Live Wire (III)
The group arrived at the Emiya household in a hurry.
Shirou carried Medea through the door, holding her bridal style. Her hood was pulled back and her face was covered in sweat. He brought her to their room and laid her down on the futon.
"How are you feeling?" he asked.
"Weak. A single moment under the mountain has nearly sapped me of all my Mana. If I hadn't been stockpiling it, I would have been completely consumed."
"I'm sorry. I put you in danger."
"Don't even start," she chided. "You did the right thing. Besides, I don't want to be coddled. This is my fight even more than it is yours. I only need to rest a bit, and then I'll be back on my feet. Give me a few hours and I'll be back to a hundred percent."
"Of course. Take all the time you need," he replied. "Rider, please keep watch over her." "Yes, Shirou," she agreed.
"I'll talk with Illya in the meantime. We have to figure out what to do now."
"Don't agree to anything without consulting me first," Medea warned.
"I won't. Now rest," he said, leaving the room and closing the door behind himself. He found Illya sitting on the porch, looking at the courtyard.
"That went well," he said.
"You have a way with understatements," she replied. She didn't look amused. They both were silent for a moment.
"What happened there, Illya?"
"What happened is that I should have seen it coming. Zolgen has been pining after the Grail for three hundred years now. It was naive of me to think that he would let us get our way without interfering."
"Wait... Zolgen? Are you telling me that guy is five hundred years old?"
"What, don't you think he looks like it?" she asked humorously. "Still, even though I could have predicted his interference, I wasn't expecting he could do something like that."
"What do you mean?" he asked sitting down next to her.
"That black thing that spawned the fake Saber, it was a Lesser Grail like me. Somehow, Zouken has succeeded in making one himself."
Shirou's mouth was dry. "Are you certain?"
"Of course. It felt like a patchwork from the pieces of the previous Grail that Kiritsugu destroyed, but it's still impressive that he could put them together in a functional way. I guess five centuries of experience aren't just for show."
"Even so, he shouldn't be able to make Servants at will."
"Why not? Making a Servant is a trivial thing. They are nothing but a container," she explained. "The difficult part is getting the Soul of a Heroic Spirit to inhabit it. But that soul is for the large part a block of Mana of the highest purity and a cluster of information. That Mana can't be found anywhere other than the Throne, but the information is already stored within the Grail since it no longer resets. Slap it inside the container, add some imitation of consciousness and presto. Instant Servant ready for delivery."
"You make it sound like fast food."
"In a way, it's a good comparison. A real Servant is like a fine dish from the best French chefs, while what Zolgen has done is a serving of stale microwaved fries. One could eat both, but they aren't anywhere near the same level. They don't hold a candle to the real thing."
"That's good and all but how did they manage to survive inside of the mountain?"
"The Boundary Field around the Grail is part of the system and they are there for its protection. The Servants created by Zouken have the same purpose and they are recognized by the Grail as parts of themselves, like the shadows born from the singularities. We are just looking at different pieces of the same entity."
"Angra Mainyu," Shirou said.
"Indeed. Zouken's Servants have the same spiritual imprint, so they can move about undisturbed under the mountain."
Shirou was pensive.
"Illya... was there anyone else with us down there? Besides Zouken and the fake Saber?" Illya gave him a surprised look.
"Yes," she eventually said. "But I don't recall who they were or what they did. I know that you threw yourself in front of me, but we shouldn't have survived that attack. Something stopped it. I know I saw it, but as for what it was, I have no memory at all. What about you?"
"I remember more. I don't know why. This isn't the first time it happened."
"Hmm. Then you shouldn't say anything more than you already have. There's no telling what effects might have, forcing the issue."
Shirou nodded. Just as he thought. Clearly, there was some leeway around this memory block thing. He just didn't know what were the conditions. But that wasn't what worried him the most. It was the other thing that Illya said. Servants, real or false, which were attuned to the corruption of the Grail could pass through the Boundary Field under the mountain.
It had to be Caren's Servant. From their brief interaction the other night, Shirou had exactly the impression that the unknown Heroic Spirit had the same aura as the shadows they fought.
He had to find her. She might know something he didn't, and her Servant could be the key to solving the situation. Or a threat just as bad as the Grail itself.
"It seems like you have something in mind," said Illya.
"I do. I'm not sure where it will lead, but I do have an idea."
"Good. Because right now, the only way I can think to solve the situation is to play out the Grail War as intended, and then destroy the Grail once it manifests with all the consequences it might bring."
"Yeah, that's not an option," he objected.
"It is, whether you like it or not. Be careful. If you try too hard to avoid it, it might be forced upon you."
"Thanks for the warning," he replied. "Will you be staying here? I think it's better for everyone."
