The weary exhaustion clinging to his body was an oppressive weight, forcing all feeling except 'pain' out of his body. His heartbeat in his ears as he stared at the weak, crumpled form of his sister. The yelling and freaking out around him drowning out into a white noise that pounded against his skull.
"..rou!"
'What's happening?'
"…ir…!"
'Why is this happening?'
"…Kura is…"
'Illya and Sakura both? Were they dying?'
"..irou!"
'Why can't I move? What's happening to them? Were they calling for me?'
"…ou get up!"
'They. They were calling for him. He can help them. He can help those he holds close.'
"SHIROU GET UP ILLYA AND SAKURA NEED YOU!"
Something deep inside Shirou thrummed with power, with want. And suddenly it wasn't so difficult to get back up and keep moving. With a slap of his palm on the upturned grass and dirt, the teen grit his teeth and stood up.
"Shirou!" Rin exclaimed happily, ecstatic that at least one person had gotten up out of the three that had crumpled upon the battles end.
"What's…happening?" He asked, the happy expression melting from Rin's face like butter under a blowtorch.
"I-I don't know…" She muttered unsurely, some doubt creeping into both her tone and bodily expression in a way that made her look as fragile as glass.
A rather strange dichotomy for the girl that had just blown out an Ancestor's abdomen with his own weapon.
Weapon. Right. Enhance's most dangerous weapon was just lying out in the open. But Sakura and Illya. Shit. Multi-task.
Shirou started to make his way over to the red crystalized Mystery, reaching down and picking it up while looking over Sakura and Illya with both of his eyes. One human, one not. His circuits flaring ever so slightly as he did the one thing his mind could think of, structurally grasping both of the girls.
'The worms have overloaded Sakura's system. So many endorphins… And Illya is- that fucker.'
"Rin! Knock Sakura out. Liz, Sella, do either of you know purification spells?" Shirou snapped, clutching the Idea Blood in a death grip and sprinting to Illya's side, sliding to his knees as he approached.
With a surprised yelp the Tohsaka heiress struck out with a solid punch to the Matou heiress' head, so surprised by the hard, commanding tone in Shirou's voice that she didn't even stop to think about it before doing as he had ordered. Meanwhile Sella just scowled, clenching her fists tight.
"No. Why? Does Lady Illyasviel need it?" She questioned, getting a grimace from the red haired teen.
"What- why did I have to knock her out, Shirou!?"
"Sakura is suffering from Prana overuse. I'll explain later but she'll be fine so long as she can get some more Prana." He spoke distractedly, holding his left palm over the top of Illya.
"I am the bone of my sword."
From Shirou's hand, a dull golden glow began to manifest. His face scrunched up in exertion as he continued to create what Rin, Liz and Sella could see was a sheath.
"You can Project it?" Liz asked curiously, her wounds from the battle seemingly meaning nothing to the Homunculi maid.
"Not…..Properly…" Shirou gritted out, clearly trying to focus all of his attention on the Projection of something that should have been impossible.
"Why are you summoning Avalon, Lord Shirou?" Sella asked respectfully, her worried gaze moving from Illya to Shirou and back to Illya again.
The girl in all honesty looked horrible. Her skin was even paler than it usually was, and she was covered in blood and sweat. Her hands were clenched into the grass with all the force they could muster, and her face was scrunched up in clear pain as she groaned and moaned.
Shirou didn't answer however, his gaze locked onto the forming golden sheath with an intensity that could have torn the Homunculi maids to shreds from the sheer force of it alone.
Finally, the sheath formed, being grabbed from the air before gravity could even take hold of it and being placed on Illya's chest, the girl's pain seeming to lessen by only a small increment.
"It's not doing much.." Sella muttered in worry, getting a curse from Shirou.
"I know." He spat bitterly staring at his own, blood and sweat covered, hand as it shivered and trembled. "It's better than it used to be but it's not a perfect Projection. Add in the fact that I don't have any of Gray's blood and the curse's speed…"
"Curse!?"
"She's turning into a Dead Apostle." He scowled, both of his fist's clenching, the Idea Blood in his hand seeming to thrum ever so slightly.
