CIIAAAOOOO!
*Schiva istintivamente il niente* Uh… I didn't expect that.
Welcome to another chapter of God of swords!
But, before we start with the chapter three things:
I can't thank you enough for your feedback, but I will do it nonetheless: thank you very much.
I need a beta. I think my horrible grammar made it a bit clear, but I would like to ask to the readers if someone wants to do it (I don't want to drag a poor virgin to my own den of insanity). Thanks in advance.
This time I will answer to the questions put in the reviews. Look at the AN in the end.
Said that, on with the third chapter of:
GOD OF SWORDS: HOW A SWORD IS FORGED
CHAPTER THREE: THE PROTECTION OF A SWORD
Top of the roof, afternoon;
Two days to the Summer's Solstice
*Swoosh* *Ting* *Twack*
"OW!"
I sighed at the girl in front of me, resting my right hand while the girl was rubbing with her shielded arm her right flank, which was where I was able to hit with my own dulled Xiphos, while she was glaring at me with the whole seriousness an eight years old could muster.
Which was not much.
"You continue to be too much aggressive even when it's not needed." I said, my tone unyielding and surgical at the pained child:"And you didn't use my own handicap in the fight, continuing to try to attack despite the fact that I'm luring you into my own traps."
"It's… easy for… you to…say!" was the angry answer of the girl, ruined by the harsh intake of breath she was taking, which made her look more like an angry chipmunk than a demigod who could, in a far future, wipe the floor with me Thaumaturgically wise.
'Well, she has ten times your reserves, but if her control continue to be that hideous, then it's going to be a long time before she is able to beat you with Thaumaturgy.' Commented the goddess serious, then she continued with a cutesy tone: 'But look at how cute she is, angry that her master continues to beat her.'
'At least she is much better with the weapons than she is with Thaumaturgy.' I drily commented, while letting the girl before me take a breath.
She was really good at it.
I had in my hands a true prodigy, who now was able to resist against the technique of a trained Spartan soldier, who was the previous owner of the sword I was using and had ten years of experience with it, used by a person who had thousands of years of battle behind him.
I wasn't counting on the experience of the Pelta, it being more a last defence weapon for skirmishers than a true melee shield, even if it was a great replacement for the Hoplon.
Even if I could obliterate her with one finger if I went all out with my strength, her growth was nothing short than phenomenal.
Now if only she could equate that genius with Magecraft and not be so negated at it.
At least she was able to find an image to open and close her Circuits without my help.
It took two weeks and half to do it, but she was able to do it.
And that's without talking about the time of opening itself…
'Didn't you take some years to do it when you were in your dimension?' asked the goddess amused, amusement which made me want to slap my younger selves for their idiocy.
At least the girl wasn't using her nerves as makeshift Circuits, that was good.
"Oi, are ready for another spar or are your teeth clattering for your dread?" I asked, mimicking the most taunting tone I could muster in front of the still hurting girl while openly smirking at her, using a certain blond king as a model for that.
I wanted for the girl to fall to the bait to teach her a certain lesson which I had never paid attention until much later in life, but she remained there, the only way to notice that it had hit home was her baring of her teeth and her squinted eyes.
This was expected, in one month of teaching her I had never seen her enraged by insults against herself.
It was something to be lauded, if she didn't have another thing which will surely make her fly off:
"Come on, if you are so much of a coward how are you going to protect your mother?" I shouted, my tone filled with fake grim amusement, while internally I heard the goddess say, her tone resigned:
'Here she comes.'
The girl, with growl and white knuckles, charged at me with her sword high and angled in such a way that she showed me the hilt, while her shield was still protecting her front.
'Here she comes.' I uttered internally, my own tone emotionless when my smirk flattened and my eyes sharpened.
I had put myself into my stance when she moved her right foot forward and, without disregarding her stance to avoid being beaten with the heavy piece of metal I had in my hand, attacked, her blow coming overhead towards my sword arm.
I simply retreated and let the blow pass through and, advancing myself, I fainted to prepare a thrust to her torso.
The girl was already prepared with her shield to protect herself from a strike towards her torso when I directed the strike towards her still unprotected sword arm.
The girl saw that and protected her arm behind the shield, putting herself into a middle guard again, and my strike passed harmlessly above the shield, and she capitalized on my overextended body, making her blade descend from over her head with all her strength, telegraphing her movement.
I avoided to the left, letting the girl unbalance and posing it against her unprotected leg, while I could see her face morphing in pain.
The girl stopped for two moments, then she groaned and shouted furious, preparing the Pelta and the Xiphos, gritting her teeth, glaring with her eyes and going back into her stance determined:
"Again!"
"If you continue to be so inattentive when you attack and so easy to be taunted, then I will always have the control of the battle. This is something that you will have to learn. Then you have to understand when your body can't take anymore, and if it can't, don't attack." I explained calmly, my annoyance at this mistakes being repeated almost non-existent.
Those were mistakes made by her being still young, the only things which showed her inexperience in the mid of all her talent.
Which didn't need to be praised too much to avoid her becoming too proud of her abilities.
'Oh, look at the poor girl, she is like a kicked puppy.' Came the sad tone of the goddess, which made my brow twitch.
"But you are doing good, all things considered. You started training only a month ago with you weapons, and your progresses are nothing short than impressive."
…But if I didn't praise her enough it would be detrimental to her self-worth, making her overestimate her enemies and lose energy needlessly.
'Sure, that's your only reason, old soul.' was the deadpan tone of the goddess, at which I answered with a calm 'absolutely.'
'So it doesn't matter that the girl now is looking as a kid who has been given an entire sweet shop?' was the amused comment given by the goddess, at which I gave my own 'No.'
And then I said something which made the happiness in the girl fade like snow under the sun:
"Now we will go with Reinforcement training."
