Pain was all Shirou could feel as Summer thrashed in his grip. One look was all it had taken for him to understand that any sense of rationality had left her, and all that was left was instinctual.
The claws growing from Summer's fingers dug into his already bleeding back, creating an arc of red droplets that smeared over Ruby's face, stunning her silent as her mind shut down. Ruby was carried over his left arm, bent at the waist, and head facing away from his back. He'd managed to grab her at the same time he'd grabbed Summer and slung her over his right shoulder. The force of his inertia from his legs pushing off against the ground prevented Summer from dislodging herself from his grip.
Slowly, Ruby touched the blood over her face. Inadvertently, she smeared it over her cheek before checking her fingers to see all the red. Like many aspiring Huntsman and Huntresses that had unlocked their Aura's, the sight of blood was something they were never used to, especially when she knew where that blood was coming from. She glanced up to see four claws digging into his back and began crying amidst Summer's growls.
Wind whipped violently around them, causing Shirou's hair and clothing to whip violently before he staggered mid-air. He hadn't been in any condition to move actively, but forced into the current predicament, he was left with no choice. Summer was going out of control, and Ruby was at her mercy. Worse, he was unwilling to allow either of them to get hurt so he'd tackled the both of them and sent himself blasting off with a single reinforced bound.
There was just no way that the injuries he was putting off wouldn't catch up to him. Dust itself was Remnant's most potent form of magic available, and a Dust bullet was what had struck him in the back. Heroic Spirits had innate resistance against modern weaponry and could shrug off most ammunition, but magic imbued bullets like Dust rounds were different.
Fortunately, Heroic Spirits were durable if anything.
His magic resistance stats weren't the best to begin with, so he couldn't fully mitigate the earlier damage, but it allowed him to ignore it and recuperate under the Saint's Banner.
It was safe to say that any improvements to his prior condition was rendered null at this moment.
Having staggered mid-air, he, Summer, and Ruby began a rapid descent through a canopy of trees and directly towards a dense foliage of prickled blackberry bushes.
His back hit the ground first, the impact causing him to groan from the blood clots over his wounds tearing open. Twigs and branches snapped as he then rolled into a tumble.
Summer had been dislodged from his grip and impacted a short distance beside him, her momentum stopped by a large tree trunk which caught her by the waist.
Ruby was the one who got off the easiest. Moments before Shirou had struck the bushes, he'd managed to snag Ruby's red hood over the branch of a tree.
Left to dangle a good ten feet up in the air, Ruby had her hands gripped beneath her neck where the loop of her cloak threatened to choke her. Fortunately, Aura and her light weight meant that she was in no real danger of choking. Instead, she just swaying from side to side in the breeze, unwilling to cut her cloak as it was a keepsake.
Grunting, Shirou could hardly move anymore. His legs refused to listen to him, and his body was sprawled over his stomach. Fingers twitching and digging grooves into the dirt, he mustered what was left of his concentration to create a common mystic code, a single sword known as a Black Key.
A Black Key was a weapon of the Church used to combat evil. Not only was it effective against wraiths, evil spirits, and demons, but it held a special restrictive property.
Growling and thrashing from across from him, the fall did little to damage Summer at all. The only key difference was that it had shattered her mask, allowing him to see the red glow bleeding down from her eyes and across her face in red patterns. Crouched like a predatory animal, she was staring right at him.
The Traced Black Key hovering just a foot behind Summer began to resonate.
-Evil will slay the wicked.
The sword hummed, its anti-demonic properties flaring in full. This was a blade of the righteous, of the holy, and of the sacred baptismal rites, and its natural enemy lay designated before it.
-Let the foes of the righteous be condemned.
Unaware of the sword behind her, Summer couldn't even react as the Black Key swiftly anchored itself to her shadow…She began writhing, screaming even as tendrils of lightning-like energy reacted with the dark energy of the Grimm. The secondary restrictive property of the Black Key had been invoked.
Those whose shadows are impaled will be bound by a restraint determined by their level of malice and sin. Grimm as creatures of the dark would receive the full brunt of this effect, and Shirou knew it from prior testing.
