit"
I bit my tongue while all my impotence condensed in a few tear drops...why was I so weak!
"ahhahahahaha you think my state is funny you should have seen yourself without magic resistance! That would have beeeeennnnnnn Funny You Knooooooowwww"
Started to say Smoke with the tone of a maniac covering the entire ground of the backyard by a black mist.
"Why it would have been funny ?"
Asked Lancer vaguely puzzled advancing in the mist while his magical defense avoided any of that magical black veil arrived closer than fifty centimetres from him.
"because I'd first messed up with your reflexes, and now let's be honest, when you go at you maximum speed the only thing you see is a bunch of colour stains: the only way you had to avoid all my blows at blank point range was by using insane reflexes. So using my black mist I could have switched your feeling of pain from the left to right side and defused the pain from one spot to multiples ones ahahahahah AM SO SMART!"
Explained Smoke nearly black from his black smoke
"So you plan was fooling my senses to make me favor the most injured side of my body and letting you strike the same spot until it turned in fatal weakness: for example keeping to hit my wrist in order to damage a ligament, consequently making unable to perform properly parries and then...Damn you're a scary one"
Responded Lancer realizing he avoided a dangerous situation.
In a moment Lancer began to nervously tap the tip of his spear on the ground, Listening to his own words His face twisted in an expression I couldn't quite read, it was a weird mixture of fun, relief and curiosity...he was like me when I went to see sharks at the aquarium for the first time.
"They were cool, mysterious, scary and harmless from behind the tank"
I reminded before I noticed a black tentacle of smoke entering in the tool-shed and crawling towards me.
"But Smokey do you really believed a cheap trick like that could have defeated me?"
Asked the blue man while the black tentacle had reached me and begun to heal my wounds.
"...wow"
I muttered amazed as breathing didn't hurt anymore and my limbs returned to move, but then my forearms began to tickle and then burn.
before I knew it six words were engraved on my skin.
CRAWL
UNDER
SMOKE
ESCAPE
EAST
WALL
"Of course not Lancer, it'd be stupid even think I could beat you with only a physical confrontation, sure... if not for you damn magical resistance I'd have made you see everything you ever feared, AND before saying "I fear nothing" or other similar bullshit just think about Connla"
Said Smoke completely hid by his own black mist, while my eyes noticed a few long bullets on the toolshed's floor
"what did you just said"
Froze Lancer
"Kukukukukukukukukuku I hit a soft spot didn't I? Connla your illegitimate son, the one you killed"
"DON'T SAY HIS NAME!"
dashed Lancer stabbing the point where his opponent was...just to kill a bunch of nothing
"ahahahaha so easy to break, I can't believe it and I didn't even mention Fand the fairy you forgot to love"
Smoke laughed from an indeterminable place, it was like all the mist in the backyard was talking with his voices
"RHAAAA"
Roared Lancer tracing red arcs of death with his spear dispersing all the smoke in a three metres radius from himself.
"Ops maybe you remember her now that you're a servant, how sad Sétanta, or should I call you Cu Chullain, the hound of Culland holder of the cursed spear Gay Bolg...ahhahahahahahahahahahahahahahh I said GAY instead of Gàe"
Smoke provoked the servant while his voices now surely came from west
"BASTARD I'LL KILL YOU!"
Slashed Cu Chullain in blind rage through all the west side of my backyard
"What a breaking news"
Retorted sarcastic Smoke nowhere to be seen.
It was incredible as a person so near to die could still be so shamlessly sharp. I could feel it through Lancer's voice, each word Smoke had said was more painful than any blow.
"and these how much pain have caused Kiritsugu"
I thought holding a few origin bullets in my hand as the cuts on my forearms began to burn.
It was like they were ordering me to stop grabbing projectiles and starting to crawl already.
"I know, I know, these might be useful"
I "conversed" with my cuts
"Yeah I saw he his bullet proof but I can...ehm stab him with these"
I thought pushing all the origin bullets I had found in my pocket and starting to crawl under a thick blanket of smoke.
"COME OUT!"
Shouted Lancer after having dispersed nearly all the smoke in the west side of the backyard...and I was barely halfway.
"dammit Shiro why you always go wasting the time people buy for you"
I mentally cursed myself as mist statues screaming "Cu Chullain" started to rise around me and went in the blue servant's way.
"This is all crazy"
I thought speeding my pace until I heard a noise.
no a voice humming a strange song
"oh crap I made him angry, I made him angry, if only I had a spell to stop him, wait! I got it thehrhehhehehe"
senseris?
