Preamble: A million thanks to TungstenCat for proofreading and editing this chapter. It was a huge, humongous help and I deeply appreciate her for it. Thank you!
"Master…" A stern, but sweet voice.
"Emiya…" A caring, hesitant voice.
"Oi, Emiya!" A loud, energetic voice.
Shirou Emiya shook his head and looked around.
They were on a flat platform made of metal, exposed to the morning light. When he looked up to see more of his surroundings, a large inverted metal dome sprouting white feathered wings loomed over him.
They had made it to Xianyang, the seat of the emperor.
The platform seemed to expand out of the city limits, a bit outside one of the walls.
Behind him lay the capsule they used, now broken and smashed against the floor without so much as leaving a dent in it.
Before he could continue scanning the surroundings, Hildr plopped in front of him, looking him straight in the eye. She was close, close enough to feel her warm breath. Hildr was pretty, as much as her sisters. Her attitude made her irresistible, and she also reminded him of Taiga. A lot. Two people that smiled and made others smile by just being themselves.
"Sorry to interrupt your scanning, Emiya, but I must check if your functions are working appropriately," Hildr said, still in her normally excited tone.
"Hildr… you're…!" He swallowed, she was within distance to-
He shook his head away, blushing.
This was not the time to have those thoughts invade his mind. And yet they still came to him.
Unacceptable.
"Emiya, don't be like-!"
"Hildr!" Hildr flinched, levitating away from him. Thrúd stood at her side, frowning with a light tint of pink on her cheeks.
"Sorry, sorry, I was just trying to check on him," Hildr said, smiling.
"You were too close," Thrúd replied.
"Huh? Why is that a problem?" Hildr asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Because… you know…" Thrúd said, now looking away.
"No, I don't? Could you forward the information?" Hildr asked, now acting even more confused.
With a sigh, Shirou decided to upright himself, and answer her question, if only to clear away the thoughts. "People aren't supposed to be that close. It's alright for medical purposes but it can be embarrassing."
"Why would it be embarrassing?" Hildr asked as she and Thrúd turned to him.
"People that are close, and have feelings for each other, usually are close when not in necessity, so it could be taken the wrong way, especially if you know I'm alright," Shirou said. At this, Hildr's eyes opened wide, mouth becoming a thin line.
"W-well! Not me. I was just checking, you know? And double checked just to be sure!" She said, playing it off.
Thrúd narrowed her eyes. "Even though he isn't your Master?" She asked, voice cutting through the air.
"W-well-"
"-anyway," he said, looking at the rest of the platform. On a bridge near the edge, he spotted the three missing members of their team. "Let's meet with the others."
Mash, Beryl and Tristan looked onwards to a small walkway leading into the town under the city proper. As he stepped into the oppressive shadow of the floating city, he noted three bodies dressed in black and gold, thrown to the side, dead.
"Those are…" he said, bringing the attention of the others.
"-simple guards. Had to take a munch out of them to learn some stuff," Beryl said, as if it were a common thing.
"Munch?" Shirou asked.
"It was some good suffering," Tristan said. Shirou turned to Mash for a second, catching her eye before she immediately looked away.
"Were they waiting for us?" Shirou asked.
"No. They were a simple detail waiting for arrivals. We took them out before they could raise the alarm," Mash said.
"They are every bit as enslaved and uncultured as those peasants from the towns, though these guys at least know some martial arts," Beryl said.
Shirou turned to Mash again. "Will you be okay fighting them?"
"I…" Mash said, gripping her shield tightly. "...I'll do my best."
"Alright," Shirou said. "I won't kill them unless they attack us first."
"Master?" Thrúd asked from behind, surprised. "Are you sure?"
Shirou nodded.
"Again with that?" Beryl asked, fixing his glasses.
"Yes! Now let's go. We have to find the rest of Chaldea, wherever they are," Shirou said, stepping past his two teammates.
He did not wish to kill more innocents.
The guards weren't innocents, they were still human though, and at worst more victims of the emperor's dehumanisation.
He was here to save, not to kill.
But he would have to, at this point. There was no choice if he wished to save Ritsuka.