Summer couldn't even budge an inch from where she lay crouched over the ground and petrified. Zapping noises and low gurgles echoed out as Summer struggled and struggled to rid herself of her bindings. Bones cracked, skin peeled, and veins popped, but the aggression in Summer's eyes wouldn't relent.
The sight was almost unbearable, and worst of all, Shirou wasn't the only one to experience it.
"Moooom!"
His eyes sharply glance up to see Ruby hurriedly dislodging herself from the tree branch she was stuck on by swinging herself forward and breaking the furthermost top of the branch. She crashed down onto her feet, her knees bending from the exertion before she stumbled onto her butt and quickly pawed ahead to regain balance.
The swirl of red roses surrounding Ruby indicated that she was about to dash forward, and this worried him greatly as she was eyeing the Black Key binding Summer down.
"Ruby, stop!" He yelled urgently, the sudden exertion of air causing him to cough up blood, the sight of which drew Ruby's concern. She looked at him, her mouth open, lips quivering, and became utterly lost about what to do.
Despite Summer's obvious changes, there was no way Shirou wouldn't believe that Ruby would fail to recognize her without the mask. The complexion was paler, inhuman, and mottled with Grimm bone protrusions near the limbs, but Summer's features were the same as in in the old pictures.
It was no wonder that Ruby was utterly torn when he shouted at her with as much authority and sternness as he could muster. "Stay away from her!"
Ruby flinched, not even letting out a sound. On one side was her mother, and on the other was Shirou, injured and bloody. The only difference was that she could feel Shirou cautioning her through their bond as Master and Servant.
"W-What happened to her?! N-No wait stop! Don't move you're injured! Aagh, I-I don't know what to do!" Ruby looked like she was a second away from going into hysterics while gesturing towards Summer, but he couldn't blame her because this wasn't just some random woman, this was family.
For a second, he fell silent at Ruby's inquiry. This was probably his fault. Summer had somehow been fine when she'd first took over the Grimm, but after he'd decided to release the dark energy accumulated on his person, this was what happened. It was likely that parts of the energy had seeped into Summer and triggered this reaction.
The thing was, would Ruby believe any of that? Would she even believe that Summer had been by her side all along? If it was Ruby, then maybe; however, this wasn't what she needed to hear right now. All that mattered right now was explaining what was wrong, not what had happened.
"You remember how I've always been telling you that your mother never left and was still around?" He spoke with a rasp while Ruby stood perfectly still. "Something went wrong in her last mission, and this is the result. She became part Grimm, and refused to return home in fear of harming you, her friends, and family."
The revelation caused Ruby's knees to wobble while glancing back and forth at him, then at Summer. "…No. T-This isn't right." She pursed her lips, expression contorting into an ugly hiccupping. Her mask had been broken in the fall. "There has to be a way to help her! She's dying!"
Ruby made to step forward, but he forced her to stop by reaching for her ankles and clasping a hand around them. She'd dropped down from the tree close enough for him to reach, and having not sprinted off, he finally got a grip on her.
"You have to stop!" He warned her, staring her straight in the eyes to convey a point. "The reason she avoided us at Mt. Glenn was because she feared losing control and hurting you! If she regains herself and sees you injured, do you think she'd ever try to go back again?"
His words stabbed deep into Ruby's heart, twisting it with agonizing pain and indecision.
"That sword isn't only helping us, but stopping your mother from doing anything she'd regret. It won't kill her so our best choice right now is to wait and see if she can overcome this. Didn't you say that you trusted your mom?"
Ruby chocked back tears. "Y-You can't say that now. It's not fair."
Life was never fair to begin with.
Shirou sighed, but grew relieved when Ruby reluctantly planted herself next to him, gaze never leaving Summer's figure. It occurred to him them just how fragile Ruby appeared, like even a gentle breeze would be enough to shatter her. She was gripping onto his hand in the same way she used to do as a little toddler when she feeling insecure.
By the time ten minutes passed, Summer's thrashing against her restraints had grown subdued. The black rose petals swirling around her had also began to gradually change colours back into white.