"Lady Illyasviel!" The normally composed maid hovered over the small girl with a disturbingly vulnerable expression on her face, even Liz's lips tilted into a frown and her eyes became slightly glassy.
"S-Shirou. She'll be fine, right?" Rin asked, walking over with a worried look.
"I don't know. I just- I don't." His teeth grit and his eyes flit around the field, the Tohsaka heiress knowing him well enough to know that he was trying to sort out his options.
"We could take her to Kotomine?" She suggested, as much as it made bile creep up her throat to do so.
"No. Lady Irisviel and Lord Kiritsugu have told us of him. I'd rather Lady Illyasviel become a Dead Apostle." Sella glared at the black-haired girl, getting her to huff and glare in return.
"You'd rather her become like them than go to Kotomine for help!?" Rin snapped, stamping her foot and glaring heatedly at the Maid who glared back with just as much heat.
"Yes. Lady Illyasviel is not safe near him. Curse purification or not."
"ENOUGH." The shout seemed to echo through the nearby area, getting all the girls to jump as they turned to Shirou, who was clutching the Idea Blood so hard his knuckles were turning white, and he was beginning to cut himself on the few edges it contained.
"Arguing is getting us nowhere. We all agree we need something or someone to help with this curse, I'll call someone in. They owe me a favor. Stop arguing, watch over Illya and Sakura, Liz, the Einzbern castle has a landline, right?" Shirou snapped, the aura he was giving off strange to both Liz and Sella, but ever so vaguely familiar to the Tohsaka heiress.
'Why…Does he feel like Gilgamesh right now?'
"It does." Liz confirmed with a stoic nod.
"Take me to it. Rin, help Sakura, please. Sella, please try any sort of healing magic you can think of on Illya, it might help." Shirou's expression softened, his anger ebbing away as his worry for the two girls washed over him like a tsunami.
"Of course. Follow me." Liz nodded, immediately powerwalking to the castle doors, Shirou struggling to keep up.
XXXxxxXXX
Meanwhile
A figure of resplendent golden hair and ruby red eyes stared down at the six figures as the 7th glittered away in disgusting ash and dust. Gilgamesh's lips curling into a disgusted frown at the idea of the Dead Apostle Ancestor that was now no more.
Good riddance, the less of those disgusting vermin in the world the better. Though it appears that he'd managed to infect his smith's 'younger' sister, so that was yet another annoyance caused by the Ancestor's.
'Yet why now?...' His eyes narrowed as he stared down at the six figures, his eyes locked almost entirely on his smith.
He knows what he'd seen in his dreams. A by-product of restraining Sha Naqba Imuru as often as he did. The futures and outcomes he restrained in his consciousness came to him often as dreams where his unconscious mind ran free. A sort of vague premonition that he could recall upon waking up but never actively sought to view into, for his own entertainment of course.
He knew that Enhance would be coming and that Shirou and his allies would be the victor's, of course he did. However not this early, not in this manner, not with the younger sister of his smith currently under attack from the curse of the Dead Apostle.
Ah, now he understood it. He'd been looking into an alternate timeline through his unconscious mind. Of course, it all made sense now. The timeline he'd been looking at had been the most ideal one. The Ancestor would show up a few days from now, the added time would have allowed Altrouge Brunestud to follow after him and watch their fight for entertainment. Her being in Fuyuki would have allowed him a quick and easy way to confront her without having to move from the comfort of the admittedly pitiful 'kingdom' he had formed.
It was why he'd made the previous master and fake master of Saber stay away from the city for so long. It meant no crutches to fall back on for his smith in this newest trial of his and meant that the most serious of the damages and injuries would be gone by the time that they got back. Meaning less fretting and less of their pointless worry about his smith meeting the golden king.
But of course, things hadn't turned out that way. Instead, the Ancestor had jumped the gun and come straight to Fuyuki, leaving Gilgamesh's plans up in smoke and that made him quite annoyed. Though all wasn't lost. No one could claim that Gilgamesh wasn't a skilled strategist in his own right, as he could already see a plan forming before his eyes.