(do you hear it?)
senseris?
(do you hear it?)
Hoc carmen est quod perdidi
(this is the song of what you have lost)
Qui numerus est reliquerunt
(this is the rhythm of those who abandoned you)
non revertetur quia olim meminisse
(remember the past because it will not come back)
Relinquitur ergo quod accipit
(accept the present because it is what you have left)
nunc convertat intuitum, ut in posterum
(but now turn your gaze to the future)
et ego ostendam tibi quid quid
(because that's what I will show you)
"Okay...I really hope that was the thread of laundry to speak"
I thought trying to ignore whatever that creepy humming was and focusing on more important matters.
LIKE SURVIVING.
Judging from the tiles on the ground there were still five meters between me and the wall.
I just had to keep going on for other five meters, how difficult could it be?
A LOT THAT'S HOW DIFFICULT IT WAS
I could feel my heart trying to burst out of my chest. Just why? Why Smoke had to provoke Lancer this much! There wasn't a second in which I didn't hear the blue servant on rampage breaking something
first my wheelbarrow, then the little fountain of the garden and now my flower vases.
It was atrocious, I could accept losing Hikigaya, but not my winter flowers dammit! I had grown them with so much love... reinforcement magic...and not exactly legal compost, besides I could sell them for 10000 yen each!
"com'on Shiro your life first, then flowers ones, in Kiritugu's room there are still a few hundreds of those seeds for blue flowers, everything is fine" (the ones in fate zero)
I repeated myself as I had finally crawled in front of the east wall of the backyard.
I could now escape!
"Smoke bastard Come out and die as a man before I destroy the entire block"
screamed Lancer while his spear was enveloped in a red aura.
Or not
"BUT THAT'S CHEATING"
retorted Smoke standing up a few inches away from me with a black sphere in his right hand
"He was right next to me!"
I mentally screamed realizing he was trying to escape the whole time
Was he using my flowers as decoys? Was he so Ruthless? (A/N Shiro's multiple head traumas and blood loss allows him to have clear rational thoughts)
"Were you trying to escape? ...talk about pathetic, don't you now that each man must pay for his words"
Growled Lancer as he readied to throw his spear charged of mana
"Like a contract?... every day the first five hundred words free and then 5 yen each? or... LAST SECOND REINFORCEMENT START"
said Smoke speaking like a fool and then dashing as a bullet of lightning towards Lancer, way faster than he had been through all the fight up until now.
Pushed back by a boiling hot gale I only had a moment to see my creepy ally run into Lancer's crimson weapon launched at the roar of
"GAE BOLG!"
There was no way he could avoid that blow this time it was really over
*PAWWWWWWWWW
An explosion resounded in my backyard as the Gae Blog stuck Smoke's chest with a red flash
"ugaah"
he grunted grabbing the spear with his left hand while from all his body towers of smoke were rising up into the sky.
"Don't even bother to try healing, an heart pierced with the Gae Bolg can't be saved "
said Lancer with an evil grin on his face.
"don'...t...eve...n ...tr..y he..s..ays"
Responded Smoke with just a single dry voice.
It was strange, but I lost my breath when I heard him sound so human
"a...n h...ea...rt...th..at...can't...be...healed he says"
Continued Smoke while the black mist surrounding him was absorded by his body slowly ... revealing
a screaming silver skeleton
" AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHA BUT I DON'T HAVE AN HEART RIGHT NOW"
"what the fu-"
Tried to imprecate Lancer yet he couldn't finish his sentence.
because the skeleton rose his right hand and shot the black sphere in it while all Smoke's thousands voices resounded once again for one last spell.
RESONARE AUTEM MEMORIAS
(echo of memories)
with a *TWWWIIIIIUUUUUUUU sound the black bubble bursted enveloping Lancer in a black mud like substance
"Dah"
Roared the blue servant struggling against that shapeless mass of blackness.
unable to do anything else, I stared with grotesque splendor at Lancer being completely imprisoned in a dark orb chained by eight horizontal rings of light"
"...Cu Chullain, You were strong enough to defeat me... but have you got the power to defeat the regrets in your past?"
Whispered the silver skeleton taking out from his ribs the cursed spear and falling on the ground
"So is this the end?"
I asked to my saviour slowly standing up.