The girl, who before was beaming at my compliments, was now looking at me with wide eyes and trembling slightly from fear, while her lower lip…
"Don't try to sway me with the kicked dog stare, you will only make your lesson last more." I stopped her from unleashing the trembling lip with a voice of steel, and with the not armed hand I pointed at a bucket of old nails, some as big as an hand, some as small as the point of a finger, which I had recovered from the graveyard.
I also made sure that the rust over them was gone, I didn't want the tetanus in my life.
"But I can't do anything with them! Can we just use the weapons, please? It's cool!" came the childish voice of the girl, who was looking at my armed hand with something akin with longing.
"If you become over reliant with one weapon-" I started lecturing, but I was interrupted by the droning of the girl in front of me:
"-I will be weak against someone stronger than me. You have said that the 'Jack of all trades but master of none is better than a master of one' at least one hundred times!" shouted the girl, waving her still armed arms around angrily.
"And I will repeat it every time it's needed. You need it both for your own talisman and for your own control, so please, activate your Circuits" I ended with finality, dispelling the weapons we were using and making the girl whine in protest, but I was already taking the nails and putting them in front of her who, with an huff, sat down and took the first one.
After a few moments, at which she had closed her eyes and had scrunched forehead in concentration, she muttered her own Aria in a whisper:
"Let the dam break."
Slowly, ever so slowly, I could feel her Circuits activate, one by one, in a snail's pace, until the last one was activated after three minutes of wait and scent of minerals.
'Any thought about why it would take so much for her to activate her Circuits?' I asked to the entity through the bond, while trying to piece together the reason of her slowness and waiting for the girl to get out of the meditation: 'Could it be because of the quantity or the quality of the Circuits?'
'No. You were able to activate yours in roughly the same time of your other life, even if they are more and much better than your previous ones. Maybe it's a problem in the process of the activation itself?' The goddess both answered and asked me, trying herself to help me:
'I don't think so, if it was a matter of the process then she wouldn't be able to activate them at all. But what could it be?'
It was concerning that she took so much time to activate them, if she would need them in a fighting situation it would be unviable.
'For now let focus on the present. The pendant for Penelope is almost ready, isn't it? You are ahead of the schedule, aren't you? Penelope is becoming better in an incredible pace, isn't she? Be optimist!' exclaimed the goddess brightly, trying to cheer me up, but it only made me freeze in dread and then resignation.
'You had to say it, right?' I commented, my tone full of acceptance.
'What do you mean?' asked the goddess, curious.
'Just…Lets continue with the training.'
The girl had finally gotten out of the meditation and was looking at the bucket with an happy smile:
"It takes a lot for the little guys to start," commented the girl, her eyes sparkling with happiness:"But they feel so incredible! And they are even making my side feel better!"
"Start Reinforcing the nail, if you please." I requested calmly, activating my own Circuits with my own 'Trace on'and preparing to 'Structural Analyse' the nail to look how she would do it.
The girl glared at me for some moments, but, seeing that I didn't falter she, tentatively, started to pump Prana inside the ferrous object, trying to better its own qualities and lessen the cracks, the voids and the impurities inside it.
But the Prana pumped inside it was barely enough to better the qualities of the nail itself of 1%.
The girl seemed to have noticed it, because then she pumped an huge quantity of Prana, making the nail vibrate.
I immediately snatched it from her hand and Reinforcing my arm I threw it as high as I could, perpendicular to the roof.
When it exploded due to Prana overflow the fragments were so minuscule that they wouldn't have hurt anyone, and the explosion itself was covered both by the sun's light, the building and the runes.
When the explosion died down, I turned with a pointed stare to the girl, who was accurately avoiding it, then I said in an amused tone:
"I know that you like explosions, but could you please alert me if you want to make a grenade? Just an heads up would be enough."
The girl twitched but didn't say anything, unlike a certain goddess who commented in an equally sarcastic tone:
'Smooth, old soul, really smooth.'
I didn't pay ear to her, and waited for the girl to talk.
'You should try to explain why it's so hard, that should do the trick.'
When the girl didn't talk for a while I paid attention to the goddess's advice and sat down in front of her with a sigh and, after a few moments, I started talking calmly:
"It's normal that you have problem with this kind of Mystery, you have a lot of Prana inside you, and this is more a control based Mystery, so understand that your problems are not so strange."
"But you don't have those problems that you talk about." grumbled the girl, still not turning her head:
"I think that you shouldn't compare yourself with me for now. But probably, in around six years or something you will floor me in Thaumaturgy." I said, trying to make seep through some certainty to not make her self-worth waver.
"Are you sure about it?" this was asked in a curious tone by the girl, who had turned her head to look at me.
"You have ten times my Prana output;" I commented, slightly annoyed:"you are an-" 'normal' "-incarnation, having both your Element and your Origin aligned; you will not misuse what you are learning" in every way possible. I will not let her become an hero:"So be sure about it."
There were several moments of silence, then it came:
"Oh?" was the trouble making sound coming from the girl, who had mischief in her eyes when she turned:"So you are saying that I will kick your butt after some time?"
"Some is the important bit." I drawled, my stare becoming bemused at the complete reverse the girl just did, even taking the next nail with a pleased hum.
It wasn't normal, was it?
'Oh, I think that she only wanted to be encouraged by her Senseeeeeiii.'Was the amused tone of the goddess, who dragged the last syllable in a mocking tone, which didn't help answering my question:
'I'm serious, why did she have such a change of mood?' I reflected, while the girl started to slowly pump Prana inside the nail.
'You really can't understand?' asked the goddess, somehow incredulous by my logical question.
'No.' I grounded out, feeling more than a bit annoyed.
'…Damn, it seems that it will be harder than I thought.' Was the stray thought of the entity, which made me stop and ask stonily:
'What are you talking-'
"YEEEEAHHH! I did it!" was the jubilant shout coming from the girl, which made me snap out of the mental bond and look to an happy girl who was dancing with a construction nail in her hand.
I concentrated at the nail with Structural Analysis and I was able to grasp exactly how much was she able to truly Reinforce.