Who needed premonitions of the future when you were as great as him, after all?
XXXxxxXXX
With Shirou
"Who are you contacting?" Liz asked, getting a tired, weary, sigh from the teenager as he grabbed the landline and began to punch a number in.
"Someone that I never wanted to speak to again. Let alone actually call in the favor they owe me. But when push comes to shove…" He mumbled, hearing the phone ring twice before the call was accepted.
"Hello. Who might this be to be calling a maiden such as myself?"
"Hortensia." Shirou drawled out, hearing the small hitch of breath from the other side of the call.
"Ahhh, Muramasa. Of course, a barbarian like you wouldn't introduce yourself right away."
"Your tongue is as sharp as ever." He deadpanned, getting a hum and tilt of the head from the homunculi maid.
"My tongue is quite soft actually. To call any part of a lady hard and sharp, you truly have no manners and even less decorum. But what could be expected of a god-forsaken blacksmith such as yourself."
"I can feel the love even from over here."
"Then I'm quite afraid you may need to have your head checked. Though I've heard that historically blacksmiths such as yourself have suffered from quite many health issues."
"Enough. Caren, I'm calling in the favor."
"I remember no such thin-"
"I will go to the church on this Caren. Don't make me waste so much time." He growled; the other end of the line silent for a moment before a soft giggle came through.
"Well well, there's that brutish, right to the point, attitude that I know."
"Whatever. I need you to come to Fuyuki and perform a purification."
"A purification? You'd waste such an important favor on something that simple?" She chortled through the call.
"It's for something important. I need a strong one too."
"…I see. Truly you can't stay out of trouble for a moment can you. Do you not think of your loved ones when you do these things?" Shirou flinched slightly at her taunt, leave it to Caren to find and relentlessly attack any weakness someone might have.
"Wait a moment. Did you say Fuyuki, by chance?" That was what she was focusing on? Why would Caren even find Fuyuki interesting, of all places?
"I did. Now who never listens?" He taunted her in response, only getting a hum.
"I see….Very well. Favor accepted. I'll be there in 16 hours." With a nod that he knew she couldn't see, he relayed his address to her and ended the call.
"She sounds rude." Liz commented idly as he put the phone back.
"She is. A sadist of the highest caliber too. Now let's get back to the girls. We need to get home so that we can try and help Illya."
"Of course. I'll drive."
XXXxxxXXX
Meanwhile, Galaxidi (Greece)
"Why are we here? The dig sight is closer to Lamia." Olga grumbled in irritation, her arms crossed and a glare on her face that scared more than one person off.
Though Gray and Waver would honestly rather this than how she'd been immediately following her father's surprise. At least an angry Olga was capable of emotion and life.
"That's why we're here. Lamia is an hour and a half from here." Waver lectured, slipping back into his roll of professor almost as easily as he breathed. "All things considered, not that much of a trip but enough to dissuade the average Clock Tower Magus. Additionally, the travel time from here and Oiti and Lamia and Oiti is only a 30-minute difference despite the geographical distance in comparison."
From besides Olga, Gray just deadpanned at her Master's explanation of why he had chosen this exact city to bunker down in during the inevitable conflict over the Einzbern dig sight. The young reaper recognizing that it made sense but also having hoped to maybe, potentially, avoid any lectures during this whole trip.
"Why not pick somewhere closer though? Like Itea?" The white-haired girl asked, unimpressed by Waver's words so far.
"Do you know what the population of Galaxidi is by chance, Olga?" Waver questioned, getting a surprised squawk from her as she flustered under the sudden attention.
"Ah- eh, um. About 2,000?" She answered, flinching a little at how unsure she sounded in her answer.
"Good answer. But not quite. It's about 1,700. Give or take a couple dozen. Itea has over double that and is noticeably closer. Taking about the same time to reach it as someone coming from Lamia."
"It would be obviously more advantageous to acquire accommodations in Itea." Gray translated for Olga, who lightly chewed on her bottom lip and nodded as she mulled over this information.
"Thank you Gray. And it's precisely for that reason that we aren't. It's too obvious and the closer distance is too big of a draw in for most Magi to ignore."