I needed a moment to find my balance, after all my legs felt still weak from my encounter with Lancer and to be honest, I already thought it was a miracle I was able to remain on my two feet after the stab I took.
"For now, my spell is pretty tough, but I doubt I can keep it on for much longer. Boy... now you'd better run to Fuyuki's church as fast as you can, there you ask for protection and be safe, or at least safer than you were before"
the skeleton responded turning his skull towards me.
"just...who are you?"
I said carefully stepping towards Smoke, Lightning or how ever he wanted to call himself
"I'm Number Zero and from now on you owe me one"
Zero answered looking at me with his empty eye cavities
"...yes"
I nodded aware that I would have died tonight if he didn't have shown up
"Good, now grab this and start running"
he threw at me an half-carbonized bracelet with a small blue stone on top of it
"What is it?"
I caught the object intimidated
"An amulet filled with reinforcement magic, with six of these I kept up with Lancer, but something shortcut in this one during the fight, so there is still a bit of mana inside it. Say GOTTA GO FAST and your legs will be empowered"
he answered rolling in fetal position
for the first time since I saw him there was little to nothing smoke to cover his body, so I was able observe his clothing: he was just wearing a pair of tored black pants, while the rest of his body were a bunch silver bones kept together by tongues of black smoke which seemed a disgusting rip-off of the Ghost Rider.
Staring at him I felt my guts twisting in guilt: skull,femurs, radius, tibia, sternum, 5 ribs and 8 vertebrae, a complete assortment of bones Zero cracked and broke protecting me...
"why am I always the one protected?"
I bit my tongue averting my eyes from Zero.
*Fuuuuuuu
I deeply inspired in order to calm down
"...Thank you, but what will you do now?"
I said wearing the bracelet and... feeling it more heavy than it physically was.
"me?, ahah I will keep the spell going for a bit and then escape"
Laughed the skeleton
"I see..."
I muttered, seeing through his lie
Zero wasn't going to escape, probably he wasn't even able to move anymore, he was just keeping his spell on until he just fainted or worse.
"Another person dying in my place uh? Well Fuck all of this"
I thought expressionless grabbing the Zero and placing him on my shoulder like a wounded soldier.
"Wa! Emiya! BOY What are you doing?"
softly punched my back the skeleton
"I'm taking you with me, I'm not letting you alone just to save myself"
I responded starting to move
"you are totally discarding my noble sacrifice here you idiot...oh fuck"
he insulted me while his limbs suddenly stopped to move
"What?"
I asked "slightly alarmed"
"run... run you... moron, I... have no mana left"
he whispered while a thin layer of flesh was starting to appear on him and his conscience was fading away
of course I had only the time to realize what he just said before the world decided it was time to kick me between legs again!
"SSSSSSMMMMMMOOOOOOOKKKKKKKEEEEEE!"
Using an angry demi-god perhaps ...truly wasn't I lucky?
"This is officially the worst day ever!"
I exclaimed since...
it was only the sentence I could express without breaking into blasphemy.
(original script "that son of a ç$%£&/° with a &%°$£ as a father and %&/&& £$32%&%$ for face")
(Meanwhile the rescue team)
"Archer why you keep going left! we have been going in circle for five minutes! TURN RIGHT NOW"
"Yes Master...dammit Lancer you have one job"
"Did you say something?"
"No Rin...why is Lancer taking so long to kill a teenager? "
"WAAAAAAAAA WHY I HAD TO SEE THOSE MEMORIES? I HAD TO KILL A SINGLE TEENAGER! NOT EVEN FIGHTING ARCHER WAS A TORMENT SUCH AS THIS!"
shouted Lancer in rage breaking out from his prison (...that had lasted like two minutes?)
Staring at his face I couldn't see anymore the proud warrior that had taken my life, I only saw a beast with: an ear half tored, gritted teeth, veins pulsing on his face and bloodshot Keyes
To me Lancer looked like he had been stripped of all his sanity; I could feel it in each of his breaths, they were like filled of a trebling agony and from his eyes malicious crimson tears were coming down forming some kind of tattoo.
The blue servant was probably still accusing some effects from Zero's spell, apparently he hadn't even noticed me, so listening to my survival instincts I started to move little by little towards the east wall trying to avoid to make any noises.
"rìastrad suppres the rìastrad"
Lancer put his hands on his head while the red tattoos under his eyes slowly disappeared.