Silver bled through the red of Summer's irises, flickering intermittently much to Shirou's relief.
He'd come to associate the colour of her eyes to Summer's mental condition, and what was occurring now was a good sign. The release of the dark energy he'd accumulated from defeating Grimm should have only had a temporary effect as the majority of it had been dispersed in his attack.
Summer was also strong-willed, and this contributed greatly to her tenacity.
Watching the colour of Summer's eyes shifting, Shirou felt Ruby begin to stir from beside him, her hands balling into fists. If not for the steady grip he kept on her, he had no doubts that she would have taken this chance to spring forward due to Summer's changes.
The Grimm bone plates on her body were receding followed by the claws that grew over her fingers. Eventually, Summer began blinking, each blink causing the silver of her eyes to remain for longer and longer.
Ruby held her breath at the glow of Summer's familiar silver eyes and the return of the white rose petals. Soon, all the red faded away, and a sense of clarity appeared on Summer's features.
"What…" Summer muttered, disorientated.
The Summer Shirou knew was back.
Shirou could tell that the feeling of being unable to move a single inch instantly got Summer on edge, but the feeling quickly vanished as he willed the Black Key to disappear.
Without the Black Key restricting her, Summer tumbled forward before finally assessing her surroundings and gawking at his wounded body bleeding prone over the forest floor. This was going to take him a while to heal, but as a Heroic Spirit, as long as he didn't aggravate himself any further, he should be fine as his Spirit Origin was still in tact.
What mattered now were the repercussions.
After Summer's gaze landed on him, it naturally fell on Ruby who'd stood up next to him, her eyes glistening.
Shirou could tell right away that this wasn't the setting Summer wanted to have a reunion with her daughter in. In fact, it was probably the worst possible setting because neither was saying anything and was just staring at each other.
As the third-party observer, Shirou had the clearest outsider's perspective, and he didn't miss the way Ruby was trying to downplay everything and act all normal but was failing miserably. Clearly, she was stricken with the understanding that she may never see her mother again if it was proven that her mother had harmed her. He'd already explained to her why Summer had been hesitant to return home, and this situation all but proved Summer's greatest worries.
It was the first time Shirou ever witnessed Ruby trying her best to lie and okay even when she looked like she wanted to lie down and sob beneath her blankets.
On the other hand, Summer's face gradually contorted into despair as realization set in about what must have transpired. After all, they were nowhere near Mt. Glenn or civilization in general and Ruby wasn't deceiving anyone.
"W-What did I do?" Summer's voice sounded weak, desperate to be refuted. In fact, she'd directed this question more at him than at Ruby hoping that he could somehow stretch a lie to say that this was just some big joke, but it wasn't him that answered.
"N-Nothing," Ruby kicked at the ground, digging with her heel and making a small groove. The thing was, this was a mistake as it drew Summer's full attention back to her.
Ruby could deny everything and act as nonchalant as she wanted, but there was no way she could hide anything from an experienced individual. This included the red finger markings sloppily hidden over her neck which was exactly what Summer focused on.
Terror and grief gripped at Summer's heart. "R-Ruby your neck…"
Panic surged into Ruby's eyes as she realized her mistake. She pulled up her cloak higher and wrapped it tightly around her head like a scarf to hide the choke markings. "It wasn't you," she said hastily, near biting her tongue. "I-It was uncle Qrow- I mean no, but it was someone else, okay!"
Summer began to shake her head, her expression steadily breaking. "I-I lost control," she murmured in distress, biting down on her lips.
"NO! It didn't happen!" Ruby shouted, desperation and anxiety bleeding almost into delirium. "I, uhm, I did this." The excuse was the worst lie she'd ever said, feeble, and utterly unconvincing, but who was she trying to fool?
Summer began backing away, setting Ruby's desperation off completely, and she utilized her semblance to latch herself onto Summer's waist.
"Don't go!" She pleaded, burying her face into Summer's stomach like she did as a child. "It wasn't your fault. Dad, uncle Qorw, Yang, and I would never blame you. No one would blame you, and- and Shirou's the Huntsman of Red!" It was like Ruby had found her second wind, glancing at him with painful hope and expectation. "H-He has a sword for everything!"