At least, that was the best way to deal with the tumult of emotions roiling in his stomach. His current emotions. Any more lingering thoughts and he wouldn't be able to focus.
He had already spared the frozen soldiers, and probably put Chaldea at risk. He didn't regret it, but he knew he might not get so lucky again.
Stepping a bit into the platform, Shirou was able to observe the surroundings, and the city's walls. It was a large circumference, with the buildings and streets fit perfectly in a concentric fashion around the base of the large floating machine above it.
His eyes widened and he stopped as he spotted the black and purple figures converging on it like ants to an anthill. From the walls he could see rudimentary lances being used by guards to kill those blobs smart enough to climb the wall through some means.
"Are those…?" Shirou asked.
"Looks like the Mors are getting there, slowly but surely. There were enough curses here against the emperor to sprout a bit of them, but it seems the populations aren't big enough. Still, what will the emperor do without population?" Beryl said, as if proud of his work.
Shirou winced. Allowing Beryl to operate unhampered had been a mistake for sure.
"He'll probably resort to automation," Thrúd said.
"Or maybe he'll just pull one of his toys out of the ice?" Tristan said.
"It'll be fine. As long as we stop the emperor and destroy the tree, we can stop this. rRight, Beryl?" Mash asked.
Beryl looked at her for a second, his facial features contorting as if to break into a laugh before they inexplicably softened.
"Right. They're a bit harder to deal with than actual curses, but I made sure to prepare some party tricks," Beryl said.
Shirou narrowed his eyes. Beryl was lying through his teeth, but lying to keep Mash hopeful. The Crypter had a soft spot for Mash, Shirou realised. Maybe too soft. He wondered why he didn't notice earlier, and what that interest entailed.
One more reason to stay on his guard.
"Then let's hurry," Shirou said, and with a nod from the others they entered the undercity.
He had called it a city, but now that he saw the insides, it looked more like a very large underground town. The technology was a bit higher than in the villages, with electricity, lamps, signposts, and what he assumed was running water through pipes that ran along the street at the level of the homes.
All very compact, minimalist.
The lights of the streets and buildings, along some reflectors of the underside of the city dome above them, allowed them to see their path clearly. Shirou felt no sunlight, there was none allowed to enter except a little from the gap between the walls of the town and the roofs over it.
The city itself was like a stadium. They were on the outer ring, where the seats would be. A big stadium, ten city blocks wide as far as Shirou could see.
The group travelled together, unaccosted by the people clad in white and grey walking by. Relaxed people, with amiable smiles on their faces as they went about their business.
"They look content," Mash said.
"Yeah. Like they don't know the apocalypse is at their doorstep. How sad," Beryl added.
"At least they are happy," Shirou said.
"We detect no guards or warriors. Seems they are all at the walls," Ortlinde said, flying to his side.
"That could change at any moment. Do you think they have a prison or something on this ring?" Shirou asked.
"Well, seeing as this guy is a completely authoritarian emperor, it would be weirder if he didn't have one," Beryl said.
"And knowing his dislike of Confucians or whatever it is he calls his enemies, it would be a pretty torturous- oh look!" Tristan said, before her attention was grabbed by a nearby store.
A lone man in grey was making shoes.
"Tristan," Thrúd said, going to her side with a glare that could kill. "What are you doing?"
"Shut it, doll. This man is making… statues?"
And indeed the man was making small stone statues.
His 'shop' was littered with them. They all had the same image of a man with sharp features, wearing long robes of Chinese origin.
Realistic stone statues with no extras, no features and no room for misinterpretation.
Some were larger, but in the end all looked the same.
"Yes, statues of our Majestic Heavenly Emperor! I live for making them!" The man said, keeping to his small machine made for moulding clay.
"They have all this tech and still mould clay?" Beryl asked.
"So how much for these?" Tristan asked.
"How much?" Repeated the man, lifting his brow in puzzlement.
"Money. Currency. Or should I just demand them from you as daughter of the Queen?" Shirou narrowed his eyes. No wonder she was so regal. But he wasn't about to let her steal from this man.
"I have no idea what you are talking about. These are all for the emperor and no one else. Who else would deserve this?" The man asked, happy as ever.