"Oh. So Itea would be swarming with Magi?" Olga guessed, having finally figured it out.
"Everything within 80 kilometers of Oiti would be. From the smaller towns to the larger cities." Waver started to climb the stairs of the apartment building.
From besides her, Gray hummed and tilted her head towards the ceiling, her eyes narrowing ever so slightly. A quiet snort leaving Waver as he continued to climb the stairs.
"You're too tightly wound Gray."
"Of course." She answered evenly, her gaze going back to the top of the stairwell.
"Are you worried we're going to be attacked here?" Olga asked in disbelief, getting a blank look and nod from Gray.
"Just because this is a strategically sound spot doesn't mean that no one else will think of it. In fact, more combat experienced Magi would be more likely to also choose this city." Waver explained, calculations and deductions clicking and twisting in his head as he thought over something that Olga couldn't even begin to understand.
"Like Enforcer's?"
"If an Enforcer is here, we have more problems to worry about than just them knowing our accommodations." Waver waved off the girls worries, too quickly in her opinion.
"Why wouldn't one be here? The Holy Grail is an extremely valuable gift. Any Magus worth their salt would lust over such a surefire way to the Root." Olga argued, missing the ever so slight roll of Gray's eyes as she stayed in perfect step with the heiress.
"Because Enforcer's aren't regular Magi." Waver opened the door to the floor that they were staying on, beginning to walk down the somewhat dated carpet.
"Enforcers aren't regular- what? They're Magi. What do you mean by regular?" Olga questioned, sucked fully into Waver's words now that he'd laid the bait.
'Even in an environment like this, Master can't help but try and teach. I think he may be addicted.' Gray thought to herself, her eyes drifting to the door of the room they were to be staying in.
"Magi, in an unofficial sense, can be split into two categories. Scholar-type Magi and Combat-type Magi. The Magi as you would know them would be Scholar-type Magi. They are the primary type and easily the most numerous of the two. Their priorities, goals and thought processes are, as I'm sure you're already aware, based around learning and reaching the Root. I myself most heavily subscribe to the Scholar subtype."
Waver pulled the room key out of his pocket and slipped it into the doorhandle of their room, twisting quickly and getting a dull 'clack' of metal on metal before turning the handle. Gray's eyes hardening a fraction as she reached for something hidden beneath her cloak.
"Combat-type's are a much different beast. Very few of them wish to reach the Root and see the world of Thaumaturgy in a much different light." He opened the door with a flourish and a slightly loud bang, already leaning back from the weapon swung at his neck.
Not that he needed to, of course, because Gray was already using his scarf to pull him out of the way of his would-be assailant's. Her 15-year-old body nimbly flipping Waver over her back and perfectly onto his feet while swiping out with a straight edged knife. Catching the attacker clean across the throat herself and spraying blood over the hotel wall as he shakily clutched at his neck.
"Gray, as I'm sure you can guess. Is a Combat-type Magus through and through."
"Speaking of. If you're going to bring me along on these trips, Master. Can you please leave the combat to me?" Gray asked, turning back to look at Waver as the light left the offending Magi's eyes.
"It surprised him, didn't it?" Waver commented quite casually, strolling into the room with a now rather worried Olga trailing behind him.
"Yes, but it put yourself in unnecessary danger." The silver haired reaper retorted as quick as her own attacks, and just as cutting.
"Why is it that Shirou gets less flack than I do for worse?" The professor almost whined, getting a curious look from Olga at the passingly familiar name.
Where had she heard it before? He must have been a Magus from the Clock Tower, but she just couldn't seem to remember where she'd heard the name before, or why.
"Shirou is Shirou." Gray replied coolly, still levelling a glare on him "He's not a self-proclaimed 'scholar-type' Magus like you, Master. And he gets just as much 'flack'." She huffed and crossed her arms.
"Who is this, Shirou? Is he from a Magi family?" Olga questioned, getting a small smirk from Waver as he gestured for Gray to go ahead.
A response which just got a monotone hum from the girl as she answered the Animusphere.