"Its qualities are bettered of almost the 70%. Outstanding." I complimented, my tone emulating a pride that never went truly into my smirk nor my eyes:"It's your best try since you started training with this Mystery."
"Ah! Finally I will not have to do this thing anymore! Ahahahah!" The girl exclaimed boisterously, getting up and laughing to the sky, her hands to her sides and her laugh haughty.
I simply took another nail, similar to the one she just Reinforced, and did the Mystery myself.
"Oi, apprentice, catch this." I stated, and after she paid attention to the construction nail, I lightly threw it.
She grabbed it, only to drop it in a moment and look at me disbelieving, her mouth open and her eyes wide.
I smirked at the unbelieving stare, and, with an amused tone, I said:
"You have a long path before you, young apprentice. Sit down and continue to do it."
The girl sat down without a word and, still without a word, she took another nail, this time a normal one.
Then, when she was filling with Prana the object, she uttered only one word:
"Meanie."
I only rose a brow and waited for the nail to blow up, knowing that the girl was now too much unstable to do it.
'You are a bit petty.' Commented the goddess, in a mixture of amusement and berating, which just made me roll my eyes when I took the exploding nail and launched it to the sky.
The girl looked at the bright explosion and then sighed, her head low while taking another nail, and asked:
"Another time?"
"Another time."
In the middle of the night; on the roof
*Scratch Scratch Scratch*
"It's almost done."
I was on a Traced chair, in front of a traced desk, using as a light two Kaunaz, which were like squared Cs that held the meaning of Torches, and I had in my hand a traced graver, an engraving tool with a mushroom-like, wooden hilt and an extremely thin point, which I was using along with my Reinforced eyes over a press which had a silver sphere with a silvery little chain in its middle, which was already covered with Runes itself and upon which I was putting the last details on its most important part.
'I said it before, right? You are too gloomy for your own good.' Commented the goddess, preening like a peacock.
*Scratch Scratch Scratch*
Ansuz was a rune with many meanings, I said it before and I will repeat it.
Fire, Odin, ash, knowledge, persuasion.
The old Aesirs, and their inheritance.
'Don't try fate now, it always come back to haunt if you do.' I commented while making the last details on the reversed Rune in front of me.
*Scratch Scratch Scratch*
If Ansuz was the Rune of persuasion, its reversed meaning would be lying.
But its reverse with the signification of divinity wouldn't be human.
'Come on, how many times did it happen?' asked teasingly the goddess, amused by what she thought was just an old lady talk.
*Scratch Scratch Scratch*
It would still mean lying, but there is a saying about lies:
*Lie enough times and it shall become the truth.*
'I wouldn't want for your soldier in making to be hurt because the amulet didn't work. Would you like it?' I stated, remembering the comment she had done just a few hours prior which could only mean that she wanted that her soldier was ready for the war to come.
*Scratch Scratch Scratch*
I wasn't even paying a quarter of my mind to the conversation, so much taken by the rune in front of me, which needed to be ready and perfect in a few days.
Now it could be asked 'why are you using this rune instead of the one you used with your own amulet?'
'What do you mean by that?' The goddess requested, her tone conveying fury, strangely.
*Scratch Scratch Scratch*
The problem of this Rune was that its meaning was simply 'Deception'. It wasn't a precise 'Become as human as possible' which was the meaning of my own reversed Mannaz.
If we could compare the two, it would be like comparing a neat illusion done by a master illusionist with a box.
A sturdy, twelve times more resistant than the illusion box, but a box nonetheless.
'But I want for you to know this, primordial.' I ignored the fury of the entity while I stopped engraving the Rune, knowing that the graver was trembling slightly due to my own anger, and declared:
'I will not let another me be born. I will not let another Counter Guardian be created, even by you. I have already walked through Hell several times, I'm not afraid to do it again to avoid another soul to be cursed like me.'
'Where did you get that idiocy from? Or rather, why did you think it?!' The entity shouted furious, her tone completely useless against my own anger, but she, much to my surprise, continued:
'I don't want another one like you! I know, I have seen that Hell! I've seen how the gods in your dimension are, and I know how those in this one are! I regret not being able to do anything to avoid your slavery done by Alaya, and I equally regret that I wasn't able to take you before you were twisted in such a way by my other-dimensional kin.' Before I could say something, the entity resumed with a sour chuckle:
'Eh. Now that I think about it I can't really blame you of your lack of trust with me, after all I did take you from your release without your will to do so, I have made you walk on Earth again by binding you to a mission, a duty that you had already fulfilled a thousand of thousands times, and I have done so without giving you nothing. It shall change today.'
Why did she go for such a tangent? I didn't ask for the story of my life, just that I will not let the girl become another damned 'Hero of Justice'!
But, before I could stop her, she declared:
'Today I, The most ancient Abyss, so swear: that I shall not lie to this old soul from today to the day he shall day, that any question shall be answered, and that I will help in any way possible; This I swear upon my immortal soul!'
I could feel a Geass forming.
I could feel a Geass forming.
I could feel a Geass forming!
*ALARM!*
A feeling of danger stopped me and made my mind go immediately towards the reason which could have originated this sense.
Or rather, the rune which could have originated it.
'Algiz.'
Damn it.
'GO!' The goddess shouted shaken and I, after having de-summoned all the traced objects and taken the amulet, putting it inside a pocket of my shorts, I Reinforced myself at my utmost and looked at the direction of the girl's flat.
This would be bumpy ride.
'We will talk about your idiocy later.' I promised icily and, without any other thought I bolted from the middle of the roof to the edge of it and then I jumped with all my strength.
The noises of the night, which before were muffled thanks to my own runes, became prominent while I jumped on the roof of the slightly lower building; the lights of the City, which before were covered like a curtain covered the sun, became blinding when I rolled on that roof.