"Probably," she agreed. "Coming and going from the castle takes a lot of time every day. The Boundary Fields around it are great, but not a better defense than three Servants together."
"I'm glad you see it that way. I'll probably be going out now." "Alone, I suppose."
"Yes," he nodded. "If I want to draw out that person, I must."
"You are... a very reckless person, Shirou. First, you came to face me alone, even though you knew I was out for your blood. Then you threw yourself between me and an attack and
you didn't have a single chance of stopping. And now you want to venture out on your own during this irregular War? If Caster wasn't a Heroic Spirit, her hair would turn white prematurely."
Shirou snorted. "Yeah, I'm a trouble seeker by trade, it seems. Still, I gotta do this. I need answers."
"I understand. You can defend yourself well enough, at least. You should probably go and come back before it's too late. Tell Caster or she'll have your head. We can't afford to lose what little brain you have."
"I see you've got into the spirit of picking up on me like everyone else." "It is surprisingly easy," she nodded.
He shook his head as he got up.
"I'm glad you are on our side, Illya."
"Of course you are. I'm the best Master with the strongest Servant." "That certainly helps but it's not why I said that."
She harrumphed.
"I didn't forgive you, yet."
"I'll get there eventually. Thanks, Illya."
He went back to talk with Medea. She would chew his head for a little bit, then she would relent and allow him to do as he wanted, as usual.
[br]
Getting in touch with Emiya Shirou was easier said than done. Even though she knew exactly where to find him she had the same problem with him as with everyone else. She couldn't tell him anything because he couldn't retain the information.
And while she was reasonably certain that she could get him to do what she wanted out of the goodness of his heart, the same thing couldn't be said about his allies. The Servants and the other Masters wouldn't go along with him without an explanation. If they could have a conversation just the two of them, she could at least pass on some vague information, but how was she supposed to do that in the middle of the Grail War?
As it turned out, she didn't have to worry about that part. [br]
Half an hour later, after Medea talked his ears off about how stupid he was being, Shirou walked out of the house closing the door behind himself.
He didn't have any specific destination in mind, but last time Caren had shown up when the Servants were elsewhere and left as soon as they arrived. Granted he was in dire need of help at the time. There was no guarantee that she would reveal herself now just because he was on his own. He wandered aimlessly on foot for quite a while. He sent Medea a status update every fifteen minutes, but he had asked her to stay out of his senses.
As the day went on and the morning shifted into the afternoon Shirou had walked across the entire city back and forth a couple of times
Every now and then he had the feeling of being watched, but he wasn't sure if he truly felt it, or if he was being paranoid. He was hoping to lure out Caren, but he was worried someone else would take the bait. He could deal with Kotomine, probably, but he couldn't get the drop on Lancer twice. It was starting to get dark when he crossed the suspended walkway under the bridge for the fifth time that day.
That's where he found her as if she knew he was coming this way all along. Which was probably the case considering he had been walking the same route over and over again.
"Good evening Emiya Shirou," she greeted.
He smiled. She was wearing civilian clothing, consisting of a hoodie that concealed her conspicuous silver hair.
"Hello, Caren."
"This is not a good time to go around for a stroll. One could have a very bad encounter." "And yet I got a good one. I'm glad you showed up."
She tilted her head.
"So you were looking for me? Why is that?"
"Well, I didn't get to thank you. Your Servant saved my life twice now." The look of shock that crossed her face gave him plenty of confirmations already. "As I thought... I'm supposed to have forgotten about him, just like everyone else."
"You... you remember?" she asked, flabbergasted.
"Yeah, I saw your Servants three times now. Back at the school when he fought Lancer, then at the temple and... well, I didn't see him under the mountain, but it was him that saved me, right? Well, there could be more but I wouldn't know if I forgot."
"How? No one until now has been able to recollect a single thing about him."
"Frankly I have no idea," he replied, shaking his head. "The first time I saw him fight Lancer in the distance it gave me a splitting headache. Dunno if that meant something or not. I was hoping you could clarify it."
"I... I cannot. I...we are not sure what's the real cause."
"Your Servant doesn't know either? Is this power some kind of curse?"
"We are not sure of that either," she replied.
"Then let me ask you another question. The Class of your Servant... it's Avenger, right?"
"What-? I... how do you know that?"
"Damn it, I thought you had answers but you've got even more questions than I do."
"This is no time for jokes," she protested. "How do you know the Class of my Servant?"
"We should probably have this conversation elsewhere. I know a quiet place. Come with me."
He gave Medea the agreed-upon status check, but he didn't say that he had found what he was looking for. He knew she wouldn't be able to keep herself from snooping.