"Shirou is Shirou Muramasa. He is the same age I am and the last member of the Muramasa clan of Japan. He's a very talented blacksmith and an even more talented Swordsmith in particular."
"She also has a crush on hi-IIIEIEIEEEEEEE!" Add tried to join in, only starting to squeal as Gray plucked his birdcage off her hip and rattled him around violently.
"Do not spread lies." She reprimanded blandly, getting a smile and sweatdrop from Waver, even as Olga hummed into her hand.
"Muramasa….Wait! Like the famous swordsmith!?" The younger girl exclaimed, stumbling back a step.
"That's the one." Gray nodded, putting Add's birdcage back on her hip as he groaned and shook about as if dizzy and disoriented.
"There's a descendant of someone that famous in the Clock Tower?" She asked, a little nervous now that she was aware of such knowledge.
Had she met him before without realizing? Had she insulted him before without realizing? There was a lot of Magi in the Clock Tower, maybe they hadn't run into each other before and she could still leave a good impression? By the Root she hoped so. Having an ally on that level would not only be personally beneficial but also perfect to show her father that she was worth his time and attention.
"Indeed, there is. That knife you just saw Gray use was actually forged by him." Waver explained, gesturing to the hooded girl who was now inspecting the cooling corpse in the walkway of their hotel room.
Olga looked over, blinking in stupefied surprise for a moment before finally jerking back as she actively realized what the other girl was doing. Which happened to be reaching into his pockets and patting her hands over his body.
"W-What are you doing!?" She yelped, paling just a little as Gray began to actually pull items off of him.
"What are we looking at here Gray?" Waver asked while using Magecraft to start cleaning the blood spray.
"Yggdmillennia family it appears. Based on the body composition I'd say a Homunculus, melee-based model, not much Thaumaturgy potential and a rather frail disposition." The girl listed off, reminding Waver once again of exactly where she had been raised as she went through her gleamed information like a practiced mortician.
"I-Is this….normal? This is so….disgusting." Olga near on sneered, though it was better to describe it as a look of disgust.
"It's normal for Gray. Not entirely sure about normal for Magi that tend to travel to events such as this." Waver commented easily, nodding to himself as he watched the blood on the walls fizzle away. "You'll be seeing a lot more of this type of thing if we're going to get to the artifact before any of the other Magi that have arrived in Greece."
The young girl just slowly nodded her head, softly biting on her lip as she looked at Gray continuing to check over the corpse that she herself had made.
And then in a rush of footsteps and a slamming of the bathroom door, Olga bolted into the bathroom and lost her lunch, getting an empathetic look from the Reaper Princess as she looked back at the hunched over form of the young girl.
"This trip is going to be trying for her." Waver commented idly, his thoughts already swirling around his mind as he pulled out a cigar and lit it on fire with a snap of his fingers.
'He's so heartless…' Gray thought dryly, throwing a confiscated pouch at her teacher and taking a mute satisfaction in the squawk of both surprise and indignation she got in return.
"I know. I know. I'll try and talk to her in the morning." Waver relented as he took a puff of his cigarette, just getting a silent look of judging from his student before she sighed and shook her head, turning back to the Homunculi corpse.
XXXxxxXXX
The Next Morning
"Say, Gray. What did you do with the body?" Waver asked while sipping a black coffee, getting an innocent look from the girl in question.
Currently the group of three were walking through the narrow back-streets of Galaxidi, heading towards a vehicle that Waver had apparently procured for their usage over the next few days to a week. The early wake-up being rather easy for Gray, slightly more difficult for Waver and nearly impossible for Olga, who still looked like she was on the verge of passing out even as she walked.
"I haven't the slightest clue what you might be referring to, Master." She gave the barest hint of a smile in his direction before taking a sip of her tea that he had bought her.
"He means the dead guy." Olga grouched bluntly, yawning and rubbing some sleep out of her eye.
"Yes. Thank you, Olga." Waver continued, suppressing his reflexive sarcastic comment since the girl was still incredibly vulnerable emotionally.
"Oh? You're referring to him?" Gray continued to act innocent, blowing on her drink. "I still haven't the slightest idea."