"One hundredth." I noted calmly, while my body, like a coiled snake, snapped again and started running to the end of this roof with the speed of a supercar and then I jumped again, my legs making a crater on the cheap concrete that formed the roof of the building.
When I was soaring the ten meters of road, I was sure that the people down wouldn't be looking up, and for those that would, they would simply pass it off as being just tired.
Maybe I should have made an Isa to at least hide myself a bit, but I didn't exactly have the time to preparate.
"One hundred first." I whispered when I landed on that roof, feeling slightly pain but continuing on as Algiz became closer.
So I jumped again, over cars, buses, people, all like ants when I was over them, reaching the next roof.
"One hundred second."
And then I was five floors under the next roof.
I groaned while running to the edge, but that was the only sign of my annoyance before I leaped, my superhuman strength and speed put in test while I stretched my hands.
*CRASH!*
My face, chest and knees hurt when I hit the surface of the building, but my grip on the edge remained strong while I dragged myself up.
"One hundred third." I groaned, now the feeling of alarm being like a horn in my hears when I looked at the building where the rune was, in the seventh floor of that building.
But there was another sensation, a sensation which came to my nose, an aroma.
An aroma of salt.
'Damnit girl…'
I agreed with the sentiment, even if I didn't show it, and in a second I was on the edge of that roof, in another I was airborne, and in the third I had crushed against the flat's window, shattering it.
There were three human voices inside, an alarmed shout coming from an big adult male, four meters from me, disarmed, without any obstacle between me and him, a surprised but low sound coming from an adult female, who was at my right, three meters from me, with a busted lip and a black eye.
And an Aria coming from a female child, who was sporting a bruise on her temple, things which filled me with more irritation than what was ideal in this situation.
First objective:
"dam brea-HMPPH!?"
-Stop the child from activating her Circuits to avoid being flooded by all the monsters in this state.
If needed, knock out the child.
"Oi, girl, I'm here so could you please not activate your Circuits?" I stated to the girl, my hand over her mouth, making sure that she didn't do anything stupid for all of us.
"Who the fuck are you!" shouted the male with a hoarse voice, thing which made me look at the male in front of me, who was prone on the floor.
He wasn't exactly what you would call a pleasant being: dirty and smelling, with stains over his overweight body and a redness all over his almost bald head, while his poorly treated teeth were shown in his snarl.
But the worst was his Thaumaturgical signature, which stench would have made me mistake him for a monster and attack him on sight.
Unfortunately he was an human and his death would bring unwanted attention towards my apprentice and her mother, so I had to avoid any permanent solution against him.
But now this place wasn't secure anymore, and it wasn't needed for the girl to stay here for her safety.
The girl who was licking my palm, maybe trying to make it free her from her mouth.
"Girl." I emotionlessly demanded, keeping the now wet hand on her mouth, while the human before man growled at the lack of any answer from me:"Please take the amulet I have done for you from my pocket and then push your Prana in it. I will make sure that both the mundanes are hypnotized and then we will go away."
Hoping that there is no monster around due to your expulsion of divine power.
But due to the idiot I think we will not have this luxury.
And me being me, I knew that the Murphy fellow had done his law only for me, so I kept my senses at the ready.
And then I heard a walrus's roar coming from the human's mouth, who, with the grace of a drunkard, got up and tried to charge like a rhino at me.
Tried.
When the human was in front of me, his fist set to strike me, I just used the hand which was covering the girl's mouth and slapped him away with my own Reinforced body, making him fly away, impact against chairs and a table, crush them, and then hit the opposite wall, making a web of cracks on the cheap, soot ridden, plaster, while probably cracking some ribs and other, unnamed, bones with a curt sound, along with a beastly wail.
All of this even if I held back of around half my power.
This was the power of a D- ranked strength user.
I heard noises of surprise and amazement from the other two mortals in the room at the inhuman feat, but I simply requested again to the girl, my voice bland, while I turned to her with a bored expression:
"Girl, take the amulet in my pocket and activate it, I will make sure that the mundanes forget about my own entrance and inhuman feats, then I, you and your mother will go away from here." the mother shot me a look, not angry but calculating, but didn't say anything and finally got up on her shaky legs, which were covered in jeans and didn't let me see how much they were hurt.
I should have been faster.
"…Do we really have to hypnotize mom?" was asked with a feeble voice by the girl, who was shooting some glances to her mother, who just walked to her side and knelt in front of her, almost hiding all the signs of discomfort she was feeling.
But I could see the bruises on her wrists, the winces in her brows, the tremor in her knees.
And all of this made me shook my head and say 'yet again'.
"Go sweetie." this tone was a mixture of the one she used with me, hard like steel, and something much more delicate, that all mothers should have, but that it was so rare that in all my time, in all those years, I had truly seen it an handful of times:"I trust your friend as you trust him, so go do this 'Prana' thingie, all right? I don't think that he will abuse your trust, right?"
The mother looked at me, and even if she was bloody, even if she had a black eye, even if I knew she was much weaker than me, I trembled for a moment, so much I knew of her determination.
"But mom, the smelly hurt you, I don't want for you to…"
"Sshhh, sweetie, I'm here."
She was the mother of a major demigod, someone who had accepted this burden, without breaking, alone, and to handle this situation alone.
That only made me hate myself and the gods a bit more.
The mother was talking to the girl and I didn't want to hasten her, even if I was fearing for monsters to arrive, but I had other things to do.
Like hypnotizing the human which I had just slapped away, both to make sure he didn't spill about my own power and so attract the attention of any powerful monster and to make him stay away from both the mother and the girl.
So I moved towards the hurting human like an hunter in front of an agonizing beast and, making the human turn his snarling eyes towards my own Prana filled ones, I muttered:
"Look into my eyes."
The human's eyes widened even more than before, and he started to struggle.
"Every resistance is useless, look into my eyes."
But my fingers clawed into his injured shoulders, and my hand remained strong over his weak, mortal, body.
"You had been with these people for too long, now it's time to go."