"Someone or something you love perhaps? A happy memory? To share with your kin?" Ortlinde asked, stepping in front of him. The man didn't move an inch.
"I have no idea what those words mean."
Shirou felt something pool inside him. Pity, disgust, sadness, and a whole tangle of emotions that a part of him told it was wrong and disrespectful to feel.
This person had been stripped of everything that made them human. Or rather, had never been given humanity to begin with. They were as empty as he was.
And that angered him.
A world of empty people, created not by circumstance or disaster but by a careful hand.
"Master?" Thrùd asked, now close to him. "You look tense. Your hand-"
Shirou loosened the fist he had been holding tight. It hurt.
Thrùd was close, very close, and looked at him with concern in her eyes.
"I'm alright," he answered with a smile. He felt happy she was concerned, and terrible for putting her in such a state. "Thanks."
Thrùd blushed, and Hildr slowly crept in behind, raising her eyebrows with a smile.
Mash then stepped up, and asked her a question. "Do you know if there is like… a prison or building to hold Confucians here?"
The man looked at her for a few seconds, confused. "Prison? I have no idea what that is. Confucians were defeated long ago by our heavenly Emperor. They don't exist anymore."
"So a dead end. Probably most people here are as brain dead as this guy," Beryl said.
"Brain…dead?" The man asked.
Shirou frowned, locking eyes with the Crypter. "They are still people, you know? Treat them well."
They walked away from the shop, going through the streets at a walking pace, doing their best to not stand out. There were no guards around, and the people never looked at them outside a wave or a quick glance. They were pretty much considered the same as them.
"Should we scout the city? Without a direct location, we are unlikely to find the remaining members," Thrúd said, floating to his side.
"That would take too long. Once the emperor finds we are here we're done. We need something else," Shirou said.
"It is strange that the emperor hasn't found us yet. You'd think that with those Valkyries he made, he would have had the information reported. Or by any of his robots," Mash added.
They walked past a larger street, which led to a large door to the outside world. There were a few guards, but they paid them no mind.
"Then again he probably doesn't need to," said Mash, glancing up at the high roofs. ". He has the barrier in the sky to look at everything, know everything and talk to everyone. He probably never developed the communication devices for… for… that's it!" Mash exclaimed then, eyes opening wide. "Thanks Valkyries!"
She began fiddling with a part of her armour, and the group stopped to gather around her.
"What are you doing Mash? You're going to draw attention to us," Shirou mentioned, but Mash paid him no mind.
"Ok. I think this was the frequency… I wish I was as good as Da Vinci at this." With a few more taps into her wrist, a beep began sounding, attracting some attention.
"Nothing to see here folks! Just some quick words from the emperor's attendants!" Beryl said to the folks looking, putting out a bright smile. While some accepted this, others exchanged worried glances.
No matter how you looked at him, even his smiles had a wicked essence, like a wolf that would drop his human skin and go attack them.
The beep stopped, followed by two quicker ones.
And suddenly, the image of the small Da Vinci appeared.
"You sure took your time!" she smiled, her blue hologram flickering a little. She seemed unharmed.
"Da Vinci! You're okay. I hope," Shirou amended anxiously. The small girl turned to him with a teasing smile.
"No hellos? How rude," she said.
"I'm just worried," he replied. Da Vinci returned a smile.
"We're okay. Gordy… not so much. Her smile dropped.
Mash gulped, and the reality that time was running out began weighing on all of them.
"It's okay. We're here and we have the cure for the Director. Where are you?" Mash said.
"Oh! Nice job! I'll have to ask all about how you obtained it, but you made my job easier. Ok… we are here," she said, her hologram turning into a map, displaying the city ring they were in, along the big dome over them. The townsfolk around them now whispered amongst themselves.
A red dot popped onto the opposite side of the city circling the dome and field.
"The emperor is keeping us in a large building, connected to his 'holy vessel'. It's almost like a factory, hastily modified. It's full of guards. Or it was. Eastern Magecraft has been keeping us here," Da Vinci said. For a moment, Shirou and Mash looked at each other, confused.
"Vessel?" Shirou asked, sweat forming on his temple.