He brought Caren to the Copenhagen, where Neko-san greeted him.
"Welcome -oh, Emiyan. Back again? And with yet another girl. I know you are in the spring of youth but aren't you taking it a bit too far?"
"You need to improve on your humor, Neko-san," he replied. "Can I borrow the table in the private room for a little while?"
"Sure, but you've gotta order something and I'm not serving you any alcohol."
"Coffee will be fine, thank you."
"Alright, I'll be right there."
After Neko-san brought them their coffee, Shirou put up a Boundary Field around the room. No one would be able to eavesdrop on them.
"So, how do you know about my Servant's Class?" she asked, ignoring the cup of coffee in front of her.
Shirou took a sip of his own.
"In the first place, what do you know about the state of corruption of the Grail?"
"Only that it is corrupted. There is no other way I could have summoned a Heroic Spirit such as mine if it weren't."
"It's been this way since the third War," he explained. "Back then the Einzbern summoned an irregular Heroic Spirit in the custom-made Avenger Class. Now, I'm not sure about the true identity of that Spirit. They were trying to summon the Zoroastrian evil god Angra Mainyu, but the Grail can't summon those. Case in point, the Servant turned out to be extremely weak and died early on. Clearly not something anywhere close to divinity. However, during the fourth War, my father came in contact with the malice residing within the Grail and it called itself precisely Angra Mainyu."
"So, that's how it all started," Caren said as she leaned back on her seat, finally taking a sip of coffee of her own. "And how did you infer that my Servant was of the same Class?"
"Two things. The first time at the temple, the shadows acted as if he was invisible to them, almost like they saw him as one of their own. Then earlier today, he came to my help under the mountain. According to Illiaysviel Von Einzbern, only a spiritual construct that is attuned with the Grail can go through the Boundary Fields. So if Avenger is what has tainted the Grail, then your Servant must also be Avenger. But I don't think it's the same Heroic Spirit as back then.."
"What makes you so think so?"
"Well, if Avenger from the Third War had a curse that made everyone forget about him, the knowledge of his existence wouldn't have gotten to us."
"Hmm... that's one piece of the puzzle, at last. And considering that alliance of Servants working with you, I assume you have been trying to fix or destroy the Grail?"
"Not too successfully," he admitted. "We managed to stall it, but it's getting out of our hand. We were hoping to shut it down for good today, but you know how that went. Plus Tohsaka and Saber have gone missing, while Kotomine has killed Lancer's Master and took the Command Seal. I take you've met with him the other night, and with detective Dojima."
"Yes. There was a bit of a scuffle and he ran. This leaves us with only one question, why is it that you can remember about my Servant when no one else can?"
"As I said, I don't have a clue. If even he doesn't know how this ability or curse works, I can't begin to guess the reason. Maybe I passed some arbitrary condition without realizing it. Or maybe it just doesn't affect Japanese redheads. Beats me. Why don't you tell me what happened? I assume that your comrades at the Church have been affected too, and you were forced to run when you couldn't provide an explanation they could recall."
"That's a good summation. It took me weeks to get to Japan through illicit means, but even when I got here I couldn't talk with anyone. I thought I would have to face this challenge on my own. Who would have thought that the one Magus in Fuyuki I've worked with in the past was also a Master and the only person who could recall about..."
Caren fell silent and her eyes widened.
"What's wrong?" he asked, seeing her expression.
She shook her head.
"It's nothing. The question would be, what are we going to do now? Do you have a plan?"
"We go back under the mountain with your Servant as backup, and shut down the Grail for good."
"That's not going to work. You are right that my Servant can get through the Boundary Field but... the truth of the matter is that he's too weak."
"What do you mean? He held his own against Lancer didn't he?"
"If by that you mean he didn't die, then yes. But his raw stats are trash. He's not much better than those shadow Servants. His best advantage is that he can accumulate experience against any enemy and formulate a strategy to beat them, while they forget all about him between encounters. Even though he's Avenger, you should consider him an Assassin. He's not suited for direct combat. He doesn't even know his Noble Phantasm. He might not even have one."
"Still, it's better than anything we've got right now."
"You are assuming that Zouken doesn't have more tricks up his sleeve. We can go with your plan, but you are being more delusional than I thought if you think that he hasn't made other provisions. The land under the mountain is his territory, for all intents and purposes. Besides, he wants us to go there. For the Grail to function, Servants need to die. Zouken doesn't currently have the power to defeat one unless they go gallivanting where they are at their weakest and he's at his strongest. He has turtled up and has forced a stalemate hoping that something else will happen to tip the scales in his favor."