The human started to hyperventilate, while the drool with a bit of blood started to flow out of his mouth.
"Your wife decided to divorce, and you, in your grief, decided to call your friends."
His pupils were wide, his tremors were violent.
"Then there was a fight, caused by their lack of understanding in your situation."
Its kind always thought that they were right, every abuse, every insult, every death, it was always right for them.
"But you are Shin-Gabriele Ugliano, and you are a man, right?"
It wasn't the first time I encountered this kind of humans, and it wouldn't be the last.
"So you will not contact them in any way, after all, they insulted you, right?"
But killing them? It wouldn't work in this matter, and it wouldn't bring anything back, and it wasn't my kind of thing anyway, even if I was a cursed thing.
"So I order you this: let these people go away from you, they don't need you."
But making them go away, and pay for what they did with the world itself? Make that same kind of humans be jury, judge and executioner for their beastly mind?
"Go in another city and start over. After all, the world needs you."
It was better than any kind of justice I could give.
"Now sleep, and be prepared for a new day."
I let the human fall asleep and then, with my most emotionless tone, I asked, turning towards the mother:
"What a waste of air and Prana. Do you know where can I get some ice?"
The mother pointed with a finger a semi-open door, and I went there with soft steps.
*Crunch!*
Then I hit a shard of green glass, and there and then wanted to go back and just start kicking the human.
But I didn't do anything else than go to the freezer as fast as possible, without paying attention to the countless bottles, and took a pack of ice, probably there thanks to the preparations of the mother.
Done that I came back to the injured woman and I took with my other hand the only surviving chair, an hideous thing, but needed, then I put it at the side of the incredulous looking woman, then I stunned her a bit more:
"Sit."
The woman looked at me with wide eyes and an equally wide mouth, but I just pointed at the chair and repeated with as much authority a nine years old could muster:
"Sit."
She did so.
I started analysing her wounds: a busted lips, a black eye, some hematomas which were more or less healed and some damages to the scalp.
I didn't dare to see her wrists, it would only have made me go into rage and made our lives much more difficult.
So I asked:
"Do you feel any dizziness? Vertigo? Lack of balance? Nausea? Any other than the normal symptoms given by your injuries?"
"U-uh?"
"Vertigo? Nausea? Any problem at remaining awake?"
"No, I don't think so…"
"All right. If you feel any of those things, please go to the hospital. For now," at that, I gave her the ice: "Put this on your eye."
"But."
"Do it."
She took the pack with a bit of hesitation and then she put it on her eye, with a nod on my part.
Now we needed to wait for the girl.
Now if only the stench ended.
One minute later;
"How much is the girl going to take."
I was a bit hurried, but I didn't like to wait in this case.
We were in a place which didn't let me know exactly where they would attack us, and the way to escape were limited.
From my side the mother, having the ice pack on her eye, a busted lip and a possible concussion, voiced:
"Pffff!"
She was laughing.
I quirked a brow at her guffaughs, while I was using the bound human as a sit, making note of them.
It was, after all, the first time I had ever seen her laugh in my presence.
"Ehehehe!"
'Well, Counting that you were creating a black market of repairing while using underage labour while under the threat of her daughter being killed by some kind of immoral and immortal being, either monstrous or divine, while living with that bastard, I consider a blessing that she is able to even smile to her daughter.' Stated the idiot, her tone a mixture of awe and piety at the fortitude of the woman.
"Ahahahahaha!"
'I think that it's just hysteria making its course. It wouldn't be neither strange or reprehensible if it happened.'I stated while observing the woman, who was holdding her guts, while trying to not retch at the disgusting smell coming from the human.
'Shouldn't you do something then?'
'I think I am not the best equipped person for this kind of things. Maybe the millenias old loner has some better way to approach it.'
'Wait, who are you calling loner, old soul?'
'If you need a drawing to understand, I am more than happy to do it, idiot loner.'
'Who are you calling idiot, you idiot?!'
'You didn't reject the loner part, idiot.'
'Fuck you!'
'It's rather difficult when you don't have a body and I am a nine years old body. I can understand that you, in all your loneliness and idiocy, never had the possibility of, in simple words, 'fuck your brain out', but I would say that it's better for you to be not considered a-'
"Wait, wait, ehehe, you are serious?" the mother finally was able to regain control over her own mouth, and was able to ask me this moronic question, at which I answered with a risen brow in the direction of her mirth filled face.
Mirth that didn't last at my lack of any answer, and instead changed in surprise and...
Pity?
"Shirou, you aren't blaming yourself now, right?" asked the mother with a calm voice, gentle even, while I just turned my eyes to the still closed door.
Come on girl, how long can you take?
"Then," came again the voice of the mother, which held a vein of calmness in it that made me turn to the stone faced woman again: "I should apologize for putting you in danger, making you rest, or rather not rest, at all, putting you in a difficult situation with your own family and my daughter to not make known of her-"
"Woman, what we did was necessary, but your injuries were caused by a delay of my own react-" I tried to make the mother understand that her position, even if noble to me, was completely wasted, but she interrupted me and instaid declared, her voice calm even if her injuries were probably hurting more than a bit:
"The danger which created this kind of injuries was one that you were aware and alerted me about. I didn't do this without the knowledge of what could happen, and I knew every risk that would come in with this decision. Even more, you have given me a way to alert you in case things were going badly, a way which worked."
"But-"
"But nothing. Now could you please go to see if Penelope is done while I call your family? After all those trips for "play dates", there is only one last baggage of my and Penelope's things I need to take. Thanks."
"All right, remember that I wasn't here. And remember to do that divorce letter, I don't want to be near that human again."
With that and with an open frown, caused by the knowledge of the wrongness of the mother's words, I moved through the stinking building, smell which for some reason was becoming stronger, and came in front of one ruined door with a blue 'Penelope' plate loosely put on it, from which came a scent of salt, thankfully much more muffled than what it would normally be.