Da Vinci's expression turned grave. "Yes. Vessel. That is his body. That's how he became immortal. That's how this Lostbelt began. While researching immortality, Qin Shi Huang came across a way to move his soul towards machinery, likely using Xian magic. Regardless of how it happened, it happened. I've been analysing it in secret since we were captured, and the scale of what he did would impress even my old self!" Said the little girl, her frown transforming into a proud smile.
Mash sighed. "Da Vinci, you are rambling…"
"Wooops," she said, winking. "But don't tell me it isn't interesting."
"It is. But you're also in danger. So wait for us, okay?" Shirou said.
"Gotcha. I'll play along with your hero act while I finish analysing this. The emperor–"
The transmission cut off then, the visual giving a static. However, a new voice spoke to them through it.
"Impressive. Most impressive. Transmitting information through such compact, fast means. But useless, when knowledge only needs to be in the hands of those capable."
"Meaning you? You really consider yourself the only one capable?" Mash asked, voice laced with sadness and anger.
"Yes. That is what it means to be human. And you are not fit to carry the future of humanity on your shoulders. Your persistence is marvellous, but in the end, you cannot even survive by yourselves, relying on these crude maidens. But we will admit, they are quite powerful."
"Why you-!" Ortlinde stepped in then, face red and eyes dilated. Shirou rarely saw such an expression on the Valkyrie, and it boiled his blood to see her in such a state.
The transmission cut off before they could continue talking.
Despite his anger, Shirou needed to be calm. He took a few breaths.
"So that's how he sees us…" Ortlinde said, a dark shadow over her eyes. "... Our pride means-"
"Stop those thoughts Ortlinde. They won't help," Thrùd said, voice stern. The youngest Valkyrie flinched, even if her eyes remained strained and fierce.
"Alright then," Shirou said, taking a breath. "We need to get to the other side of the-"
"-quiet!" Tristan said suddenly, one eye closed and another looking to the sky. "They're coming."
Shirou tensed. "Into the building. Hurry!"
"Huh?! I won't hide in some dingy-!" Tristan began, but Beryl quickly pushed her along as the group hid in a vacant edifice, apparently made for living.
It was made of a very ornamental wood to the point it almost looked ostentatious, and elegantly designed, but packed with bare necessities and some windows.
Shirou peeked out a window. Sure enough, through the ornamental bars he saw a squad of mass produced Valkyries land and start looking around. The citizens surrounded them with curiosity and awe.
"Are these…"
"...The emperor spoke of envoys. Angels."
"... praise our emperor for these holy soldiers."
The folks crowding around the Valkyries helped block the view of them, though many more descended on the rooftops, including a sharp thud on their own, above their heads.
"They're everywhere," Mash said. Shirou kept looking out the window, and nodded. "What do we do?"
"We kill them, of course!" Beryl said, shining his glasses. Shirou turned to him for a second, clenching his mouth shut.
Killing Valkyries. They were enemies, but at the same time, they were much like the Valkyries at his side. Or so he hoped.
Apparently, they all began as automatons.
If he gave the sisters a chance, it was only fair he gave these new Valkyries the same treatment.
"B-but Beryl…" Mash began, eyes trained on the ground. Shirou looked at the sisters, who said nothing, even if Thrúd's eyes were slightly strained.
"They're enemies, Mash. Mindless dolls. Just cut loose, enjoy your new life. Why do you care anyway? Your world is gone, and this one isn't yours," Beryl continued, smiling. Shirou clenched his teeth now, still looking out the window. The crowd dispersed a bit, but the mass produced Valkyries seemed to bask in the attention.
"I-" Mash began.
"-We're not killing them," Shirou said after a while.
"Oh. Seriously," Beryl said, his smiling facade falling a bit.
"Yes," Shirou said.
"Master, there's too many. We don't have a choice," Thrúd said. Shirou turned to her. She was serious as always.
But this wasn't about duty. Shirou couldn't allow it to be just that. That would make him like… him.
"We do have a choice. And I just don't want to hurt them-" Two hands grabbed his shoulders, pinning him to the wall. The others froze as Thrud faced him fully.
"They. Don't. Care!" Thrúd said. "Your world, the human order… they're all in danger! We are all in danger! And those Valkyries, my own sisters… they don't care about any of that! They are willing to die to bring us down and there is nothing we can do to change that!"