"I worry for what information you have locked inside that Reapers mind of yours…"
"The average person would need to consume 75 cups of coffee to succumb to caffeination poisoning." She mumbled, seemingly having been sitting on that off-hand knowledge for a rather long time given how quickly she rattled it out.
"It takes that much coffee to kill someone?" Olga asked, giving Gray an unimpressed look.
"It only takes a tablespoon of powdered caffeine to achieve the same results."
Now Olga looked concerned.
"Once again. I worry about what information you have trapped in that mind of yours." Waver deadpanned, stepping out of the alleyway and towards a singular parked car.
"Is…this what we have to drive around in?" Olga asked, disgust clear in her voice as she looked over the car that Waver was currently unlocking.
"Yes. Yes, it is." The professor responded with all the seriousness he could muster. "Now hop in. We have a lot of ground to cover."
"I can't believe I have to travel around in a car like…this."
"Well, you better believe it Miss Marie. Because this is what we're going to be using for as long as we can." Waver grinned at her, seeming to take enjoyment in her suffering as she slid into the back seat of the car.
"Gray? You agree do you not?" Olga asked, looking over to Gray as she got into the passenger's seat of the car.
"I don't particularly care. Seat's could be more comfortable though." She commented, getting a snort and a roll of Waver's eyes as he turned the ignition on.
With a short sigh, the two magi could feel the disappointment welling up inside Olga as she realized that she had lost this battle.
"Alright. Time to hit the road."
XXXxxxXXX
Meanwhile, Elsewhere in Greece
"Well. That was quite a surprise." Irisviel mumbled with a palm in front of her hand as she looked over the carnage in front of her.
As if she hadn't had a personal hand in creating at least half of it.
"I would have thought that the Einzbern Homunculi would have been the first to find us." Kiritsugu commented as he flipped one of the corpses over so that their face was now pointing to the sky, rather than smooshed in the dirt.
"So did I. Whoever sent these ones has some good knowledge of Homunculi crafting. Not on the level of the modern Einzbern, but close." Irisviel hummed to herself, crouching with her feet flat on the floor and poking the cheek of the corpse that was now staring at the sky.
"Any ideas who it may be? I doubt Jubstacheit didn't keep a close eye on any potential rivals." The mercenary asked, beginning to ruffle through his own pockets as his cool gaze travelled over the 5 or so bodies around them.
"The Yggdmillennia, it's the only possible answer. Given that there's hints of Einzbern method's mixed in."
"How can you tell?"
"It's difficult to explain. It's small things like the matching hair and eye colour, closely linked appearance and their gait." Irisviel tried to explain, standing back up to her full height and wiping some dust off of her dress.
"Instinctive knowledge?" Kiritsugu guessed, getting a short hum from his wife as she tilted her head to the side.
"Yeah! Sorta like that." She nodded, getting a vaguely fond smile from the man before his expression turned to stone once more.
"Alright. They don't seem nearly as powerful or agile as the Einzbern models. I'll keep that in mind." The man mumbled as he stood up.
"Speaking of Einzbern, how many do you reckon there'll be at the dig sight?" Irisviel asked, looking in a particular direction of the forest that surrounded them.
"More than I want to deal with. Less than I'm prepared to." He answered, picking up a solid case and beginning to walk silently through the brush, like a wraith of shadows.
And like an angel of snow, his wife followed behind him, humming quietly to herself with her fingers folded behind her back. The faint sound of Thaumaturgy flowing into her ears from further into the wild and just got a pleasant hum in return.
XXXxxxXXX
Unknown location
"Hm. One of the squads was taken down? That was a rather quick execution." A rather young-looking man spoke as he sat upon what appeared to be quite a lavish throne.
"Lord Darnic! It appears that many of our other assassins were taken out as well." A rather plain looking butler spoke, getting a hum from the man as he closed his eyes again and looked towards the ceiling.
"Were any of them successful?"
"Only a few confirmed successes as of yet, Lord Darnic." A second butler spoke, bowing as if he, himself, had been the cause of the lack of information.