Indeed, this suggestion actually did give Summer pause, much to Ruby's joy, but the thing was, if he could have helped her, he would have helped her from the start. Summer was fused with the essence of a Grimm, the ramifications of which he couldn't even begin to speculate. Think of it like this, would healing magic work on her if she carried demonic attributes? Moreover, what would happen if he stabbed her with Rule Breaker? There was no magic spell or circle cast on Summer so it may just prove ineffective, but on the off chance it worked, what would that mean?
Summer was only a half-soul, missing a part of herself. The only way this could have happened was through some sort of magic or mystery which Rule Breaker would effectively cancel. Wouldn't she just die then?
In an old friend's words, 'you have to think before acting.'
Another method was to just kill her and see if her soul would come out again, but being as Grimm target those with souls to begin with, there was no telling of the outcome killing her would impose.
"S-Shirou, why aren't you saying anything?" Ruby must have felt his indecision through their bond because she was practically begging him at this point.
He couldn't offer any response other than an excuse, so he could only sigh.
"Ruby, you have to let go of me." Summer gently placed her hands over Ruby's shoulders in a bid to coax her, but Ruby stubbornly shook her head. "It's not safe to be near me."
"You liar. You said you wouldn't leave me, that you'd come back," Ruby swallowed. "I-It's been years mom, and everyone keeps saying you're dead."
Summer's features warped with conflicting emotions at the statement, but ultimately, she sucked it all up and remained firm despite looking like she wanted to weep. "Please little rose, this isn't being fair." Summer hugged Ruby for the first time in years, gasping at the contact before pulling Ruby closer. "I can't stay with you all like this. What if others find out and-"
"Then Yang will beat them up with dad, and uncle Qrow can do that silent glare thing that he thinks looks cool." Ruby craned her neck up from Summer's embrace to stare at her mother's face. If she was put off by the Grimm-like appearance, she really didn't show it. "You're the one who's making this hard," she murmured accusingly, eyes watering.
"It's not that that simple." Summer was grasping at straws, the expression on Ruby's face weakening her resolve yet unable to break it. "I really can't stay with you all like this," she insisted.
"Then why not promise to keep in contact?" Shirou suggested while straining to get himself upright into a seated position.
"Ah," Summer let her mouth hang open at the simple solution. Ruby didn't seem to agree because she wanted Summer to come with her, but Shirou could see that Ruby knew that this was the best compromise she was going to get.
"My scroll," Ruby began fumbling for her communication device in her pockets, but she didn't feel it. "I must have dropped it when I fell from the tree." Tentatively, she let go of Summer, but her unease was plain as day due to her jumpiness. "Don't go anywhere, I'm just going to check in the bushes over there."
Summer nodded stiffly.
Ruby took one step, then looked back, took another step, then looked back, and repeated this process indefinitely. There wasn't going to be one time where she was going to allow Summer out of sight for more than a second. In fact, she'd opted to start clumsily walking backwards, nearly tripping over her heels before she reached the shrubs and started searching for her dropped scroll. She found it a moment later not far from where she'd landed at the beginning.
"What's the number?" Ruby called out.
Summer yelled out her reply, but Shirou immediately started frowning in contrast to Ruby's small smile while saving the contact information under 'best mom ever.'
Said best mom ever didn't seem half as enthused, but bitter instead.
"Was that necessary?" Shirou whispered harshly. "You gave her the wrong number." The number she said was different from the scroll number he'd gotten for her.
Summer didn't reply. Instead, she pulled her knees to her chest and hugged her arms around them beside him while Ruby was making her way back. "I-I hurt her, and I can't even remember. I don't deserve this kind of happiness."
"And that's where you're wrong." Shirou could hardly move, but the piercingness of his eyes felt like he was stabbing daggers into Summer's back. "You've kept your promise with Ruby all this time despite your own hardships. Look, the only reason you became this way was because you couldn't bear the thought of never being able to hold your own daughters, and now you're the one trying to distance yourself from them. Grow up a bit. People can be selfish, so what's wrong with not looking at the bigger picture and letting yourself have some happiness?"