Shirou stood there, frozen, as Thrúd nearly shouted at him, her voice laced with frustration. Her eyes were strained and glassy and she seemed to be on the verge of tears.
She didn't recover her composure like usual, just breathed heavily, looking at the ground. Everyone else stared at her in surprise.
He knew. He knew that some minds could not be changed, and that words only got so far to someone either too devoted to their cause, or no other way out. He knew that powerlessness. That was why he always wanted to avoid it.
Not just that. He just wanted to avoid remembering, to avoid the heartbreak of hurting the Valkyries again.
It was a selfish, horrible thought. It was all about him.
"I know. But…" he said, now he himself placed his hands on her shoulders. "...I'm not going to be the one that kills them. I'm not going to make you kill them either."
Thrùd's eyes opened wide, and now a single tear spilled from her eye.
"Well aren't you a sweetheart?" Beryl asked then, making Shirou turn to him, mouth a thin line.
"Is it wrong?" He asked him. Beryl smiled then, his eyes hidden under the shine of his glasses.
Tristan simply scoffed as she sat in a chair behind him. "How boring. Beryl, you said this was going to be fun!"
"I did, yeah. Looks like I was mistaken, Lady Spinel," he said, before looking to Mash for a second. "What do you think, Mash? Do you really think this guy, or these dolls, can save anyone, much less Ritsuka?"
Mash froze for a moment, still as a statue.
Shirou looked at her. He wouldn't blame her for thinking otherwise.
"I can help you. You know I'd do anything for my dear Kouhai," he said then, slowly and calmly as if tasting every word. Shirou turned to him once again.
"B-Beryl? Dear?" Tristan asked.
There was some truth in his words. Beryl could help Mash better than himself. The logic was sound, it was appropriate for Mash to choose the option that would save Ritsuka. Creepy as Beryl was, Shirou was certain whatever he had for Mash was somehow genuine.
It still disgusted him, but he had no sound objection to make.
"I appreciate the offer, but I'm sticking with Emiya and the Valkyries. They shouldn't have to kill if they don't want to," Mash answered. Beryl's smile deepened.
"But they have to. It's what they were born to do. Battle Maidens who slaughter heroes for the All-father, and a guy who wants to save everyone but only has the skills to make weapons. They can't save anyone," Beryl said.
Shirou clenched his teeth.
And then… Ortlinde placed herself in front of him, prompting Tristan to step up from her chair. "The points have been made. Leave, or cooperate." The intensity in her voice was new, something he had never seen before.
Now Beryl's face finally changed into something that made Shirou want to smile—disgust.
Until Tristan hugged him from behind. "Come on dear, let's leave these guys behind. Or cut their ankles off! I wanna have fun!"
"Are you going to stop us?" Beryl asked.
"If you won't help us further, then do what you want, we have folks to save," Shirou said, taking a step back. He knew what Beryl would do. It made his stomach retch. He could stop him, he had to stop him… but Ritsuka was in danger still. He could not save these new Valkyries, just like he would not be able to save anyone in this Lostbelt.
He could only stop more from being created, stop the emperor.
And leave a promise. "But if I see you again, I won't let you off."
Beryl and Tristan eyed him for a moment, and then turned to leave. But before they exited…
"Coward."
They left through a backdoor. The street was empty, but the murmurs and movement of citizens could be heard everywhere.
The group moved silently, halting to hide behind a wall and see the main street.
Valkyries were posted along every rooftop, while a few soldiers dressed like martial artists stood on the streets.
"There's no way through here," Shirou whispered.
"And no way on the other side, either," Thrùd said. "We could cast an invisibility rune?"
"Do it," Shirou said.
"Won't the Valkyries detect us?" Mash asked then.
"There's a percentage possibility," Ortlinde replied.
"How high?" Mash asked.
"Calculating," Ortlinde said.
"We can fight non-lethally," Hildr said then. "If worst comes to worst-"
Shirou looked again. The mass produced Valkyries had the same outfit as he did, cream coloured hair completely hidden from sight.
"We already said no," he heard Thrùd say.