Now it was like being in a coastal city instead in the sea itself.
I knocked on the door, knowing full well that, if I surprised her while she was opening her Circuits, it could lead to a rather… explosive… reaction.
"Come in." came the muffled tone of the girl, at which I entered.
The room itself was Spartan, almost empty despite its blueness, with only an old bed, an equally ancient nightstand, a dresser and a small window.
A dresser which had all the drawers damaged in the middle, where lock's keep should be, and window with a locket bigger than my hand.
My frown intensified, but I wasn't here to find more reasons to break the human's bones.
After all losing his "friendships" due to my hypnosis was going to be worst for him, along with the morning after.
Along with those cracked bones.
'Kekekeke, what a good night…' came the sadistic words of the idiot, from whom I could feel malice against the human that was more than a bit unsettling.
"Well? What are you doing standing there like an idiot, Sheru?" came the annoyed voice of the girl, who had the amulet around her neck blocking the greatest part of her presence, even if her Circuits were active, just like I had projected it, and was looking at me with two venomous eyes, red on the edges and with some droplets on their eyelashes.
I sighed tiredly at those details, something which was misread completely by the girl, who became even more annoyed, but before she could shout at me I stated steely:
"I have hypnotized your mother and made sure that you both will both be out of here in a few minutes. Now, how does the amulet feel? Any problem with it?"
It was an extremely important information to know, because unfortunately I didn't have the time to test it, and the increasingly strong smell was making me be thankful of my luck for one time.
"Uhh… it feels like having one arm asleep, but I don't feel… wait a moment, did you say that we were moving out?!" the crescendo of volume, given with a perfect childish tone, was very annoying and this, along with the ever rising stink, made me rather irritated.
"Yes." I drawled slowly, making sure to show the entirety of my own annoyance: "Now if you could avoid to shout so much so we can not make my presence known, it would be perfect."
The girl shifted her eyes guiltily to the door, behind of which there was her mother preparing the last things, and then she looked at me again with those same eyes and whispered apologetically:
"Sorry, I didn't want to. How will you get out without being seen?"
I simply walked to the window and Analysed the locket, doing the same thing I had done a month ago, which was finding its key.
I could break it with Reinforcement, but I didn't want to make too much noise, nor did I want to leave a possibility for the police to investigate about a possible burglary.
Too much attention by the mundanes could spell attention by the unnatural beings over the Jacksons, and that I couldn't let pass.
*SCRAAAAATCH!*
The sudden scratching noise made me turn, just after I had opened the lock, and I saw the girl moving, with some effort, the dresser and reveal a nook in the wall, inside which there was a blue photo album.
She glared at me, like daring me to say something, while she moved the dresser again, instead I turned around and opened the window, letting the warm summer's air inside the room, along with the noises of the city's evening, and started climbing it.
Started, because when I looked around I noticed, between the lights of the cars and the lampposts and the shadows of the buildings, some black shapes flying in patterns, which were at least five kilometres away as the crow flies.
I immediately Reinforced my eyes, and a curse came unbounded from my lips:
"Damned Root…"
That's why the stink was becoming more and more…
I turned to the girl, who was looking at me wondering, and informed, curt:
"The persecutors of Phineas are coming in this perimeter. If we remain her they will find you. Your mother should be ready, go with her to my house; I will get them out of your tails and make sure that they don't know that you were here."
I was becoming rusty if I couldn't piece a simple attack.
Fortunately I wasn't that rusty to not prepare for an attack.
"What do you mean with "Persecutors"? Some kind of winged monster like Harp-." demanded aggressively the girl, moving towards me with a dark expression, probably ready to slay whatever would touch her family.
"Exactly what I said. Now go." I repeated in an harsher tone, stopping what she was going to say, while Reinforcing my body again and repeating mentally the escape route I had prepared.
"But…" was the unsure answer given by the girl, which made me glare at her and order with an anger that I hadn't use in a lot of time:
"Go!"
The girl immediately went out of the room, giving me one last look, but I wasn't able to take note of anything else because I was preparing to do an idiocy.
I needed to reach the fire escape at other side of the face of the building, knowing that a five floors' climb would only be slow, and I needed to be on the roof to attract and pull away the winged monsters from this building.
Make them think that the presence here was only fortuitous and not because a demi-god lived here, using the relative highness of the building as my advantage.
*UMPH!*
I felt a feeling of weightlessness and warm air against me when I jumped to the window six meters in front of me, but then I landed "safely" on the external part of the window.
Two to go.
I would need a weapon able to slay without any problem, while not needing a deep modification with Alteration along with not being a Noble Phantasm.
I didn't need to flat a block at the use of Caladbolg, it would be overkill.
But a certain, sadistic priest had given me the perfect weapons for this kind of situation.
*UMPH!*
*CRACK!*
The sound of the concrete cracking under the pressure of my body made me Reinforce it, while the noises of the clacsons under me became more muted for a moment.
'Could you please concentrate at not becoming a pancake, old soul? My millenia old hearth cannot resist for this long.' The idiot commented exasperated, even if her tone made come through a sliver of concern.
And now I knew that she was saying the truth due to the damned Geass, damn it all.
'We have the stairs in front of us, then we will go to the roof.'
'Wait, you want to jump on a rusty, probably bad built, not approved stairs after jumping for six meters, seven floors above the terrain?'
I didn't just want.
I did.
*CLANG!*
I crashed against the rusted metal, my Reinforced hand grasping the railings and the knees hitting them, becoming slightly more injured than before.
Fortunately I had taken the shot again tetanus.
*CRRRRrrrAAAAAAaaaaAAAANnNnnnnggg*
The stairs creaked ominously again, perched as I was on it, so I decided to not remain there for too long and climbed on the railings, finally on something projected to have people on it.
'I think that even this isn't projected to be used by humans.' Quipped the goddess, unwilling to let her guard down in this place.
I just grabbed my pendant and closed all my circuits but one.