Summer had no response, feeling as if her doubts and insecurities were exposed under his gaze, and that was why it was all the more meaningful. There was no doubt that if there someone who could understand her hardships over the past years, it was Shirou alone.
"I'll be telling Ruby the right number later and don't you dare think about changing it." Shirou didn't wait for a response before turning.
Reprimanded, Summer fell silent. It's been a long time since she's been made to feel like a petulant child, and she remembered now that she'd always disliked this feeling. Still, underlying the harsh yet concise words was a warmth born from concern that couldn't be ignored. "Thanks. I guess I just wasn't thinking straight."
Summer eased the tension out of her body while watching Ruby run towards them nervously. There were plenty of thoughts going through her mind, the majority of which had to do with Ruby's growth from a child to present, but she suddenly became mindful of the blood still staining her hands. After all, she was certain who's blood it was considering the events at Mt. Glenn.
"H-Hey!" She called, feeling a bout of nervousness. "How are your injuries?"
No response.
"Shirou?" She called anxiously.
The sound of Ruby's steps running towards them abruptly slowed before grounding to a halt. Ruby was staring openly in disbelief and concern.
None of them could accurately determine it, but it had already been approximately four hours since the conclusion of Mt. Glenn's defence. This means that the relative flow of information and news across Remnant has had plenty of time to spread and sink in through its populace.
-Outrage over a traitor.
-Admiration for the actions of a single boy.
-And the ramifications of what had transpired regarding legends, myths, and magic.
Everything was categorized under a single category, a list of names and attributed achievements known as The Pride of Vale.
This name was decided to honour the pivotal last batch of reinforcements Vale had sent to Mt. Glenn before the tunnels had collapsed.
Among this list was one individual at the very top who's fame and contributions stood head-over-heels above the rest to become something of a legend. This man wasn't the Huntsman of Red who immediately drew public attention at his participation, but regardless, his existence caused all kingdoms to reconsider their thoughts on independent mercenaries.
[Rank 1: The Mercenary Archer, the Dragon Hunter.]
The fame involved couldn't compare to that of the Huntsman of Red, but exclamations and awe formed an intricate balance that was distinct and could stand on their own. It didn't help that none of the kingdoms discouraged the propagation and embellishments of what had happened.
Remnant needed its heroes, and the Dragon Hunter was surely one of them.
Presently, Shirou was glowing, the energy of his Spirit Origin shifting at random and messing with the very foundation of his existence.
In front of Ruby and Summer's worried eyes, he kept fading in and out, almost becoming transparent.
He gritted his teeth in frustration. It was already starting.
This was exactly what he didn't want to happen.
The influence and effects of Remnant's legends on him were already unpredictable to begin with and now something outrageous felt like it was happening.
The basis of every Heroic Spirit was their legend. Their bodies themselves were made not of physical material, but of ether woven into shape able to fully replicate a human body. This was to say, their forms weren't guaranteed to be accurate to how they were in life. Instead, the vessel formed is a product of imagination derived from their myths.
In Shirou's case, he was already having trouble conforming to the constant supply of Divinity from faith supplied to him as the Huntsman of Red, but now another source was produced with opposite properties.
Violence and dark energy were what he'd exhibited in Archer's form, and now it was coming back to bite him since a form of duality was suddenly created.
When legends become distinct, yet remain intricately tied together, it wasn't uncommon to have a split summon such as Anne Bonny & Mary Read, or the Dioscuri.
Yes. Yes indeed. This had to explain it…
At least this was what he was trying to convince himself of as the light died down from around him and he found himself staring at a dark reflection of himself in the mercenary 'Archer's guise.
Suddenly, there were two of him.
For many, this would be the start of the true beginning…and the end.
Thanks for reading! Oh God it's late, but I still wanted to get this out.
Next update: TBA
P a treon. com (slash) Parcasious
NOTE: [Survivor's Log: Reflections] will be published soon before the end of the month. It's a novel series that focuses more on mystery and supernatural, and previews can be read on Fiction Press.
Book link: Fatedlegacydark. ca