He looked at the Valkyries arguing for a bit. The emperor seemed to have only a sky-sight, unable to look into buildings.
If he pulled his hood down…
"That's it!" Shirou exclaimed, quickly closing his mouth.
Everyone stared at him, and he had to scratch his cheek to fight off the embarrassment.
"I-I just had an idea," he said. It was a stupid one, but also a cool one. It always worked in games… so…
Except games weren't reality. But then again, it was a perfect opportunity.
"What is it? Speak your mind," Thrùd said.
Shirou turned to face them, shifting feet. "Alright so, you all have these, right?" Shirou asked, tugging at his gifted Swan Mystic Code.
"Yes," all Valkyries said.
"Think you could all pull your hoods over?" Thrùd raised an eyebrow, but nodded.
Her capelet materialised over her shoulder, and in unison, all three sisters pulled their hoods over, except Ortlinde who already had it.
Shameful as it was to admit, they looked like copies, only distinguished by their lances, expressions and the hair that peeked out from under their hoods.
"Could you tuck your hair further?" And the Valkyries did.
Now they almost looked like the mass produced ones.
"Master… don't tell me you are trying to-"
"-yes. Now hide your weapons," he said as he closed his eyes.
He focused.
He had studied them a thousand times. The weapons that were gifted to him.
The materials were nearly impossible to replicate. At best, he could make a powerful copy of the False Gungnir.
But he didn't need perfection. He needed the opposite.
"Trace;On…" he muttered the spell, and three silver shields, and three fake, hollow Gungirs materialised.
"Use this," the Valkyries picked them up with some hesitation.
"So… stealth huh," Hildr asked.
"It's nothing shameful, Hildr. Thor used stealth to recover his hammer," Thrùd said.
"Oh! Oh! I remember reading that! Thor disguised himself as Freya to fool the giants who had stolen his hammer!" Mash said, reciting the story with glittering eyes.
"Y-yes. More or less. It was an odd occasion," Thrùd said.
"Huh? You were there, Thrùd?" Hildr asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Yeah. It was never synched," Ortlinde added.
Thrùd stared at them for a moment. It was a strange blank stare. "I… I think…"
Meanwhile, Shirou finalised tracing his clothes. "Ok. Here!"
He threw her a pair of white clothes like the citizens of the city wore. However, it was all made of simple loose materials, easy to fit around.
"You want me to change into this!?" Mash asked, face red.
"It will easily fit around your Ortinax, so don't worry. Just wear it over it," Shirou said as he started putting on the clothes he had crafted for himself.
"R-right."
After a moment, Mash looked like another citizen, same as Shirou, the two were dressed in baggy plain white and grey clothes. "Wow! Your craftsmanship is impressive, almost as good as Emiya's!"
Shirou felt a pang of jealousy in his chest, and had to hold back from clicking his tongue.
"Almost?" Shirou asked.
"I-I mean…" Mash cleared her throat, going serious again. "Are you sure about this?" Mash asked.
"No. But I have hope. Besides, the emperor only seems to look at things from above," Shirou said with a small smile, before turning to the Valkyries. "You three remember the location of Chaldea?"
"Affirmative," Thrùd said. Or so he thought.
"Alright Thrùd-"
"I'm Ortlinde. Thrùd's so to my left," Ortlinde said.
Face hot, he turned to Thrùd. "Lead us there. If we find anyone, you do the talking. Try to act like the Valkyries."
"So like we usually do," Thrùd said.
"No like…" Shirou said, closing his eyes to think. "Like… be thoughtless and automated."
"So as usual!" Hildr exclaimed, a bit too enthusiastically.
"What!? You don't- I mean…" The Valkyries continued to stare at him strangely. He had forgotten how little they noticed. "Just do what you will," Shirou said, nearly throwing his hands into the air. A second later he let go of his frustration. He felt horrible for a second.
"Understood. Engaging in basic parameters," Ortlinde said, her voice sounding almost completely devoid of any thought or emotion. Almost. Her quiet cadence was still present.
A strong hand suddenly clamped down on his arm with a grip of steel. "Follow, humans. No sudden movements," was Thrúd's command as she locked unfeeling eyes with him.
He felt cold, and amused.