More than three hundred and half units of Prana would be more than enough for those mystic codes and my bow.
Considering that when I was still Shirou Emiya my Circuits were barely able to produce three hundreds of units, I was even more used to this power output then to my normal one.
And so, one floor was climbed.
After the difficult task of closing my own Circuits, I started pumping Prana into the pendant and, with an emotionless voice, I started chanting the deactivation Aria
"I whispered lies, I gave falsities and tailored deceptions."
The stairs groaned and rang under me, bending at my wake, while with my eyes I scanned the skies, searching for the enemy to be slayed.
And so, another floor was climbed.
"Now I shout truths, I offer veracities and construct trust."
I could smell their stench, I could hear the flapping of their black, filthy, ruined wings along with some screeching noises, that held something both human and inhuman in them.
And so, another floor was climbed.
"Now the sword is bare for everyone to see."
But their human side wouldn't matter, I was prepared to take them down, whatever their number was.
I was experienced in slaying, after all.
And so, the last floor was climbed.
Now I was able to see them in all their filthy glory: head of woman, body of a vulture, and all dirty.
And they were thirteen.
Hell always had such a fine way to ridicule me.
'Didn't Astolfo drive off the Harpies with his horn in his story? You should have it in your Reality Marble.' askedthe idiot, while I summoned the black, sleek and tall figure of my bow, and prepared my stance.
'I… think it's present. Only the fact that it was made for war should be enough to be put there, but the cost of summoning it would be too much even for this over-qualified Circuits. Along with being an alarm for all the beings in this city. I would like to avoid be crucified by commuters if I can.' Along with waking up the gods just days before their little reunion.
'Well, at least you are a good shot, so probably it won't be needed.' Commented the idiot with surety, while from my Marble I took one of the weapons.
'A good shot with a weapon projected to kill monsters, remember. Even if used by Kirei, the Black Keys are dangerous weapons for the creatures which prey humanity.' I stated calmly, clearing my mind, and summoning a long, rapier-like, blade, which had a short, red guard, while its blade was full of "blessings".
If you can count as "blessings" curses which would have made you want to ask if God was a sadist on par with Angra Manyu.
Probably Kirei's doing, I wouldn't make it past for the priest to do it.
Or just every Executor: they were slightly… trigger happy while hunting creatures.
*Screeech!*
The biggest Harpy's far screeching made me lazily look at them, and equally lazily rise my own bow.
Then a quick use of Alteration added the quality of "Arrow" inside the Black key, making its guard become like a vortex, as a substitute of the fletchings, while the pointy end became even thinner, like the point of a needle, and I drew it, getting slightly strained even with my D- ranked strength.
Then I let it fly.
*The driver of the lead's car fell, his head having been punctured by the "normal" Reinforced arrow after passing through the "bullet proof" window, and the other soldiers covered behind their make-shift military vehicle with screams and shouts and hasty steps, while the machine-guns hastily put on them whipped around my elevated position, searching for the one who killed the driver, while the vehicle behind tried to get behind the bridge and to escape.
But they didn't see me, and I capitalized on that with a second arrow.*
When the second sword was released, I observed its flight until it hit its target and then started moving to the 105th road, trying to make them follow me.
And the monsters, with sounds both human and inhuman, descended upon me, going far from the two Jacksons below.
When I was jumping from building, I had already prepared another Key arrow and, when I was in flight, I had already draw the bow and aimed for the closest monster, five hundred meters from me.
Without any hesitation I let the sword fly.
*The third fell from my emotionless arrow, right in the eye, slumping on the machine gun, while the others scattered, and I could see one of them fumbling with a radio.
When I landed on the other tree he was the next one to fall with an arrow passing through the heart.
But now they knew where I was, and this knowledge was confirmed by the hails of fire and metal coming for me.
My Reinforced clothes were more than enough to deflect those bullets, and this was without counting the lack of accuracy of these levies.
Then the last machine gun roared to life.*
That Harpy was divided in two the Black key, her screams of pain almost deafening, but I was too focused on the battle and on the Alteration of that same Black Key, which was fired at the furthest monster, which was trying to escape.
Two Harpies were then on me, trying to skewer me from before and behind me, but with a muttered "Trigger off" they were impaled, then, with a lighting fast action, took the Key in the monster in front of me and used it with my bow.
Now four remained, and I needed to jump the twenty three meters of the first avenue to get to the Harlem river and cover my tracks.
But I had already covered a distance like this when I was a mortal.
I could do it again.
*The water roared under me, while the bullets soared over me, and only a Reinforced cloth was my protection against both.
But it was enough, and now I was behind their covers, something they found out when two of theirs fell.
Three older men shouted something to the last, a young man, who started sprinting to the end of the bank where I previously was, then they started firing at me.
They were down in a second, their death painless.
It was the only thing I could give to them in my Hypocrisy.
Then, through the dirtied windshields, I saw the young man, who couldn't have more than eighteen years, who was running and sprinting and stumbling to the other shore.
Even if my eyes were obstructed, my arrow flew true.
So now I was alone between bodies of cursed, who didn't want to fight but had, and who would have attacked a village a few kilometres ahead under the orders of a corrupted man.
I didn't hate Archer more than this day.*
"Finally, the sword is sheathed, invisible for anyone to see."
"Some things never change."
This was what I muttered while staring emotionlessly at the golden dust floating away, the last parts of the young Harpy which tried to fly away under the begging of the three older sisters.
A black feather, roughly long as a short sword and equally hard, was in my hand, the last memory of their struggle against a monster.
Noiselessly I turned to the Harlem River, which was flowing with all its filth.
But I sensed something coming from the South, so I just started running in the direction of the channel, unbothered by all of that filth.
After all eye for eye, tooth for tooth.
Chapter end
AN
I apologise for every mistake I have done with the description of the buildings between the 99th and the 106th of New York City due to my ignorance of the city itself.
Please don't crucify me for that.