"I see…What losses have we suffered?" He tilted his head so that a single eye could gaze sharply down at the servant's, almost as if he was staring directly into their very souls.
"O-Only 17 at the mom- Oh. Um 25- 32…" Both butler's appeared quite put off by the sudden elimination of so many Homunculi, and quite nervous at having to relay such information to their master.
"So many at once? Who were they sent after?" Darnic asked, a low seething to his voice that made both of the servants shiver slightly and gulp.
"T-They were separate groups, Lord Darnic. And they were killed before reaching their locations."
"Hmmm. Killed before reaching their locations? Now who could have done that?" The young ruler asked himself, and as if to answer his question, his eyes flicking to the foot of his throne where in a flash of blue lights, 8 heads appeared.
Familiar heads as well, heads of his own Homunculi that he knew he'd sent to Greece to try and acquire the relics that were bound to be uncovered. Though the sudden appearance of the heads, and the manner in which they had done so, immediately clued the man in on just who one of the offending parties was, making a sneer cross his features as he kicked the heads away from him in disgust.
"The Ainsworth's in Greece? Why am I not surprised." He growled; his gaze locked on the lopped off heads with murderous intent. "Teach those deal-breaking fools a lesson. All Homunculi are to kill any Ainsworth they find in Greece. Regardless of distance to the target. Additionally send 10 of the new generation to Greece, I want them hunted down."
"Right away, Lord Darnic!" Both servants snapped into a salute and rushed to leave the throne room, leaving the man all alone in the room, his hand covered his lips.
"What are you playing at Darius?...Is this a declaration or a warning?" He murmured to himself as he looked at the heads that had been teleported into his throne room.
"No matter. Soon enough you'll realize the enemy you've made."
XXXxxxXXX
Fuyuki, Airport
"Caren Hortensia?" The girl in question looked up, staring eye to eye with the blank faced form of Liz.
"That's me. If you wish to repent for so shamelessly showing off such a lustful body than I will have to ask you to hold onto your sins for but a moment longer. An airport is hardly the place for such a thing." She responded callously, raising an eyebrow when the platinum haired maid didn't so much as blink an eye.
"No atoning needed. I am the maid of Shirou Emiya and was ordered to pick you up."
"A boy his age having a maid? How sinful and demeaning of him. Likely staring at you and fantasizing about all manner of things, truly that boy is a follower of the Devil." Caren sighed, as if disappointed, while shaking her head.
"I've seen none of these stares you're implying. Though if you wish to know about his sex life then only his newest, unofficial, maid has ever done something with him." At this, Caren tripped on her very first step to follow Liz as she started to walk, giving a genuinely confused look at the maids back as she continued to walk at an even pace.
"Are you saying that Shirou Emiya has engaged in such an act out of wedlock?" Caren asked, taking a few rushed steps to catch back up with Liz as she made her way out of the airport.
"Yes. At least once. Potentially twice if it happened last night. But I'm unaware on if it did or did not happen." Liz answered, completely unphased by the girls questions.
"What a sinful boy. Calling me out here for a purification and then proceeding to corrupt his own household in such a manner. Perhaps I should just cast the purification on him to save the world from his darkened soul and leave it at that." Caren pondered, tapping a finger on her chin.
"Then you'll die."
Perhaps it was the simple, matter of fact way that the maid spoke. Perhaps it was the speed that the maid had said it in response to her comment. Perhaps it was even something hidden deep within her instincts that she was unaware of. Whatever the reason, Caren was absolutely sure of one thing.
If she followed through with her teasing joke, she would perish.
"Oh? And I suppose you'll be the one to do so?" She hummed leaning forward slightly to look at the blank expression of the maid.
"No. Even I will not be fast enough to have that honor."
"An honor now, is it? Such a bloodthirsty aura hidden behind that blank exterior, is that your true nature? How could someone with such animalistic, feral bloodlust not be the first to take me out?" She hummed mockingly, her gaze shortening to a half-lidded one as she poked and prodded at the mental defenses of the maid.
"Because no matter what speed or strength I possess. Shirou will be the one to end you."