"Thrúd?! I didn't say-" but she didn't listen and hastily pulled him through the streets.
Mash followed, also held by both Ortlinde and Hildr.
They passed perfectly, with the Valkyries executing a steady march of perfectly synchronized movements that Shirou had some trouble keeping up with.
But not a single of the other Valkyries noticed. They packed the streets, looking straight and with purpose all around them, like the first few days after summoning them in Fuyuki, before he could really see some of their true selves.
It took half an hour to get there, but the group finally found a large building. It towered over the other structures while still being mostly simple in design. The only other distinctive feature was the guards standing by its door. Two mass produced Valkyries.
"Enemies spotted," Thrùd said, stopping a few meters away from the building.
"We've got this, don't worry!" Hildr said from under her hood.
The group approached in the same march they had been doing. They were almost through, the mass-produced Valkyries didn't even spare a glance at them. Here was a large iron double door—
One of the Valkyries moved to stand in their way.
"Halt!" She held up a hand. Her voice was light, reminding him of a certain girl who lived in a snow castle.
Thrùd and the Valkyrie stared at each other for a long time, past what any human would consider awkward. And yet, neither Thrùd nor the Valkyrie gave up, even forgoing blinking.
It was beginning to worry him, so much that he spared a glance at the other Valkyrie, but she was focused on something else.
"Synchronization failed," said the Valkyrie. "Are you defective?"
Thrùd, while maintaining her blank expression, twitched just a tiny bit. "Affirmative."
"What is your serial number?" The Valkyrie asked then.
"It's-"
"-ugh! What's going on? You holding up the extra hands!?" A small man left the building then. Short, chubby, wearing glasses, and dressed in a sort of battle armour.
He didn't look like much of a warrior though.
"Lord Han Xin," the Valkyrie bowed, turning fully to him before returning to her previous position. "Yes. They are escorted by defects."
Han Xin turned to them. "Defects huh? Damn, I thought these latest batches were perfect. Maybe we were too hasty in adapting new technology, these battle maidens are terrible still."
Thrùd's face changed ever slightly. Even Hildr shook a bit.
"Well, the construction of the disposal facilities is still ongoing. Bring them in. You can do that, right?" he asked.
Thrùd nodded the inside of the building was spacious, full of headlights, cables and support beams. Everything was built around the big project, the Shadow Border, which was held in some kind of central platform and outfitted with many, many cables. To Shirou's relief, it remained whole, at least from the outside.
"I still hold that this vehicle is worth our time more than the battle maidens," Han Xin said.
Shirou scanned the room as he blabbered on. Few guards, no Valkyries and a lot of citizens moving boxes, equipment and cables around.
Quite under guarded.
Neutralising everyone would be easy.
He looked at Thrùd, uttering a single command. "Guards. Now."
The Valkyries, Mash and Shirou sprung to attack, taking out the guards quickly and efficiently. Their foes' martial arts were formidable but still ineffective against Servants.
Shirou had a bit more trouble, but it was only a matter of taking out their arms. He'd had had too much practice against Tohsaka- or rather, had helped Tohsaka train to beat Luvia too much- to have trouble against these men.
If she did come back, he hoped she would be pleased to hear how her training had helped him.
Before long, all guards were dead and the civilians rounded up, all that was left was…
"Damnit! How could I have…!?" Han Xin asked, hands in the air. "I should have recognized you! The battle maidens should have…!"
Thrùd held him at the point of her lance and lowered her hood, shaking her hair free. "You don't understand them."
Han Xin smiled. "Nah. We do. The emperor does. I see it now… You're all just defective from the start, once the emperor discovers the kink…!"
He never finished, for Thrùd kicked him in the neck with her leg, sending him across the room with a crunching sound.
Thrúd had broken his neck, possibly even killed him.
Hildr, Ortlinde and Shirou looked at her in shock.
"Thrúd…" Ortlinde said, voice uneven.
"You weren't commanded to do that," Hildr added, her voice almost desperate.
The blonde Valkyrie looked around, eyes wide, before massaging her forehead a bit. "I… I'm sorry… Something-"
"-he was hurting us, and the pride of Valkyrie," Hildr said, voice dark.