(A/N the rìastrad is the battle frenesy trade mark of Cu Chullain that makes possible to compare him with the bersekrs warriors...standing to wikipedia)
"just keep walking, keep walking Shiro-kun"
whispered all the inanimate objects in the backyard.
I knew it was probably just an half baked part of my brain doing its work poorly, but it was only thanks to those tiny voices that I avoided to just keep staring at the blue servant being enveloped in a blaze of purple mana...
"maybe I don't need a psychoanalyst after all"
I dared to think reaching the gate of salvation, a.k.a. the hole Zero made crushing in the wall.
Unfortunately
"Stop"
a red spear flew beside me...just when I thought I got away with it.
"you couldn't just go away right?"
I asked delicately putting Zero on the ground.
"you have to keep going eh?"
I slowly turned hardening my amber eyes in Cu Chullain's red ones
"Oh? that's rich coming from you bozu, if you had died the first time I could have spared myself all of this"
responded Lancer visibly tired and angry, yet still with a grin on his face
damn if I hated that grin.
"Listen since this whole killing you has gone way past my expectations I will offer you a deal: you give me that smoke bastard and I will spare you"
said Lancer pointing his hand towards Zero
"mmmm really"
I responded staring at my saviour, that had now lost his skeletal appearance and now looked like a swollen teenager.
his face seemed familiar but there were too many bruises and the nose was crooked, so I couldn't quite understand if I knew him or not.
Upon hearing Lancer's words I had immediately decided to refuse, still wasn't I just throwing away all the efforts Zero made to save me? Zero had already made up his mind to sacrifice himself for me in the first place and at this point I couldn't escape from Lancer, that was for sure.
"I can accept and sacrifice his life and save myself, or refuse and die together with him"
I whispered putting my hand in my pocket grasping all the origin bullets I had put in.
"That's right, or one dies or two die, there isn't much to think about RIGHT"
Lancer said tightening his fists
"yeah there is NOTHING TO THINK ABOUT TRACE ON"
I screamed letting out all the rage I had bottled up this night
Up until now I had just run, run and run again, I had tried to fight just to Fuck everything up, but this wasn't about winning or losing anymore, it was about doing what I felt was right regardless if it wasn't smart or the best option.
This Night Wasn't Over Yet And I Still Wanted To Protect Everyone I Could.
Letting flow all the Mana I still had stored up in my magic circuits, I started to apply projection magic to all the bullets, electric arcs of power danced around my right hand lighting up the words engraved in my forearms. Words that had ordered me to escape now symbolised my burning desire to fight.
reacting to my magecrafth the ammo that contained a part of my latter father mold into one.
"You really don't now when to give up brat"
said Lancer observing me draw a roughly shaped stiletto from my pocket
"I take that as a compliment"
I responded reversing the grip of that giant sized bullet.
it was curious as this strange weapon with its weight and bronze handle filled with explosive powder relaxed me, it kinda reminded me Kiritsugu's hand.
"Be sure to not regret your choice brat because it's to late to change you mind"
said Lancer readying a direct right.
"I won't"
I fixed my eyes on my enemy
"LAST SECOND REINFORCEMENT START"
I said repeating the words Zero used.
Suddenly I felt pervaded by a shock of energy, as I expected those three words were a command to bring forth a last explosion of reinforcement magic. All the Mana left in the amulet Zero gave me ran through my muscles enchanting their power and then as if it was the most natural thing in the world I charged at Lancer.
For a moment all the world around me turned in a confused mess of colours, my ears closed and I felt my muscles rip apart, it was incredible how Zero had endured five of these things. At the speed I was moving I couldn't see Lancer clearly so I just swung my stiletto in a wide arc aiming to the blue stain in front of me.
"Now please don't dodge and just block the blade, I know you like to feel superior Lancer and toy with me so just Grab the damn blade!"
I begged in my mind while my thumb was ready to press a primer at the bottom of my weapon.
"Nice try"
Cu Chullain commented stopping my stiletto in mid-air.
Due to its nail like shape Lancer didn't even bothered to grab my wrist he just blocked the blade bare-handed, exactly like I wanted.
"Yeah you too"
I said before pressing the primer and igniting all the gun powder inside the handle.
*PAAAAAM
Exploded my stiletto sending sharp bronze shards in my right hand and sending the long tip out of Lancer's hand
"AHH"
he grunted as the conglomerate of bullets left a bloodied line on his left palm.
I couldn't help but grin like a mad-man and taste every instant as I saw Lancer grit his teeth in pain, it was really good being on the other side of the knife for once.