Caren stayed silent at this, allowing her mind to briefly run rampant with all the ideas she could possibly think of, of how Shirou might accomplish such a feat. Though it didn't last long as Liz once more spoke up.
"Please continue to follow me, Hortensia. Time is of the essence."
"Right. I forgot that your master was such a barbarian that he couldn't even allow me the luxury of time in visiting such a beautiful landscape and unique culture when he asked for my aid, of all things."
"Nothing is stopping you from doing so afterwards. Please follow me." And so, Caren did, her gaze drilled into the maids back.
'By God as my witness, forgive my sinful thoughts, I will find your limit.'
Though such thoughts would have to wait as the girl was led towards a car that she could feel had a Bounded Field on it, not that it stopped her from entering it of course. She may have talked a big game and made quite a few teasing comments and jokes, but Caren Hortensia didn't go back on favors owed, which was why she so rarely gave them out. Even if it would be the expected, honorable or even fair thing to do for whoever had aided her.
She never went back on a favor owed and now wouldn't be the first time either. Especially given the convenient opportunity that Shirou had so unwittingly gifted her, all neat with a bowtie ribbon on top.
After all it had been so many years since she'd seen hide or hair of dear old daddy. She wondered how he'd react when she finally went to visit the man. Ideally, he'd drop dead from some manner of cardiovascular malfunction despite his heartless demeanor, but only time would tell.
XXXxxxXXX
Omake: A father always knows
Kotomine froze mid sermon, his gaze sliding with unnatural grace and efficiency towards what appeared to be a random wall of the Church. A wall that was pointed almost directly at the Fuyuki airport.
"Um…Father Kotomine?"
"This presence?..." The man merely rumbled in return, getting a blink of confusion from the lady that had spoken.
"A…presence, Father Kotomine?" This time it was a Church attendant that spoke, rather worried by the narrowed gaze he was giving the wall.
"She is here. I sense it."
"…Do we need to perform an exorcism on the Father?"
XXXxxxXXX
Hola.
So, another month has come and gone. Things are slowly coming back under control, my Game Engine class has decided to get even more difficult (Please for the love of god stop making me use OpenGL I don't understand it ;-; ) and we're about to go into spoopy month, so that'll be interesting.
But good news, based on the target chapter length I have for this fic, 7K words, I'm over halfway finished with chapter 19 as of writing this Author's Note. And speaking of chapter's, how was this one? A lot of pieces are beginning to move/be revealed and even more are to come with payoffs that differ in length. I'm looking forward to seeing the feedback for this.
Discord code: ctMzhq3
REVIEW REPLIES:
StayBlessed: So am I tbh XD
The embodiment of Weirdness: To a certain degree yes. There'd still be degradation though, in admittedly small amounts, because of Gaia.
Ochsee: Thanks! I thought it would be a pretty cool idea that I haven't really seen before.
TheSlySage: Depending on the purpose and the materials he has to work with he could make actual blades with their abilities, but yes. They wouldn't be as powerful as the actual NP's they were based on.
Simon334: Well good/bad news depending on how you see it. Enhance is like the 2nd or 3rd weakest of the Ancestors XD
AnimeFan13579: You hit the nail on the head. He essentially made a blade with a 'Mystery' that was the direct antithesis of Enhance as a being. And also you were correct in it normally not being enough to take him out, which was why I had to set up that entire combo at the end just to finish him off.
AlternateReality: I'm not going to argue because that's a pointless waste of time. But I'm curious what exactly you found to be 'plot-armour galore' and how so?
SentinelSlice: This has been sorta covered in previous replies but Shirou's sword was basically as effective a weapon as any of them had other than the Shotgun that Rin picked up from him, that was also used on him at close range amidst a combo designed to try and slow his regen while dealing massive amounts of damage.
TigerWarrior1998: The crystal was his Idea Blood. Through my research I couldn't find anything actually describing what they looked like so I decided to take a creative liberty and what he does with it will be a surprise xP
AND THAT'S THE END OF REVIEW REPLIES
Thanks for reading along, holy shit I forgot how many comments I got about Illya and Sakura and excuse me while I go cry in a ditch about OpenGL and broken IDE's.