"No, he's not hoping for anything. He's a five centuries-old Mage who has been pining after the Grail for three of those. I agree with your analysis, but he won't just be sitting there waiting for an external factor to help his cause. Right now, only Lancer isn't part of our alliance. Has good as he is, he doesn't have a chance to win against our coalition. He must be planning something else."
"Then we must figure out what that is; because when he'll execute it he'll be confident that it will work."
Shirou nodded. Caren painted a grim picture but one that made lots of sense. Zouken was plotting something behind the scene, while their intentions were clear for everyone to see. They needed to do something he wouldn't expect and force him out of his hidey-hole.
"Alright," he said. "At least we figured out what we can't do. I'll talk with my people and come up with something. I would like to invite you over, but that would only cause problems for
everyone involved. Do you have anywhere you can stay? Some method through which I can contact you?"
"I have neither one of those."
"Then I'll set you up with a phone and a hotel room under a fake name. The least we can do is keep in touch and coordinate."
"I appreciate that," she nodded, getting up from her seat. "However... I have a word of advice for you if you are willing to hear it."
"Yes, of course. What is it?" he asked getting up as well. "Don't try to fix everything yourself. It will not end well."
Shirou frowned. "Where is this coming from? I have gone out of my way to make strong alliances. I know I can't do any of this only with my own skills."
"I know, just... Whether it's now or in the future, don't forget about it. I don't think you'll like the consequences."
"That's ominous but I'll keep it in mind," he agreed.
"That is all I can ask. We should get this business over so that you might return to your people. It's dark outside now. Anything might happen anytime soon."
That was a very uncomfortable fact that Shirou could only agree with.
[br]
About an hour later, Shirou and Caren went their separate ways. He gave her a burner phone and booked her a room at a hotel in the city center. She retreated there and her Servant, who had been listening to everything from afar, joined her there.
'That went better than I expected,' he said telepathically.
"Really?" she asked. "You didn't expect anything from our meeting?" 'Well, I certainly had no clue that my curse wouldn't affect him.' "And what is your best theory as the reason for that immunity?"
'I don't have one. But it sounds like you do.'
"Show yourself, Avenger."
The black figure materialized in front of her. Just as always, he was clad in a black fog. Caren reached out and pulled down the hood revealing his face. Until now, she couldn't
make out the features of his face. They shifted out from her cognition instantly, but she could finally put him into focus now that she knew who she was looking at.
His hair was white and his eyes were a dull gray. His skin was darker than normal, but there was no mistaking this person for anyone else.
She covered her mouth with one hand as she took a step back.
"Wow. Tell me I'm ugly without telling me I'm ugly," said Avenger with a self-deprecating grin.
"What have you done to yourself?" she asked sorrowfully.
"I wouldn't know. Can't remember a thing. My past is an empty slate. I thought we already went through this. Why don't you tell me what it is that you suddenly see, instead?"
"I see your face. And I know your name now."
Avenger tilted his head. "Really? I'm that guy? Huh. Weird. Though it would explain why he's unaffected. Unlike me, he hasn't forgotten himself yet. How did you figure that out?"
"I was wondering, why is that I summoned a Spirit like you, who seems to have been purged from history? I didn't have a catalyst for ritual. But... if I was a person close in life to that hero, could I be the catalyst? That history might have been erased but the Root encompasses everything, even things that are no more. The connections remain."
Avenger nodded. "Hm. Yes, that makes sense. Glad you found your answer."
He appeared to be entirely unconcerned about it all; like he had just been told a piece of casual trivia that didn't relate to him in any way whatsoever.
"Does this mean nothing to you?" she asked.
"Why would it? I'm the transient copy of a dead man, who is lost to history and is chilling his ass in the Throne of Heroes for all of eternity. Nothing I do in this world will change that."
"Don't you even want to know how you became this way?"
"That's just impossible. I have been purged from history. If the conditions for something like me to exist appeared in this timeline, they too would be erased. And even if I could find out my past, it still wouldn't change anything. There is no closure to be had here, Master. And if you listen to my counsel, you shouldn't try to save me. It's a fool's endeavor."
Caren shook her head. Even though what he said was correct, she didn't feel it was right. She had figured how she summoned him, but having found the reason didn't change her belief in divine providence. There was a reason why she had become a Master in the Grail War, and there had to be one for having being paired with the forgotten future self of a man she considered a friend.
Until now, she wondered what was the real task that God had given her. And now she knew. Stopping the Grail War was never her mission. Her job was another one altogether. She was put in this position to save Emiya Shirou. If she failed to do so, the future that gave rise and subsequently erased him from the annals of history would come to pass.
But she didn't know what caused that future to happen and he didn't recall it either. How was she supposed to prevent something without knowing what it was?
The time at her disposal to find out was running dangerously short. [XXX]