*tunf
with a deaf sound I fell on my knees drunk of a mixture satisfaction and sadness.
Now it was really over, yet if I had to die now I was sure I'd done everything I could...sure I felt like crying at the idea of leaving this world behind without achieving my dream, but damn if looking Lancer holding his pulsing hand in pain wasn't pleasant.
"Here I have lost and I will die once for good"
I whispered more to myself than anyone else.
"Bastard"
Roared Lancer calling his red spear and moving to stab me
" STILL LANCER REMEMBER THAT WOUND WHEN YOU WILL PAY THE PRICE FOR KILLING PEOPLE LIKE ITS NOTHING"
I screamed with all the voice I had left in my lungs, facing without blinking the death itself.
everything was going to end that was my FATE...yet as my left hand shone in a flash of red light an armored woman came at my aid;
With an invisible slash she saved my life and rewrote my destiny
apparently I could STAY alive another NIGHT. "
"grha, the seventh servant!"
growled Lancer pushed away by a mysterious wind before disappearing in a cloud of blue particles.
"It appears Lancer has been summoned somewhere else."
commented the tiny woman who just saved me giving me her back
"saved thrice...today was really both my luckiest and unlikiest day ever uh?"
I chuckled finally free from Lancer, while that woman slowly turned towards my face.
She was probably the most beautiful being I ever saw, a painting that combined the pure golden hair and emerald eyes of an angel, with the straightforwardness of a knight.
"Now then I ask you.
Are you my Master?"
(FUYUKI'S CHURCH)
"Welcome back Lancer"
"Master!?... I see you used a command seal"
"I conveyed it was the case since. the seventh servant was summoned and... *smirk you aren't in your best condition"
"screw you"
"Now then why don't you report me the events of this night, I'm looking forward to hear a nice story"
"you know...you're pretty insane Master"
"Insaniy? Is that how you perceive my excitement for new variables in this war"
"No is how I perceive that smugging smile on your face, I can see you're far too pleased by something"
"the wound on your hand "
"come again"
"you wanted to know what please me, the wounds on your hand, I recognize the energy coming from it..."
"So?"
"So an old aquitance of mine might appear in this war...and the thought *grin electrifies me"
"Sure..."
(SOMEWHERE IN FUYUKI)
" After ten years your plan has finally started Avenger...I'm curious to see how the pieces you have prepated will move, try not to bore me, none has ever survived the wrath of the king of heroes"
"Believe me you won't be disapponted Ghilgamesh, now take a sit"
THE HOLY GRAIL WAR HAS BEGUN
EXPLANATIONS CORNER
a few notes. For those who missed it... Zero is the teenage 8man. I hope you all remember that in the prologue I wrote about 8man Oroboro's tattoos: he had Angra Mainyu wrote on his back and the number Zero on his front.
In fact every member of Oroboro has in fact got a battle name they choose and a number that rappresent when they joined.
in Hachiman case he being the founder took the number zero and choose the name Angra Mainyu due the fact that his strength lies in pain and negativity so ALL THE WORLD'S EVIL.
To keep up with Lancer 8man used the amulets intoduced in the prologue, plus a powerful drug that will appear in future chapters.
In regard of the skeleton form our protagoinist displayed, it's a transformation that occurs whenever 8man's magic goes out of control, like it happened in the prologue.
Still it has to be said that 8man didn't just tanked a gae bolg and survived out of luck, he already knew about the cursed spear's power so 8man let his magic go on rampage and turn him into a heatless skeleton.
And lastly the new spell he used RESONARE AUTEM MEMORIAS (echo of memories) it's another reality marble spell that has the power to block positive memories and loop bad ones. The purpose is to break someones mind, but in this case it nearly triggered an alter trasformation for Lancer
AND THAT'S IT FINALLY I WROTE THE DAMN 8MAN VS LANCER AND THREW IN THE GAME SABER, I HOPE YOU LIKED THE CHAPTER, I TRIED TO PUSH SHIRO FURTHER THAN EVER, MAKING HIM QUESTION HOW MUCH GOOD HE ACTUALLY DOES FOLLOWING BLINDLY HIS IDEALS AND REFUSING TO BE JUST THE SAVED ONE AND NOT THE SAVIOUR.
AS ALWAYS THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO FOLLOWS THIS STORY AND BE READY FOR THE HEIRESS I CUZ RIN NEEDS SOME SPOTLIGHTS