Shirou saw that Thrúd didn't recover. The Valkyrie looked at the floor as if in a daze.
"It's okay, Thrúd," he said, reaching for her shoulder. She didn't react to his touch.
"Hildr is right. He was an enemy, and enemy warriors must fight, flee, or die." Her words were said as serious as always, but her gaze was soft while looking at him. "But thank you, Master."
"Guys! I've found them!" Mash shouted from within the building. With a nod, Shirou and Thrúd ran towards her.
"Stay here you two!" Thrúd said.
"Understood!"
"Order confirmed."
Deep down a stair on the building, they came upon a makeshift prison with metal doors. Mash had opened one, and when Shirou came to see, relief crashed over him.
"You're all okay," he said.
"Glad to see you're happy to see us!" Da Vinci replied, smiling. Shirou had failed to notice he himself was smiling too.
"Of course I'm happy. Who do you take me for?" He asked then, nodding to both Meuniere and Holmes to confirm they were alright.
"I'm relieved too. After what he did to Koyanskaya…" Mash said.
"It seems that while he certainly hates Confucians, he still knows what a threat to humanity actually is," Holmes said with his usual serious and inquisitive look.
"And Goredolf?" Shirou asked, noticing the Director of Chaldea was behind Holmes, laid on the ground. He was extremely still, as if dead, his chest barely rising and lowering. His skin wilted, eyes sunken and dried fluids all over made him look like a corpse.
"His digestive system has shut down. Next is respiratory I suppose, if he doesn't bleed out first," Da Vinci said. Shirou approached him, feeling his neck.
There was a faint pulse still.
"Alright," Shirou said, reaching for his back pocket and producing the purple vial. "I have the antidote."
"Let me see!" Da Vinci said, taking it from his hands and using her staff to shine some lights on it. "Man… it's as I feared. This is as much magecraft as it is poison."
"What?" Shirou and Mash asked. "W-what does that mean?"
"I can't reproduce it, even with a direct sample," Da Vinci said. "We must get to the source of it, the Fusang tree, and extract a piece of it and its magecraft."
Shirou shuddered. "But where is it?"
"Where it has always been, the seat of the emperor himself. Or rather, in a pocket dimension hidden by Xian magic, the same one the emperor used to make himself immortal," Holmes said.
Shirou gulped.
They were already outnumbered and outgunned, and Yu and Xiang Yu would soon return, and that would be the end of them.
"But with the Shadow Border we can retrieve Ophelia, make it back to the Wandering Sea while those Mors creatures take care of the Lostbelt," Da Vinci said, her face expressionless, and mostly avoiding looking in Goredolf's direction.
Shirou almost forgot to breathe. "You know about the Mors-!?"
"Of course we do. The entire atmosphere and ground are being polluted by them! They're obviously not of this world. I won't ask why or how you did it, but it isn't important right now!" Da Vinci said, and then pointed a finger at Goredolf. "What's important is-"
"We can't save Goredolf and Ritsuka if we run," Shirou said.
"Correct."
He heard his heartbeat inside his own ears as he looked at Goredolf. "No. We can't leave him to die."
"With all due respect, our chances of defeating the emperor are dwindling. Our sisters are still out there, being produced. This would be the best course of action," Thrúd said, even if it sounded forced.
"Just because it's the correct course of action doesn't mean-"
"None of us want to do this," Holmes said then, gaze stern. "But I'm afraid without Ritsuka, our operation will fall apart."
He looked at both Holmes and Da Vinci, but neither gave him an answer.
He then turned to Thrúd. The Valkyrie simply stared at him, face unreadable. But there was something in her eyes. An expectation. But what? To muster the strength to save Ritsuka and the World? To stick to his guns?
He didn't know, and he didn't care.
He couldn't falter.
No, regardless of what he believed, there was no question.
He would not allow him to die.
No matter what others expected of him.
"Alright Director, open up."
A/N: Hey folks. It's been quite a long time. Deep apologies, it's just that life has been quite hard these last few months, made it hard to do anything other than work really. I can't promise a more regular writing schedule, but the next chapter is almost done; so look forward to that. If you still remember this fic, thank you very much from the bottom of my heart. The ending of LB3 is upon us.