Or burn me.
Or shoot me.
Or behead me.
Or *Schiva coltello* … It seems you have misunderstood my intentions.
Bad readers! Bad readers!
Well, now I only have to-
On the building above the first Avenue; sometime later;
"Have you been able to find something, Alice, Camilla?"
"No, it seems that the Demi-god is a shy one. Eheh, well this person certainly does have a good aim."
"Oi, how are you sure it's a Demi-god? It could be one of ours who is at rest!"
"Really Alice? I was here for at least one and half century, I would know if some of ours was able to shoot arrows as big as a fucking arm."
"Camilla!"
"Oh, come on, I know you want to encounter this person. And well, if she is a gal, I would find an use for her finger, if you know what I mean…"
"CAMILLA!"
"Ehi, the oath was about men, not women. Even you know it and have used it, and I think that the last you were completely-*HMPH*"
"Be silent you pervert!"
"Appreciative towards the feminine form, not pervert!"
"*Sigh.*Sisters, now it's not the moment for thine debauchery, but to discover about this secretive archer."
"*Cough* Well, we know where the Archer started to fire roughly, I would say… between the first and the third Avenue and the 100th and the 110th street? Maybe a bit more?"
"Do we have a more accurate assessment of the position of this unknown? Maybe you Alice, you were the closest."
"I…apologise, but I am unable to say more than the figure was going towards the river. When I was able to see the archer, the person was already going towards it, but I'm not sure about the height. Too fast."
"So he could be in every water touched area of New York by now?"
"…Yes, I apologise for my tardiness in stopping the unknown, but it all took a few seconds to end."
"Me doesn't think that the Boss will be angry at you, littl'Alice, but if she orders for you to be spanked then I want to be the one to do it."
"CAMILLA!"
"So." I stopped my two younger sisters from their seduction dancing with nothing more than my own voice: "We have a Demi-god, given by the attack of the Torturers of Phineas and their fast demise, who is also able to use the bow in a way which could only be explainable if the archer was a child of the brother of the Lady."
"Also our mysterious person was able to take out the crows with that bow, meaning that the mum knew about the divinity of the idiot and to take some celestial bronze long arrows." Added Camilla, rubbing her chin with her small hand and walking in circles, her little feet making not a lot of noise even for an Huntress.
"So…" commented the more controlled Alice, hand rising in a way which was humorous for a seven feet tall daughter of Ares: "Could this "Archer" be from a Legacy? It would make the celestial bronze weapons more understandable."
"Not possible." I commented with a shake of my head: "I had controlled every possible Demi-god and their possible offspring. Not one should be able to do that."
"Soooo," butted in Camilla, rising her not armed hand and counting from five: "We have no idea of the age;" one finger "of the mortal parent;" two fingers "of the certain locations" three fingers "or even the gender."
There remained one… middle… finger.
*Sigh.*
"Porca puttana Ev-"
"CAMILLA!"
"I am Italian, we are the only people who can swear against God in their own language, and knowing that he doesn't exist anyway is a pretty good reason to let me swear."
"But it's not polite!"
"So?"
*Sigh.*
"But we know that the Archer is a child of Apollo, and that Archer is a Demigod. We will have to take the Satyrs in, but maybe in some time we will be able to find this person."
At the saddened expressions of my two younger sisters I simply said, my tone confident:
"We are the Hunters of Artemis, we can wait a few months, can we not?"
I should know it well.
I was the oldest of them all.
AN
Didn't expect it, did ya?
Now, on with the questions!
(Alert: I will not answer big spoilers, so if you don't find your question here even if I've answered to other questions, it means that it's a spoiler.)
nidaime kiroi senko
will we see UBW being unleashed?
It wouldn't be EMIYA if not.
And about the personality of EMIYA:
I know that the character is extremely diverse from Canon EMIYA, but you have to remember that UBW EMIYA was already on the brink of despair, so much that he decided to start a paradox to simply erase himself.
I just made so that his despair not only continued, but it was heighted.
I would be a worse writer if I just didn't count these changes that I did.
It will change with character progression, yes.
But only with time.
Paxloria
But if the Solstice is so dangerous, then how has the mother & daughter pair lasted until teenage years in Cannon?
In PJverse, knowledge of the supernatural is a start to get known by the supernatural itself.
Now that Penelope knows about the Supernatural, she could be able to breach the natural smellingness of Gabe, but before, with her lack of knowledge, she wasn't able even with her being daughter of Poseidon.
(Added by the author in seeing the comments of Nikkless and Ztassassin555) Why is Archer so potentially weak instead of Penelope, having only 33 circuits against 227 of the girl?
Magical potency isn't the only way to judge the power.
And no, I am not talking about experience.
I have put some clues of the newfound qualities EMIYA has.
Look closely in the chapters.
nobodyreallyimportant
Probably I will have other questions, but in the chapter after the next, so be ready.
Now, thank to FaraamKnight AbyssRhythme Nikkless Ztassassin555 A Dyslexic Writer Paxloria DannyPhantom619 PasiveNox Agent Frank Underwood nidaime kiroi senko Hanzo of the Salamander 2.0 sonic Primordial Inscriptor Z-09 ptl HungrySnack ezik ndoofs Rodvek97 M.J. nobodyreallyimportant Rankin de Merthyr for their reviews, which I always read even if it doesn't seem like so (like with the ones of Rankin, sorry man).
Muchas gracias a por el commento, y yo me continuo a escusar por el terible espanol que estoy usando ahora.
Grazia ad Ander warrior per la sua recensione, soprattutto l'ultima parte. Grazie davvero.
Now, I will write a preview chapter for yet another fanfic (I had promised so in a PM), then we will do a… timelap chapter (I will concentrate for years of plot into one, but don't worry, I have an interesting idea about it)
And remember that whoever (martyr) wants to be my beta, can contact me through review or PM.
Now FOLLOW, REVIEW, FLAME
CIAOOOOOOO!